Eye to eye with an 8 point buck

[Oldskool2]

I had the coolest encounter this weekend with a beautiful 8 point young buck and I am hooked on deer hunting (again)
First, let me tell you a little about me. I have have not hunted deer in 22 years (rifle) and 24 years with a bow. so recently with some urging from a good friend I agreed to buy a compound bow and go deer hunting this year. I went to the store and while waiting to shoot the bow I picked out, there was a newbie on the range with the latest greatest compound bow shooting good groups at 20 yards. I overheard the tech telling them that the tech is so good that it makes anyone a pro with little skill or practice. Hmmmmmmmm...   wll, thats just not my style, I have always wanted to shoot a recurve so I bought a recurve instead! no sights, no rest, no release. just a bow, arrows and a tab. I am thoroughly hooked on this style of shooting and I believe it makes me a better hunter because I HAVE to be good, no shortcuts, no excuses!! So, fast forward the last 2 months of practice everyday, reading up, doing my homework on hunting. I went hunting this weekend and my friend sat in his tree stand, I decided I was going to still hunt, which is something I was moderately successfull with a long time ago hunting squirrels and rabbits. So, on day 1 I walked a levee staying on the downwind side just barely peering over looking for deer. I finally spotted a doe and she was a lil ahead of me so I shimmied down the levee on my but got directly behind her at about 50 yards . She was just entering a dense bedding field but I could still see her so I got down on my hands and knees and stalked to within 20 yards of her. My heart was racing as I was reminded of the thrill of stalking an animal. when I felt I could raise up and get ready for a shot I did and she was still a lil out of position for a good shot so I waited just a minute, she took a couple of more steps and just dissapeared into a sea of brambles and thistle and what not!!   errrrrr....   oh well that was fun at least.

Now for the good part!!
later that afternoon I was still hunting the edge of a large bedding area, sitting for short spells and then stalking real slow. as I was sitting studying the thick bedding area antlers appeared just on the other side of the tree that was about 10 feet in front of me. (did I mention the bedding area is super thick) I could see he was moving slowly towards a trail that would pass right in front of me so I readied my bow and waited for the shot. as he cleared the tree he looked to his left and then did a double take and looked straight at me. I had no shot yet and was not drawn so all I could do was sit there still as I could be. there was a lil branch slightly obscuring his view so he spent the next 3 minutes bobbing his hed to the left and right and up and down trying to figure out what this leafy, full camo'd facepainted thing was (my friend was calling me "special ops" cuz I even painted my hands as well as my face)finally he turned and bounded off,I thought he was gone and I sat there amazed at the encounter when I realized he was back looking at me at the head of the trail. he gave me another long hard look and then decided he didnt like it and bound off again, this time snorting and with the setting sun backlighting him I could see the snot coming out !!!  WOW, That was so cool, he was barely 6 yards from me, we were eye to eye in a showdown and this magnificent creature had better survival skills than my predatory skills. and I am totally ok with that. that is an encounter I will never forget and I am once again hooked on deer hunting and forever hooked on Trad hunting!!

[WindOtter]

Reading your post my heart started pounding and I could almost hear the sounds of the woods and smell the leaves underfoot! Thanks, and keep posting your experiences please!

[Stiks-n-Strings]

It's Great ain't it!

[YORNOC]

       

[jmrsyrs]

Great story and welcome.

[Hopewell Tom]

My first time was very similar to that, but from a tree and a nice 8 pointer as well. I had thought having them so close and no shot would be a "deal breaker". But just the opposite, what a thrill! And now work harder to connect.
Welcome aboard.

[TRT]

What a cool couple of hunts!  Thanks for sharing.  Makes me want to go hunting right now!!!

[Big Ed]

Very cool,glad to have you back!

[Whip]

Successes are sweet when they come, but encounters like that are what it is all about!  Great story - I could actually hear your heart pounding!!

[Butchie]

Even if you kill many deer in the years to come, I'm sure that encounter will be one you recall "best".  Thanks for sharing!

[bowhuntingrn]

Makes me look forward to the coming days even more. I haven't hunted much in the past 10 years, but I laid down the training wheels 1 1/2 years ago and picked up the stick and string. Wasn't quite ready last year, so another year passes. I probably don't shoot as much as I should...but I'm finally at the point I feel confident enough to get back in the game as long as I get 'em close. Being a little older and rounder now, have decided to give up the treestands as well, at least for a while... Gonna get on their level and see if I can hack it. Good luck on your future hunts and thanks for sharing.

[Terry Green]

[kbetts]

No treestands for me tonight!  That got me pumped!

[limbolt]

Great story,thanks for sharing.      

[Sam McMichael]

I've been eyeball to eyeball with a couple of deer and totally agree that is true thrill just to get that close. I've never closed the deal that close on the ground.

Those kind of experiences is what makes trad bowhunting sooooooooo cool!

Bisch