Congratulations to your wife on her first deer, I hope she gets more opportunities in the future. Here's my first:

My first one was a six point. Walking into the woods toward my stand to hunt the afternoon I catch movement in time to watch the rear end of a deer going down to bed. He was only 30-35 yards away then, so I moved in slowly with just a slight breeze rustling the leaves on the trees.

At <15 yards I could see antlers and his head was moving side to side. A basket 3x3. As he began to stand, I draw. He spins around and stops looking directly at me and I let the arrow fly. Enters just right of where his neck joined the shoulder and disappeared. He ran just of to my left and crashed through brush for about 5 seconds then silence.

I looked at my dads' old Bear Thunderbird recurve and thought of all the arrows I had shot during the past year to get ready for just this experience. I wondered if the hit was good, I had never been in this situation before. It all happened so fast once he stood, I didn't get nervous. But then the reality set in and I began shaking so bad I had to sit down for fear of falling off my feet.

I sat for a while, I don't know how long, just trying to get a handle on things. I get up and go to where he was standing. About ten feet behind where his back legs had been laid my arrow. Covered in blood and some brownish-green stuff and some pieces of corn. I begin walking his path watching his tracks, broken brush and after about 20-30 steps begin seeing blood splattered on the brush, ground and sapplings with some blood as high as waist level. After another 60-70 yards I look up to see him down, watched for signs of him breathing and approached with nervous fear. When I prodded him with a nocked arrow and he didn't move, all I could do was kneel beside him and stare. I had seen many deer that season in the woods but most were does and bucks were the only legal deer for harvest.

Well I ramble on, but suffice it to say - you never forget the first one.



Shoot often - Hunt always