I'll start off by saying this is mythird year bowhunting, and I've learned a lot and had a lot of lows with very few highs.
I've missed a doe my first year because I didn't practice and take it serious,had 15 year old equipment, and was very nervous at the shot.
The next year Ivery unfortunately wounded a doe and 6 point (I searched hard for them and was very sick about it and learned a lot).I also haddeer in range that I couldn't shoot for one reason or other (doe out of season, spikes and a 4 point).
From reading this site,a lot of trial and error, and frustration,I've learned a lot about stand placement and concealment, scent control, wind, patience, camo,drawing quietly and undetected, and hunting hard.
It finally allpaid off last Saturday night. This was only my fifth hunt of the year. I couldn't hunt this stand the weekend before due to a South wind. But there I was settled into my favorite stand from last year (moved 10 yards andbetter hidden). I hadn't seen a deer all day, and since my area had little pressure I started doing a few contact bleats (doe/young buck on a Flextone). About 2 or 3minutes later, which was about 30 minutes before dark,the squirrel alarm went off and I heard what I was pretty sure was a deer working from my Northwest to Northeast(visibilty was limited due to palmettos and it was over 100 yards). Then it was quiet for about15 minutes, and with about 15 minutes of shooting time left, I glimpsed some movement and some whitebobbing in a ditchworkingslowly from my Northeast to my Northwest.According to plan (hah), thewind was out ofthe Northeast so that wasn't much concern.While I got my breathing under control (almost hyperventilated with the headcover), I got to watch himdo a little thrashing on a bush, and then about 40 yards out I drewwithhis head hidden. I anticipated a shot across a trail at 25-30 yards, but instead of crossing, he came straight towards me.At about 10 yards he turned broadside to get back in the ditch.He didn't have a clue that anything was wrong as I let the arrow fly.Due to the severe angle (almost 35 feet higher than him with the ditch and stand), I hit higher than I wanted to and I saw about a third of the arrow sticking out. I was crushed. This was how I had hit a 6 point last year and got a single lung (although at a lot less severe angle, which was a bigdifference). I watched him run for about 30 yards, then saw him hit a small tree and heard a lot of crashingfor about 30 seconds, and then allwas quiet. I thought he could have slunken away. Having learned my lesson from last year, I backed out as quiet as I could and made my Dad and a hunting buddy wait 2 hours. When we cambe back at 8:30 at night,I could have followedthe bloodytrail without a flashlight, and there hewas piled up about 40 yards from where I shothim. He had broken the arrow and the broadhead part had exited towards the bottom center.
I know this is long winded,but this was such a rewarding experience. To have such a beautiful animal as my first deer with a bow on our own property after all the hours and frustration was incredible. He isn't going to be very big to you midwestern guys, but where I hunt (South Central Louisiana), he isan average 3.5 year old buck.Although I'm sure he won't make 100", he still has a sweet looking rack, a lot of character,and weighed in at203 lbs.
Now for some pics (not great quality due to email):
FINALLY!
