Brknarrow1970

Here is the story- kinda long so bear with me

First- let me say that Jeff and Lisa are two of the nicest folks I have met in North Carolina, their hospitality was unbelivable and I honestly felt like I had known them for years - this turned out to be one of my top days in bowhunting for a number of reasons
This all started earlier in the week - I had Pm'ed Jeff to see if he still needed help with any more does - we are starting to get killed at work and days will be limited going forward- he replied that I could come SAt am- which worked out perfect as all of my other lands were going to be lets just say inaccessable on Sat
I headed out the door at 3:45 am - not knowing what to expect but looking forward to the experience - I arrived at Jeff's shortly before 5am and we gathered up our things and talked for a few minutes about a gameplan - discovered we may have a slight issue - we were concerned about my climber fitting around the tree he had picked out for me,but determined we would make something work
We headed out, man it was cold, I could tell as we were heading in the woods it was going to be a good day, heading up a huge oak ridge and you could see acorns everywhere - man I am pumped at this point
We arrive at the first spot - and as i we thought had some concerns about my climber - few minutes later Jeff takes me a few yards from the original spot and Up and pine tree I go, ALMOST

I dropped my fanny bag along the way some where ( at this time tremendous panic sets in) I am thinking Jeff is going to think I am moron but I can't shoot with fingers- so I waddle back over to Jeff and had to tell him what happened - good thing it was dark cause I am sure my face was beet red, he improvised and called Lisa at 5am and she brought a spare release( my mind is going nuts - that has never happened to me in 15 plus years of hunting)- eventually I did make it up the tree- and when it got light enough to see - i could tell was near as high as I needed to be -idiot mode number 2 for the day - I determine I will stay put and see what happens
At first light - the thing that went through my mind is what an awesome set-up, just a perfect funnel off to my right and thick woods straight ahead. We had stated we would come down at 10 am, around 7am seen three turkeys off to my right( this made the trip worth it - right there) just an awesome sight, around 8:30 notice a deer in front of me off to my right - appears to be a one sided spike- saw two more deer during the am hunt and headed down the tree shortly after 9am - went over and met Jeff, my bag was about 10 yards away from the tree he was in-was a beautiful morning and had an awesome time
As we were getting ready to head out, Jeff asked what I was doing the rest of the day, I told him nothing, he asked if I wanted to hunt in the afternoon- I jumped at the chance-We planned on shooting at the 3-d range during the day and heading back out after 2pm.
We arrived back at Jeff's place which is really serene in itself( really peaceful location). Ate some breakfast, which included venison sausage, absoultely delicious.
During mid-day we went and shot the 3-d course at the archery shop, and looked and previous photos and talked whole of hunting, the Katera from hoyt is a sweet shooter and I told Jeff if we got a deer would be my first with it

2:30 we headed back out, determined my stand would fit on the original tree and Jeff took a position 20 yards away this turned out to make the experience that much more meaningful. Around 3pm, some of the surrounding properties decided it would be a good day to bag the leaves with the riding lawn mowers- one of them had us laughing as everytime it would shut off - it would back fire and sound like a .410, it was a different experience for me but we remainedpatient, throughout the afternoon we had numerous things happen that added to the experience, a neighbor's dog decide to come visit us, lawn mowers racing to bag leaves, just a lot going on this afternoon. About 4:30 everything starts to settle down and I knew we would wind up seeing some deer, a lil time past and the wind picked up slightly but was in our favor. Shortly after 5, Jeff got my attention and pointed to the thicket ahead of me,couldn't see anything, a few seconds later I hear the deer walking, it is going to pass right in front of me, I look over at Jeff and he motioned shoot it, I eased my bow up and the deer passed through some pines - I looked at the head and did not notice any horns, she stopped about 25 yards away and I centered my pin right behind the shoulder-THUMPPPPPPPPPP- solid hit - I almost fell out the tree,had to sit down quicklywas shaking tremendously - looked over at Jeff and showed him my shaking hands - both of us smiled - that made this a top ten experince in my hunting life right there.
We got down about 20 mins later and went a located the arrow,the feathrs were solid red, but there a slight gut smell on it - we packed everything out and went back to Jeff's place- in better light we could determine the entire shaft was coated in blood,and made the determintion to go after her shortly
On to tracking - we had a difficult track job at times - thanks to Jeff and valuable flashlights we were able to stay on trail, the blood would show up in specks at time, I am thinking that arrow had to pass through some guts and they were clogging the exit wound- we were patient while following the deer and I guess she went 200-250 yards winding and turning - eventually she opened up about 40 yards prior to finding her and as soon as we got to her, , I gave Jeff a big high five and hug - we determined it was a liver hit and slightly back

Things in reflection
I need a better flashlight - without Jeff's I would have been tracking this am
I am pleased with Hoyt - I like the way it fits me almost perfect
This is latest in the year I have killed a deer with a bow
It was opening day of gun season- and WE took a deer with bow
This Doe was special - becuase of the experience

Firsts-
First time i had someone sitting close to me in the woods - made this a memorable experience even ifI wouldn't have gotten a dee
First kill with Katera

Summary-
This was one that will be in my memories forever, awesome photos well, Jeff. This was thefirst time in a long time I have hunted with someone else, I had an awesome time, shooting 3-d, b'sing, and hunting. I am thankful for the oppurtunity and in closing I probably should have gotten her mounted- I almost cried when I showed my wife the photos and she said you should have mounted her

This doe means as much to me as my biggest buck on the wall maybe more -I Love bowhunting

And Finally
Thanks Jeff/Lisafor the awesome day - made some great memories and I appreciate the oppurtunity and time spent together -

HuntingBry

Congrats to Brknarrow. That's some fine nanny whackin. Cool markings on the face too.

Rob/PA Bowyer

Brknarrow, I lived that hunt as you wrote it because I know exactly where you were and exactly what you were looking at and experiencing. When I hunted with Jeff last year, I mentioned of the experiences you wrote about, the lawn mowers, leaf blowers and dogs. The deer actually pattern the people and go about their daily activities within eyesight, smell and contacts. I watched the dog, perhaps the same dog come up and mark trees, ran up to 10 yards to a doe and barked at her while she just stood there staring at the dog, the dog went home the deer continued it's evening pattern. It's an awesome place to hunt, very enjoyable and comfortable. Jeff and Lisa are fantastic people, great hosts and faithful friends. I missed not being down their this weekend as I could have experienced this with ya'll. We'd be experiencing a nice little HNI get together right now rather than I watching a movie, playing puter and watching the snow accumulate outside my windows. We have about an inch or so now and it's continuing.

Great hunt, great photos, great people and a great read. Congrats again, to the both of you.

Brknarrow1970

Thanks fellows - was a great time

Rob, this was the highlight of my year - just an awesome experience, Jeff is very blessed with the property and one hell of guy- as I am sure most of the people on here are. Sorry you weren't able to make it but there are some great deer in NC

GMMAT

Too kind, Frank. We had a good time. I retrieved your stand from the woods, today. No worries.

Rob you ought to know that spot. He was in YOUR tree....lol.

BTW, Frank....I stepped off your shot. 24 yds.

Matt/TN

COngratulations guys.

Rhody Hunter

congrats guys

farmcntry

Great hunt. Congrats!