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First draft of a 300 word essay for Bowhunter Magazine... Thought some of you may enjoy reading it.

“What does it mean to be a bowhunter?”

“Patience is the key to any successful archery hunt.” I had heard or read those words dozens of times before in magazines, on TV, or on one of the many online hunting forums that I visit regularly. Never had I taken them completely to heart though, until my first archery season that is.

I had seen her on several occasions from the same stand overlooking a lush green alfalfa field. I had watched her use the same trail to come out into the alfalfa field for three days. I had watched her hop the same rusted barbwire fence on three separate occasions, each time stopping at an apple tree some 80 yards away taking time to nibble on the fruit that had fallen in the course of the day. Each time she hopped the fence my adrenaline rose. Each time I attached my release to a carefully tied string-loop my hands would shake. Each time she took a trail just out of range I learned a little more about our sport.

I had visited numerous websites, talked to a countless number of people online, and read everything I could in books and magazines on shot placement on whitetail deer. The answers were all the same, right behind the front shoulders, in the lungs.

When she finally presented me with a good broadside shot, I was more than ready. My bow at full draw, my 20-yard pin behind her shoulder, I mentally told myself I was ready. Even as I squeezed the trigger of my release, I knew she was mine. As I climbed down out of my stand a half-hour later, I silently thanked God for the animal he had allowed me to harvest.

Hunting patiently, ethically, and with a positive attitude is what it means to be a bowhunter.