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I was able to finish out my season with another great experience.
First pic is in the stand
second pic is where she came down the best trail for the stand which would bring her right past me at 10 yards and allow a quartering away shot
third pic is where she ended walking past
fourth is the evidence of the moment
fifth is the final result
I was able to sit in an area with several deer moving through and was given a great shot opportunity. It is so dang much fun to make a good shot on a white tail! It amazes me how fast it all happens the days we connect! I hadn’t been settled into my stand (after screwing in a few steps, putting the stand in, and trimming some branches out of the way, maybe 20 minutes!) My shot was a bit high, entering behind the last rib on the right side and exiting high behind the left shoulder. She ran back down the way she came and stood looking back and trying to figure out what had stung her before tipping over 50 yards from me. The arrow went right on through and I had to give it a good “yank” to get it out of the frozen ground! It almost makes me feel like I need to shoot my lighter weight bow:) (this one was again out of the 65 pounder with the same UEFOC setup around 32%, 700 some grains of arrow. Upon butchering in the dark by headlamp, I noticed the entry wound looked to have punctured the diaphragm when entering and punching a sizeable whole in the liver before grazing the underside of the spine and going out through the top of the left lung. I looked and looked for some good damage pics in my gut pile but couldn’t really find any at that point. A nice mile drag back out with all my gear and stand and we were back in the truck. I had another large doe with two yearlings follow through on the opposite side of the stand after this one and took a shot at her, clean miss! It was a very awkward shooting position around and under a limb in the way. I had another tag to fill but I don’t mind eating one tag sandwich out of three this season:) Two in the freezer will do just fine. Again, I can’t say enough about the effectiveness of these FOC arrows and the big Tuffhead broadheads! After a season with these guys and a couple of deer, I won’t use anything else.
Now it’s going to be a long winter in waiting:)
Jans
Gentlemen,
This is a very good and important topic to discuss and holds the key to the survival of our hunting traditions a possibly even more for our “traditional and primitive” traditions! I greatly appreciate this magazine and forum for the people and the content shared here so freely. I often wonder about the median age of contributors here and get the feeling I am one of the “young guys” at a mere 37 grand years of age. I worry for how this sport and tradition will change within my lifetime. I have regular contact on many levels through my work with the younger generations and am not seeing much interest for anything which takes them away from their electronics and the “easy life” they are living indoors. I know from experience that part of our passions start from what is mentored to us from a very young age, while the rest is just part of who we are. I wouldn’t be passionate about hunting without all of the wonderful old Winchesters, Ithacas, and old Bears left behind by my Grandfather, used by my father while taking me out from a very young age (my first pair of Bean Boots are about a size 1:), and passed down to me when I was brought along on those wonderful adventures to share in the hunt and the hunting camp experience. I grew up with a group of “The Greatest Generation” men who were the “Old Guys” while my Dad was my age, and I was a squirt. The old ones are all gone now, but they forever changed my destiny by having the patience to put up with a young, smart mouthed kid. They were willing to share their sacred time away with each other in wonderful places with a youngster who ended up looking up to them in so many ways. This left such a strong impression that it became part of who I am and my foundation for a love of the outdoors and how I want to experience it. I heard it said above and will echo it here; it is very, very important to take young people with you on hunting and fishing trips. It is also very important not to spend all of our time as solitaire tradhunting hermits, protecting our secret spots and only socializing our experiences in places like the forums. We are loosing the wonderful tradition of “the hunting camp”. Liked minded people who share common passions should get together more often and share the camp fire and stories of the days hunt. While doing so, bring a kid. You will change his/her life for the better. Let them see it all, as I did. There was cigar smoking, whiskey drinking, and cussing. There were also many in the group who were wonderful story tellers, who shared hard earned and sound advice about how to live a good and meaningful life. I am at a point where I have twin little ones of my own. Although they will only be 2 soon, I have already started to share my passions for the outdoors. Like a mentor told me, “take them out early. If you wait until they start school, they are told it is wrong to kill animals or fish and they will loose their interest”.
My first tradhunt was at the ripe age of 8 or 9 with a back quiver full of old cedar shafts with field tips and my grandpa’s old Bear Kodiak Magnum which I could hardly pull back far enough to fling and arrow. I did get it back in the adrenaline infused pursuit of cotton tails through shelter belts and managed to stick one to the ground and bring it home for dinner:)
Jans
