This morning at 8:15 I saw a deer sneaking through the woods headed my way, nibbling buds from shrubs along the way. It was about 50yards when I saw it, I put my crossbow on my shoulder and watched it through the scope. It was taking it's time and after a while my Carbon Express 390 got heavy so I lowered it and waited until the deer got to about 25 yards based on its location to a tree I had ranged at 20 yards. I put the crossbow back on my shoulder and put the 20 yard crosshair a little higher than I would have at 20 yards in the crease behind the shoulder and squeezed the trigger. I couldn't track the arrow in flight but I heard the loud "whack" when it hit. The deer kicked up both hind legs and took off. I climbed out of my stand with my cross bow and slowly walked to the spot I thought the deer was when I shot, I immediately saw where the leaves were kicked up and then I saw my arrow with the nock lit up sticking in the ground and covered in blood from broadhead to knock and it didn't take long until I saw good blood on the leaves. I followed the blood trail for about 15 yards where it went down into a wooded ravine with a small creek at the bottom. I was sure the deer was laying somewhere no too far away so I layed my crossbow down at the last big spot of blood and went back to my stand to get my back pack with my knives and drag rope. I called the landowner and told him I had arrowed a deer and I was about to take the blood trail. He said he would be right there if I waited a few minutes to help me . He showed up in a few minutes and we took the blood trail down to the bottom of the ravine and along the creek and it wasn't long before we spotted it laying under a log in the creek dead. In a straight line the deer went about 60 yards before it died. I got to work field dressing and and when done we decided since the deer had run across the ravine to the other side we would drag it up the side where we were instead of all the way bck where we came from to the side where I shot it. I went back to where I had hidden my atv and drove on a path to the other side of the ravine where I parked it so that I could use my winch on the front of my 4 wheeler to pull the deer up the steep side of the ravine rather than the two of us dragging it up. I releases the spool and the landowner who is a friend pulled the cable down the the deer and hooked the cable to the drag rope and I tightened the spool release and hit the button and up it came with him walking beside it and helped it over obstacles. I have manually dragged many deer out of that ravine bit no more, that winch was a blessing. It seems almost every deer I kill at my stand run down into the ravine to die, that is why I bought the winch. My deer and the stand I killed it from below. The ravine is 30 yards across and aout 30 yards deep and runs for about 200 yards where the stream runs into a pond and it is right behind the stand in the picture.
