Purchased my first bow this spring (after tax season) and have tried to pratice every day (my target range is behind my office which drives the "neighboring' offices crazy). I felt fairly confident at 20 to 25. At thirty, felt like it would have to be a perfect shot.

Opening day of bow season in GA was Sept 14, as usual, working but did get in more pratice.

OK, work caught up left for the club on Thursday morn. In the woods by Thursday evening, going to get my first deer with a bow. Saw nothing but squirells and skeeters. Friday morning, I'm ready, I pumped something is going to die. More tree rats and skeeters.

My hunting buddy told me to use one of his ladder stands for that evening. OK, I'm ready. At 5:30 a whale of a wind storm comes through so I take the bow off the hook and hold it. Wind passes and I keep holding the bow. At 6:25, I see a flash at about 45 yards (newbies use range finders as soon as they sit down)first thought it was a fox squirell. Nope, here "they" come out of this drainage ditch. WILD HAWGS. Boy were they running and grunting with every step. I immediately stand up and clip my release. They are now at 30 - 35 yards so I quickly glance, the lead hawg is the biggest and ugliest so I quickly pull the bow back. She come into "range" (22 yards) and briefly pauses. This is the quickest I have ever pulled the bow back and got to my anchor (kisser button to the corner of mouth, string on nose, peep cirling the outside corner of the sight, tense left arm, tense right arm, sight slooowllly, squeeeezzze trigger). This time I pulled back did all and squeezed the trigger. Hawg starts moving before I could stop. Watched the arrow while trying to follow through, string hits my "leaves". Arrow hits about three inches too far back.

Oh crap. I wait 35 minutes, can't stand it any more. Got down and went over and found my arrow in the ground. Well, that solved whether my wimpy 57 pound pull will give a pass through. The arrow was blood only although dark blood.

Very slowly I mark where the arrow was. Notch a new arrow. Again slowly start looking for blood. Nothing. Decide it was not very smart to look for a wounded wild hawg with nothing but a bow and it's getting dark.

I decided to go and get my buddy who has harvested several hawgs. We go back. He finds three drop of blood. That's it. How with a total pass through do you only get three drops of blood? We revaluate the shot and I inform him that I heard grunting and a couple of long squeals to my left about 40 yards. We decide to quit looking for blood and go where I heard the squeals.

After walking up the tree line (I was hunting where hardwoods and an old cut over come together). My buddy yelled. "I still don't see any blood but I pretty sure that's your dead hawg".

Now for the gross part, we figured out somewhat why the hawg did not bleed. If you don't wish you don't have to read the rest.....
Ok, you're still there. The entrance hole was as I thought, about three - four inches too far back. The exit hole was even futher back since she was quartering towards to me. Here's why we think there was no blood. There were about six to eight inches of guts hanging out the exit hole. She couldn't bleed out the lower hole since it was stopped up.

Total yardage traveled from where I shot was about 50 - 60 yards, so I guess overall it wasn't a bad shot just maybe unusual circumstances. Not big enough to mount in my "trophy" room at the office but still bragging rights.

NO deer even seen the rest of the weekend.

If it matters, I am shooting a Hoyt Cybertec as stated with about 55 -57 pounds (still nursing a pulled left shoulder muscle), easton alum arrows 2312 and muzzy 100 grain.

Sorry to be so long, just thought it unusual first kill with a bow being a wild hog. One thing for sure archery is somewhat like gun hunting at crunch time it comes down to lots of pratice. Tks for listening to me ramble. Still have tons to learn but man that was a rush.

Edited by - cpahunter on 09/24/2002 20:41:37

Congrats. I too am a fellow CPA bowhunter. Good to see another "number crunching dork" on this site.

Hunt the thickets

Congrats on your first bow kill. I'd imagine that was pretty exciting, even with a hog. I kinda wish we had wild hogs running in PA but I know how distructive they are. Something else to hunt in archery season and I hear the eating is delicious.

That was also a good learning curve for you on your first animal. Quartered to shots can be lethal as you've learned, but quartered away is that much better. That same shot would have angled up into the vitals versus back into the guts. Read like a liver/guts shot....deadly none the less but a little woodsmanship to recover.

Probably best you backed out to get your friend, hard to tell how quickly the hog expired and after only 35 minutes of waiting, tough call....when in doubt, wait longer.


Great story too, I'm looking forward to reading your first deer with a bow.....keep up the great work and congrats again.

<font color=blue>Good Luck and Good Shooting</font id=blue>

<font color=red>Rob</font id=red>

Congratulations on your first kill - and worry not about the 'gross part' - old ma nature NEVER gives that clean of a kill in the wild.

You've dumped your first critter and are mystified by the flight of the arrow - tenacity will prove your ally when there appears to be 'no blood'. We've found numerous critters doing random searches after losing blood. Remember, you owe it to the game.

Congratulations on the kill - go eat some pissed off pork!



Aim small miss small

CPAS?!?! I graduate in may with masters in ACC. keep it up boys

cpahunter, congrats on your first. I got my first this past week-end also. Isn't the rush great? Good luck on getting your first deer, it is just as good. Chris

Gets your heart racing just thinking about it, doesn't it. CONGRATULATIONS... Way to stay on that trail too! Too many people give up too soon because they dont find blood. We're proud of you!

Congrats on your first of many!!

It's not how big the Deer,But the size of the experiance that matters!!

hey CPA congrats on your first.
By the sounds it was a great hunt.
Can you feel that barbed hook going through your jaw bone??
You are now hooked for life on bow hunting.

You gotta like that, congrates to ya. You are fortunate to make that kill because an animal quartering towards you is probably the most difficult to make with a bow because the vitals are protected by the shoulder blade. Way to go, Bobby