As many of you know this was my first year of bow hunting. It started back in early summer in the back yard practicing, practicing, practicing. I soon realized how awesome bow hunting would be in the fall.Well last night practice paid off as I shot my first deer with a bow at 5:36 p.m.

Iwas in the tree by 2:30 and for the first3 hours nothing showed up.Too make things worse I was freezingmy butt off due to lack of wearing the right clothing. It warmedup during the day so I thought the afternoon hunt wouldn't be that coolbut then got cool realquick as the sun made its way downward and I started to shiver 25 feet in the air. So after3 hours of shaking I was about to call it quits and see if my brotherand dad had any better luck than I was having.

Thenas I looked back I see deer filtering into the food plot and heading toward by frozen peanutbutter ball. I counted 5 and was just waiting foroneto give me a shot. I located a nicefat mature doe I hadmy eye on.Istood up and got ready. Then as I drew backIfinally stopped shaking. One second later dove spooked and the deer bolted a little.I am stillholdingmy draw back andafterwhat seems like five minutes later one of the smaller oneswas back in rangeso I settledbehind the front leg and finally released. I hit the mark as the deer wasquarteringaway (I hita littleback) but blood started gushing out andthe deer soon fell forty to fiftyyardsaway. I was so pumped my first bow kill. Itisa rush that cannot be duplicated. So the bad part of my story... I always try to do thingsby thebook. Wearebigfans of QDM and practice it on our property. We try to practice only killing 4.5 or older bucks(Dad leans toward 3.5 if itsa nice one)and we doour part in taking out does. We dofoot pots,minerals, surveys, sanctuaries, etc.

Well this hunt was a doemission (Jan 6the seasonends).Iwas able to see the mature doeand could tell it was a doefrom its size and actions (the alpha doe).But,after themix up from thedove spookingthe deerI was stillin fulldraw (been holding for a while know)and this wasmy only shotat a deer so I released the arrow. Well when I got up tothedeer and picked up the head iswas a buttonbuck. I was so depressed. I still was very excited about my first bowkill but I didn't want it to be a button buck. I want tolearn from this exprience and hopenottorepeat. I am glad I passed on so many young bucks this year (a really nice 8)and Iended up still getting a (immature) button buck. I learnedI need toglass every deersoI knowif there are anybuttons in the groupso I knowwhat all the deer arenot just the one I plan on harvesting. And always wear my range finder harnessjust in caseeverybody moves all over the place again (I had it at my feet).

Overall this fall I havelearnedsooo much about bow hunting (stand placement, cover, wind direction, better scent control, movement, etc.)this year and learned bow hunting was much moredifficultthan I thought and give much more appreciation to peoplewho decide to bow hunt. Oh, my brother got a turkey as well yesterday evening... that's the story, here are the pics:





Here's part of the food plot:



Here's my dad's buck he harvested on Nov. 17 (same field):

Congrats!

congrats. Nice critters.

Congrats! Nothing at all to feel bad about for your first one.

rick

That's awesome, the first one is the hardest one and the one you'll always remember. I still remember my first.

Congrats!! Nothing like the first one

Dan

If I remember correctly, you got engaged this week as well!! Not a bad week for ya. Congrats.

Mack34

Congrats on your first.That mix up could happen to anyone.It can be tough sometimes to keep track of 1 deer when there are many around.

Ditto!

Sweet