12 replies to this topic

[dice]

It was a cold Wednesday morning, a storm system had past the day before.

The temp was a easy 15 degrees less than the morning before, with the barometric pressure on the rise.

The sun had barely come up, but the woods were alive.

Already missing 2 doe the weekend before my ears were on alert.

Knowing my stand placement at the top of a ridge the thermals would take my scent well above the canopy.

Scanning the woods in every direction, my ears caught something moving to my left deep within the brush.

Waiting the sounds seemed to fade and I felt they worked away from me.

With not a chance for another thought bursting out of the stickers a big doe with her grown fawn jumped.

Before I had a chance to reach for my 15yo Mathews she was gone, escaping behind the big oaks to my right.

The fawn which was within a week or 2 of being kicked out by her mother, stopped 20 yards in front of me.

Knowing I may have another shot at the doe, I stood and readied my self, grabbed my bow and attached my release.

Watching the fawns every move I knew this was it.

She looked up at as the doe came back in front of me, standing quartering towards at 23 yards I waited.

Not wanting to gut shot her I had to wait hands beginning to shake breath beginning to deepen.

I drew waiting for her to turn, but instead she ran straight towards me, then stopped at 15 feet.

The shot was straight down hitting her spine and going through straight into her lungs and heart.

She fell grunting, you could hear in the grunt it was a good shot.

I fired another arrow to make sure she passed as fast as possible.

I knew the first shot would have been enough but I couldnt let her lay there in fear.

I thanked the universe for the meat I was able to put on the table and in the freezer.

I wasnt able to get tags last yr so didnt shoot any deer.

It feels good to be eating fresh organic meat again.

First pic is the doe i shot, 2nd pic is the doe fawn.

3rd is a button buck later that day hes around the same age as the doe fawn

I know they are closer to yearlings, but since they still are under 1yr they are fawns

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Edited by dice, 11 October 2018 - 05:58 AM.

[PapMyc]

Glad to see you harvested your first deer of the year. She should be great eating. It looks as though you're one of those 20' in the air guys like my son. As I've gotten older 12'-15' is more then enough.
For me the first of the year is nerve racking even though I have been bow hunting for 40+ years and have harvested numerous deer. I'm not a rack hunter but hunt to put meat in the freezer like you. Our bow season started the end of Sept. but I haven't gotten a chance to get out yet. Good luck on future outings.

[onediadem]

While I myself could not kill an animal unless my life was in danger, I do appreciate being able to provide for yourself. At least they had a life of freedom and were not kept in a cage. 

[dice]

Thanks pap. Yeah I dont mind the height, was a roofer for a good chunk of life.

This morning though the wind was blowing so strong I got down before the sun came up lol.

Worried I blew the spot with going in and out within an hr, but I know its fine with the wind and rain, I doubt the heard me, smelled me maybe but heard I dont think so.

I definitely hunt for meat more than sport.

Like I said I missed 2 other does.

First was  30 yard shot that was dead on, watched the luminok heading straight towards the vitals and a foot or so away nipped a twig and the arrow went right over her,

the other however was nothing but bad nerves.

In the end im happy to have clean missed both, cause wounding an animal would tear me up inside.

I think over the yrs Ive found us archers actually seem to care a little more about animals,

then people just going out and shooting everything moving in the woods with a rifle.

Im a big old softy or something like that

 

One I understand and know many that feel the same way.

To me Ive just grown up around hunting so its a way of life.

I live across the road from a couple hundred acre farm, mainly corn growing.

So they do a lot of damage to the crops.

However a deer feeding on corn tastes a lot better than one feeding on only acorns and other nuts in the mountains.

[drmcnasty]

It was nice of her to come right to your stand. I'm ready for rifle season to open up. I don't have the patience for bow hunting.

[dice]

It was nice of her to come right to your stand. I'm ready for rifle season to open up. I don't have the patience for bow hunting.

Well let me explain the layout. there is a massive 100acre corn field with a patch of maybe 3 acres of woods at the top of the field, at the side of the woods and corn is a dirt road, and on the other side of the road is another couple acre plot of woods and a cow pasture. The deer use the woods on the other side of the road as their bedding and im sure in other season even the woods I have my stands. However during hunting they bed in the other woods and cross the dirtl road working their way through my woods eating acorns and other tree nuts working their way to the corn. I looked at topo maps before heading over and new there was a small hill heading up the the corn field and with any wind that would be a great place for a morning stand as the thermals would take my smell up, and thats where i put 1. Ive had deer come out the corn behind me on several occasions this year with wind in my face and never know I was there, both the 1s i missed came that way. Even missing them they never ran off the maybe jumed at the shot missing maybe thinking it was a branch breaking or whatever, but they both then just walked off slowly feeding on acorns. The other stand is simply for North and west winds. Now ive had deer come from the corn which is in the south definitely on point from smell me or but still thy didnt spook. really that stand is for evenings when the deer work from the west northwest to the corn to feed and i catch them as they pass my stand. Just gotta find where they eat and where they bed, put a stand somewhere close to where they travel and theyll walk right past your stand too. Heck I play games, look at topia, watch crypto markets, all kinds of stuff on my phone to pass the time lol

[PapMyc]

I sleep in my stand as much as I hunt. So quiet and peaceful. It's so much easier to meditate with no distractions and unfortunately doze off.

[dice]

Its special firearms season here, but doe only. This is my sons first yr so we been out. Yesterday morning he was getting bored around 8. I told him that's hunting and it goes from bored to death to hot action real quick. Well I was like do you want to leave and he said let's wait 10 more minutes. I was drumming my thumbs on my boots, looked up and around 80 yards I saw the figure of a deers ass, looked closer and saw its white nose looking right at us. Told him deer deer, but he couldn't see it. Said don't move, deer started eating and I said get the rifle ready. Deer looked up I told my son don't move. He still didn't have eyes locked on the deer and when he did the deer moved behind trees. I got my grunt tube and grunted, then I couldn't see the deer, but my boy could and he said "its huge, and coming right towards us". I couldn't see it but when I did it was 20yards away and a spike buck around 8". Well that fucker walked right to us no more than 10' away, I kept whispering don't move a muscle and that deer stood there for 5 minutes trying to figure out wtf we were and what was going on. Poor kid had his rifle half to his shoulder arms locked, but didn't move. Spike turned around and mozied off not a care in the world. Told my boy his 1st trip might not have gotten 1 but he had an experience of a life time, cause I can count on 1 hand the times they been in spitting distance while I wasn't in a tree, and especially that he stayed that long without spooking. Needless to say the boy is freaking hooked.

Edited by dice, 20 October 2018 - 06:00 AM.

[drmcnasty]

Very nice! A little bonding. Rifle season opened here today, glad I double checked cuz I was sure it opened "either sex" this year. That was not the case, antlered only till next week. No luck on the morning hunt and it's time for a nap. Hopefully there will be some movement this evening.

[pharmer]

I took a shot on opening day of bow season.

 

Watched the arrow slide slightly sideways from touching a rusty barbed wire strand I managed not to see before the shot.

 

Watched the arrow hit the buck precisely on the boniest part of the shoulder and bounce right straight back, nock first,  at me for three or four feet. WTF?

 

Watched the normal flinch reaction on the deer and watched it walk about twenty paces and lay down. I thought maybe my eyes had deceived and he was, in fact, mortally wounded and bleeding out.  In about ten minutes he got up and walked off like nothing happened.

 

Got out of the tree and checked the arrow. Nothing but a hair and some dry bony gristle maybe a half inch up the broadhead, no blood.

 

Very strange.

 

I guess it was just the right combination of physics AND his lucky day.

 

shooting at 62 pounds of letoff btw that's a busload of energy being delivered by the arrow

Edited by pharmer, 22 October 2018 - 11:20 AM.

[JustinAskin]

Looks good!!   

[pharmer]

Just home from three days up north with nothing to show for it.

 

Day one had a ton of deer including bucks chasing does. I didn't shoot hoping my brother in law, my host, would get a shot.

 

Next day the weather went gnarly. Super windy, snow squalls, almost foggy and chilly from the damp. Not much deer movement and nothing in the open.

 

Next day started like day two but cleared up but the deer were so damned spooked nothing was moving less than 40 miles and hour.

 

Oh well, the price of venison goes up again  :)

 

Dad used to say if you factored in all the costs you could get the best beef for what it costs to harvest a skinny ass deer   :)

[PapMyc]

Cliche, but it really is about the total experience. But the places and people I met at camps were very memorable. I've harvested only one animal at any camp in my lifetime ( in Ontario) Thank goodness for local populations of game to put in the freezer.

And your Dad was right, so pass that 1" thick ribeye please.