i feel very fortunete and think my whole first season with a bow was a complete success. and i owe most of it to this forum.

to start off i was smart and made pretty good buying decisions.

then within 50 shots or so i had my first robin hood at 15 yards(not a huge deal to some...but for never shooting a bow before and being self taught..thats a trophy right there)

then teaching myself to shoot at 20 then 25..25 took alot of work. ALOT of work. thats where everything seemed to become magnified. i could slam shafts at 15..then got good at 20 with a little work..but 25 was tough to master. i never thought id see 35. i bought my bow in july i think. by mid august i was slamming shafts at 35yds.

then i decided to screw on broadheads. without you guys i wouldnt have gotten to bow hunt this year lol. found out my arrows were spined wrong and i needed to trimm 2 inches off. had that done and JUST had clearance with my rest. still flying poorly. adjusted the nock and now i can shoot anything from my bow and it all hits the same spots.

ive since sliced off countless blazers with my broadheads..and ruined i think 3 more shafts by hitting them with broadheads at 35yds.

in terms of hunting...it was success to me to go out on my own with a bow for the first time ever and see deer period. i didnt do great...i think i only seen 5 bucks and 8 does or something like that. but i made ALOT and i mean ALOT of rookie mistakes. i thought scent control was phooey and just hunt the wind like i always did..then i learned 25 foot in a tree the wind can be crazy..learned that i over hunt my stands. learned that i didnt have enough stands because i didnt think id get to hunt half as much as i did. just tons of things.

and getting a shot at a 2.5yo buck in PA with a bow my first year ever bow hunting is a major accomplishment. non bow hunters wont understand that i made a perfect shot and the deer ducked my arrow..but thats what happened. he lived..sadly i never got another shot and noone in my group got him either..but i know he lived..

and the greatest thing i accomplished was learning from my mistakes and not being set in my ways. you cant learn unless you learn from your mistakes..i learned alot and accomplished alot this first season. i think it was a total success and a major accomplishment. i know guys that bowhunted for years and havent even seen a 2.5yr old buck let alone got to release an arrow on him..and know guys that been bowhunting for a long time that i will shoot circles around..id say i accomplished alot