Saturday morning was the Central NC bow opener. I had been preparing for this one since last year's season end. I have been shooting almost daily since.
I got to the stand the evening before to check it before the following morning. It is a stand I built out of treated 2x4s and 2x6s and is only ten feet high. All was well so I prepared the camo netting for my arrival at about 5:30am.
Morning came quickly. I arrived at the stand with Thermacell already lit. I climbed the stand and placed it under my seat about 18 inches below on the stand platform. It's amazing the heat they give off for as small as they are. My behind was quite toasty all morning. It didn't help that temps were already in the 70s.
I got my netting push pinned around my stand to conceal lower body movement. I then hoisted up my Bear Super Grizzly that I bought 30 years ago when I was 16. I'm now 46. Neither me nor the Bear had taken game with each other. Today was hopefully the day.
At about 6:45 I could see well enough to get a shot within my range. The stand was secured to a sweet gum. It was on the fringe of a stand of tall slender Virginia pines. Even it sways sometimes in high winds but not like the pines.
At about 6:55 I heard a noise to my right. I slowly turned and saw a grey silhouette walking quartering away. My heart began to race. It looked like a buck, but I couldn't tell. It went out of range and soon out of sight in the scrub trees. I could see its legs still, but it was heading away. It turned and came back. My heart now went second gear. It meandered around for a few minutes and went behind me. i sat back against the tree hoping it would come by the stand and closer. After about five minutes I couldn't take it any more. I slowly turned again to see it just standing on the trail I used to get to the stand. It was sniffing, trying to figure out either me or the Thermacell. It smelled something. He began to stomp the ground as crows flew overhead cawing loudly. They knew he was there. They landed in a tree above him and cut loose on the squawking. He began to walk in the same path he went before, quartering away. He was a nice narrow young 6 point with his winter grey coat shed of the summer auburn hair and his antlers were naked. No velvet at all. Very unusual for deer in this area and this time of year. A very beautiful sight.
He then stopped with his head behind a tree. I stood and readied. He was on my good side, me being a lefty.
AND???
:banghead: :campfire:
Sounds good... so far!
And a happy :pray: :pray: :pray: :biglaugh: ending I hope
oh another teaser. Let us in on how it went. I hope you got a bloody arrow.
I am hooked!
My wife made some sandwiches. Had to take a break.
I stood ready. The young buck took a few steps and his path would lead to a good unobstructed shooting lane with a broadside shot. His head went behind another tree so I drew to anchor. He stopped. His head was behind a tree and his body was in view. I held but he stood firm with his feet. As I held to anchor he leaned his neck forward and looked right at me. Busted I thought. He then turned to look at the noisy crows. I then leaned back a little to get a better view of his rib and shoulder area. It was about 20 yards. I released.
He was already on alert. Instead of a typical dip or drop to noise he lurched forward. My arrow was on its way and I was farther back on him than I wished to be. The combination of the two caused the connection to be behind the ribs near the liver. I heard the arrow hit him and as he trotted off, without a hiccup of indication that he was hit, I saw a cut fur spot behind the ribs and low. About 2/3 down his body height.
My heart sank.
Uh Oh...sinking heart. Bad sign. What happened next?
Got me hooked. What, more sandwiches? Ya can eat later. Those of waiting for our seasons to begin can't get enough of these stories! Well written so far, here's hoping you were able to recover him.
I watched him trot off. Never more than a casual parting. He didn't seemed alarmed. He turned downhill and I never saw him again.
I climbed down to go to the spot where he was standing. I looked for my arrow. I couldn't find it. I was not very far in the woods so I quietly walked back to my parents' house and was quivering quite visibly. I waited for nearly an hour and returned to the spot again.
This time I saw it. My arrow was stuck deep into the loamy leaf covered ground. No blood. Blood isn't that color. My fears were realized. I went to the spot I last saw him and could find no blood. I went back to the house, now shaken up by what no bowhunter wants to experience. I went back to the house and this time waited two more hours.
I returned and began scanning the area I last saw him once more. This time I found a good spot of blood. Dark blood. Then began a track that lasted nearly two hours that ended with the last speck of blood visible to me coming into a field of ragweed. I was now well on another person's property. Even the weeds gave no sign of where to go or what direction to guess. I had tracked him for about 300 yards. I could feel chiggers crawling all over me from the ragweed. I stayed in the woods and field for nearly another hour trying to find something, anything to help me decide to press on. I couldn't. Sadly, I was at a loss of what to do.
I returned to the house and shed my chigger infested clothing and took the hottest shower I could stand. Depression set in and it's an evil but inevitable feeling when a morning of hunting goes this way. I apologized to my aged father who taught me my hunting ethics so long ago. I could tell he was not happy with what I had to tell him, but he tried, even if knowingly in vain, to say things of encouragement.
After the shower and nothing to eat I contemplated leaving and giving up the opening day's hunt. At 4:30pm I decided to go back into the woods for a chance at redemption. Maybe God would let me know, somehow, that even with my failure that morning I could still find a positive note for the day.
I suited back up in the camo brush clothing and hit the trail to the stand. I got about 20 yards into the woods and was busted by a doe. She and her fawn ran off. I thought that my hunt was over before it even got started again.
I got settled back into the stand and as I sat in the stand until it was nearly dark I thought I had blown it big time and my one chance was used up. My faith in myself and my shooting abilities were questioned all day long and sitting in the stand I could only think about the shot over and over from that morning. "If only I would have....." constantly played in my head. The sun was getting real low. It was now about 7:30pm. Visibility in the thick pines was getting low. I could still see my shooting lanes well enough to shoot for a while longer.
Then, as if on cue, she came from nowhere.
A nice summer red/winter grey mature doe came up the trail I had set my stand to watch. She came from the place I had wanted her to come. She walked the path as if scripted. She paused and looked around; never up though. She walked right into the very front of my stand. She stood exactly where I had practiced shooting only a week or so earlier with good accuracy. She stood perfectly broadside with her close-side leg forward as if presenting a target. Again, as if on cue to the pre-planned script, a dog in the distance barked. She looked straight away from me towards the distant dog's sound. I didn't even stand up. I uprighted my bow, drew to anchor, picked the spot she gave so willingly and released the arrow.
With a thunk the arrow hit exactly where I was looking. No dipping. No lunging. Just a straight away shot with precision only guided by practice and divine help. She surged into a run crashing through narrow openings in trees and I could see the arrow sticking out of her right side as it raked across the passing trees. She ran straight downhill and just out of sight I heard a crash. She was down!!
I sat for a few minutes, saying a small prayer of thanks, and climbed down to the place she stood. I walked about three feet in the direction she went and saw the first sign of a soon to follow, soon to easily follow, speckled blood trail.
By now darkness was setting in good with the surrounding trees blocking out the day's remaining sunlight. I went to get a flashlight.
I returned to easily find the trail again. By now the woods were dark. I followed the trail without looking ahead. I walked what seemed like 60 yards, but the next morning with woods fully lit up I realized she only went about 30 yards. Her gift was swift. I had been redeemed. I now fought back differing emotions about the morning's failure and the evening's success. I truly believe this doe was a gift.
She dropped the front half of the arrow about five yards from the shot.
(http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f94/Equismith/100_0408.jpg)
The rest of the arrow I found this morning about ten yards away from the shot.
(http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f94/Equismith/0911110959.jpg)
And 30 yards from her sacrificial stance I found her. She will be in my memory always as an act of redemption and faith.
My first traditional harvest with my Bear Super Grizzly I bought 30 years ago for about $45.
(http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f94/Equismith/100_0410.jpg)
QuoteOriginally posted by Pokerdaddy:
Got me hooked. What, more sandwiches? Ya can eat later. Those of waiting for our seasons to begin can't get enough of these stories! Well written so far, here's hoping you were able to recover him.
I got to typing and the wife wanted the computer.
If momma ain't happy.......you know.
Gift, redemption...
A talisman of inclusion and acceptance.
Bittersweet, with thanks.
Killdeer
out standing
great story. Thanks for sharing.
CONGRATULATIONS and thank you for sharing the roller coaster of hunting with us.
It happens, but you have to get back up on the horse . Most of us have been there. Congrats enjoy your first!! Joe
nice work
Roller coaster of emotions rolled up into one day. Learn from the lows and cherish the highs.
Good work.
Rob
Congrats, :thumbsup:
I know your first feeling had a bad morning myself.
Congrats!Great story!
You not only stuck with this hunt, even though you caught a bad break in the morning, you didn't give up and was rewarded, and one of the best parts of the story is that you purchased that bow a long time ago and stuck with that also. ( and it's a camo green bear bow ) great story and pictures.
Thanks for sharing.
Congratulations Bud! :thumbsup: I am very happy for you. I am still waiting on my first.
Awesome buddy good story and happy ending ,beautiful shot.Aloha Ron
You're a great writer...you tell a story with a lot of emotion. We've all been on the "morning side" of your day, and it about kills us to not be able to recover game. Congratulations on your doe and sharing your story with us!
Bernie Bjorklund
NC Iowa/SW Wisconsin
Great story! Congrats on your first harvest!
Congrats Bud! You write well also. Thanks for sharing with us.
Thank you everyone.
After recovering her I had a devil of a time trying to find a pocessor to take her to. I had left information passed on by a coworker back at home and I couldn't find the one herndont told me about. I called Raymon Bell, President of NC Bowhunter's, and got loads of help from him. Within 5 minutes of his phone call I was on the way to a processor near Walnut Cove, NC, which is not far from Madison where I was hunting. I arrived and unloaded my harvest. I spoke with Mark and Jennifer, owners of the business, and decided to donate the doe to them so they could get the meat to families in need. I kept the hide to tan for my father, a ham, and the backstraps. I have a good jerkey recipe I use and that's the only way my wife will eat deer.
I figured the doe had given herself to me so I felt it was appropriate to give her to someone who could use her to help ease these tough economic times.
I won't hunt behind their house again until Dec when I am fortunate to have the St. Jude's Faith Stalker with me. I trust that Faith will help me with another harvest if it is meant to be.
And for what it's worth, Eclipse makes a heck of a two blade broadhead. The GT Trad did its part too. It just wasn't able to withstand the power of a deer racing through Virginia Pines.
Much success to all this season.
Bud
Congrats Bud B.!
Congrats on you 1st!
Good job on not dwelling on the past and making the most on the shot at hand with your doe harvest.
Exact scenrio happen to me! I hit my 1st deer too far back. Found it 3days later, thanks to the buzzards. The next one, almost two weeks later, dropped her on the spot. Spine shot. Had to do a follow up shot to finish.
That was a great story, you are a gifted writer. I am glad you redeemed yourself. Great Story!!!!
you will always remember the first-congrats.
Way to stay with, congrats!!!
Perservence pays off, well done! :thumbsup:
Congratulations on your perseverence....
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Congrats on the opener. We did not even see a deer.
congrats! :thumbsup:
Great job sir! Way to stick with it and get back on the horse! That will be some good eats! :thumbsup: :clapper:
:thumbsup: :cool:
Congratulations!!! I told you it was only a matter of time for you, just stinks your "journey" had to be so difficult. I'm so glad you were able to redeem yourself so quickly. Losing an animal, any animal, is a tough pill to swallow, but for it to happen on your first animal, that just sucks. However, you did the right thing in my opinion and got right back on the horse. Good for you and congratulations again, TRW.
Congratulations! A great, well written story too!
Congrats on the kill. You can use this as a learning experience.
If you gut shoot a deer it will almost always take them more than 5 hours to die. They usually will lay down within a 100 yards and die in their bed if unpushed. Even though the blood will be scant you can usually find the deer by following the trail or doing a grid search. I would imagine when you found the spot of blood, the deer had stopped, he probably would have or wanted to lay down at that location.
If it is jumped from its bed the difficulty level in finding it goes up incredibly.
Good luck and again Congradulations on your deer.
Excellent stuff.
Epictetus, the Roman Stoic philosopher tells us, "We must ever bear in mind – that apart from the will there is nothing good or bad, and that we must not try to anticipate or to direct events, but merely to accept them with intelligence."
Congrats! :thumbsup:
Bless your heart, Bud - you just made the start of my season with this well written story, because I haven't even made it into the woods yet (except along the edge of my home range - LOL), due to numerous reasons not worthy of discussion. Great job on the shot and the story - as well as the honest feelings that most all of us have felt at one time or another. May the good part repeat itself for you many times over, my friend.
Thanks Bernie, and all.
Bernie, if anything gets in your eye's sights it'll be down. The photos of your hits on your targets look real good. I hope you see one and get to draw on it.
Congratulations!
Hope you're right, Bud, and thanks.
Well, I finally made jerky out of the ol' girl. The Super Grizzly I used is in the background. Making the jerky brought back all the memories from two years ago. When I thawed the vacuum sealed meat it was like it was packed yesterday. Hopefully I'll be visit the same processor soon.
Here's to a successful season for all in 2013.
(http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f94/Equismith/101_0896.jpg) (http://s45.photobucket.com/user/Equismith/media/101_0896.jpg.html)
Way to go Bud..
Really nice story !
Looks good Bud! Congrats on the earlier doe also. Missed your story somehow. Good luck this fall!