HuntingNet.com Forums - View Single Post - why do you bow hunt?
View Single Post
Old 01-18-2002, 10:38 PM
  #23  
akbowhunter
Fork Horn
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: fairbanks alaska
Posts: 144
Default RE: why do you bow hunt?

My first bowhunt in Alaska
I sit here in my special place. My mind wanders deeper into the woods that surround me. never have I heard the sound of leaves falling from the trees. The cool air seems to be killing the trees and I am sitting here watching them slowly die as the leaves struggle to stay on the tree. The golden yellow, and red leaves of the birch and aspen trees with splashes of green from the spruce that paint the hill side as I sit. silent, watching, waiting. Suddenly the wind would blow and rustle the leaves causing a few more to fall, blanketing the ground for the soon to come snow fall. Its already freezing at night so I know the snow is not far away, even the afternoons are chilly. The sun is just rising in the East with the first shafts of light intensifying the colors of fall. Everything seems to move in such unhurriedness that time stands still and nothing seems to change I know time is going by cause I can see my breath as I breathe slowly, calmly. The world Im in belongs to me no one will ever share this time in my special place. I know it will all change soon and the fight for survival will claim many of the lives of the forest animals. But what expense is there in so much as one may die so another can live. This is the cycle of life in the forest and we as humans are the top of the food chain... or are we? so many of the animals are bigger and stronger than us a bear could, given certain circumstances kill us with one swipe of its paw or one bite from its jaws. So many things come and go in my head my brain cant keep up. Its quiet here yet I can hear everything, the sound of one leaf falling as it hits each branch on its way down sounds like something walking but I know its just a leaf. Suddenly a twig snaps bringing me back to the present. My heart begins to race I can feel it trying to jump out of my chest and can hear the beating in my ears. Something scrapes a bush. where is it, what is it. My body is on full alert. There is no wind so I know what ever it is cant sent me. I haven't moved and the tree and bushes in front of me hide me quite well... There it is A MOOSE. He's not big but he's legal to shoot. He walks so slowly, cautiously looking every where for movement, ears twitching trying to hear any strange sound as he bends his head and feeds some 50 yds from me. He's moving just into range. Very quietly I remove one arrow from its place trying not to make any sound, as I set it on its rest and knock it onto the string. His head raises, sniffing the air, he looks all around and lowers his head continuing his feeding. The trail he's on would bring him in at 40 yds, I cant move, if I do now he will see me, so I wait. He feeds down the trail and at the moment his head is behind a tree im able to shift my weight. Wait he heard something. What was it? did I make some sound I didn't hear? Are there other moose following him? did a breeze carry my scent to him? So many questions go through my head. Now he's not moving, maybe he senses something's not right. Not finding anything wrong he goes back to feeding. Trying to control my breathing which I know is heavy, I glancing down with my eyes to see if everything is ready on my bow slowly I raise it. Wishing for a gentle breeze to move the trees so I wont be detected. He raises his head again looking away from me. "Perfect" i thought. going through everything in my mind... OK just like practice. I draw my bow back locking it into the same position I have thousands of times. breathe I have to breathe OK he's at 40 yds... Aim... second site pin is 35 so put it high on his back... perfect.. breathe damn it.. squeeze the trigger... don't forget to follow through, just like before..... thwap... the arrow leaves my bow and I watch every thing go into slow motion my arrow flies high clipping some hair but no skin. He looks back at me with ears pointed strait up and kinda snorts at me and trots off as if to say ha ha you missed. such is hunting I was grateful he wasn't wounded as I sat back down to think about all that went wrong... nothing, the only thing I failed to account for was the elevation. The downward shot caused the arrow to fly high. I would go over the shot many more times in my head reliving it over and over.. Next time.. there will always be a next time.
this is why Ron
akbowhunter is offline