i am a firm believer that you have to pay your dues and endure the elements to be successful. i ahve been trying to kill a deer with longbow for 3 years now and i'm loving every minute of it. i have hunted in rain, wind, snow, ice storms and more cold weather then a polor bear could stand and i would not have it any other way. i know when the time comes and i get a deer i will feel that i have earned him. countless hours in the stand. in the stand 30 minutes before the first sign of day brake with the stars shinning bright. i am getting closer and closer wheich makes me hunt harder and harder while never losing focus of the beauty that i hunt and the fun that it is. i just wanted to hear from others what you went through before you killed your first deer with trad bow. how long it took, what you hunted through and so on. stick and string what a beautifull thing!!!
I'm on year two with no kills or shots even. No snow or ice hunting, but plenty of wet days in the woods. Great stories each time though. Sorry you missed out this morning bro. I'm looking forward to this one as well. :campfire: :coffee:
It took me 3 years to kill a doe. Then year four I killed a 7 pt. and a doe. This year Im hunting more than usual and have nothing but a missed doe to show for my efforts. For me the hardest part in that 1st deer was calming myself down, picking a spot, and following thru w/ the shot. I took several shots those 1st couple years and really had trouble with my shooting on game. Id shoot good at spots and such but when a live deer was within range I'd go to crap. Id shoot at the deers whole front 1/2, pluck the string, jerk my head up at release to hopefully watch the arrow hit the deer, which it never did, till i learned to keep my head down and pick a spot. I was always just as wound up shooting at deer w/ the compound, its just that the compound has those little checks built in that make it much harder to not come to a solid anchor, slow down and line up the pin thru the peep on the hair ya wanna hit, and then squeeze the release trigger for a smooth release. Making that 1st traditional kill was a real acomplishment for me and I'm way more proud of that 1st doe than any buck ive killed with more modern weapons.
As for paying dues and enduring the elements I was stupid enough to sit in a 1 1/2 inch downpour w/o raingear this past sat afternoon. I was so cold when I got down i couldnt take my climber apart. My hands were like metal hooks. I couldnt have hit the ground with an arrow let alone a deer, yet I couldnt leave!! Thank god i didnt see any to tempt me w/ a shot. I had to stay till dark. STUPID!!! Everytime I do nonsense like that i say never again, but ive done it once a year minimum for as long as i can remember and im sure I'll do it again.
(http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p31/smallwood1972/picbuf5.jpg)
YIKES!!! guess ya got meat for the winter, spring, summer, dall, football bbq's, family picnics......
WAY TO GO!!! but we need a story about the hunt!
this says it all.... (http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p31/smallwood1972/picbuf2.jpg)
What's that line in front of the 35 for? Is your themometer messed up? ;) :knothead:
I was sitting on stand about 6 years ago when a blizzard hit. I decided to stay put because I didn't think I'd make it back to the road in the whiteout conditions. By the time I left my treestand I had about 3" of snow accuulation on me, and the world looked a whole lot different. thank god I remembered to clip my compass on.
Everything that Rau said applies to me as well. Exept it took me 10 years to take my first with the recurve. And she is very special to me. I was the last hunter in our camp to get a deer, and I put too much pressure on myself. Just to prove that to everyone I could do it like Fred Bear. I made all the same mistakes. As far as weather, living in Michigan I pretty much seen it all. But when I was a teenager, I sat through a freezing rain/ ice storm. I was in the fetal position in the treestand. When I finally straightned up to stretch the ice just cracked off my back and shoulders. Then looked at my bow and realized it was unshootable at that point anyway. That was a scary climb down too.
(http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c223/madtox/deer005.jpg)
Well I have to admit that I wuz out on what turned out to be my worst or most dangerous hunt. It was the Sunday after Thanksgiving here in Ga and I usually sit all day but the air got so heavy and the birds and all the rest of the wildlife disappered that I got a little spooky and left. 40 minutes later a toranado came thru that level the whole property I was hunting and the metal ladder stand I was in got spilt in half and the 3' tree it was chain to went missing. I now realize now I have nothing to prove and pay close attention to the weather. Time and place for everything, Just make sure you are where you need to be.
i here ya, the tree i was in tonight was swaying like a salior at sea, i got done after 2 hours of it.
I almost got married once does that count? :goldtooth:
that my brother should have entitled you to a B&C buck!! :eek:
I left you a message a little while ago.. you guys coming or not?? (imagine that in my whinny kid voice) :D
It took me three years before I took my first whitetail. There were a lot of deer which could have been shot before hand, but it just didn't seem right. (Don't know if that makes any sense or not.)
I was in a tree stand early for an evening hunt. I thought maybe a flock of turkey that hit the acorns there everyday might come by. weather was moving in from the southwest. look liked a small thunder storm. I hunkered down under a rain jacket to wait it out. I was looking right at a tree 100 yds or so away when lightening struck the tree. there was a hugh explosion. peices of tree went everywhere. a lot of steam and smoke. the hair was standing up on my arms. air around me was hmmm snapping and cracking....Ooooooo scared the heck out of me......now is see a thunder strom coming and I am out of there
rusty -don't like lightening or snakes- Craine