CC in WestV

I've been taking my wife hunting with me for 2 years now to try to get her a shot at a deer. We've had very little luck so far. I see deer when i go by myself but when i take her we dont see them.
We got in our stands early saturday morning. At 7:30 i see movement behind me. It was a small buck, but he came in directly downwind of us and before he came into range he winded us and was gone.
It was quite cold in the morning, and the wind was blowing fairly hard, and my wife was ready to go by 9 am. I told her i wanted to sit until at least 10:30. By 10, she had had enough and said she was going to the house with or without me. I frustratingly said, "OK, Lets go!". She had dropped her quiver earlier in the morning so all she had was the one arrow on her bow. i took her arrow, put it in my quiver and lowered my bow to the ground, took off my safety belt, reached for my pack and caught movement out of the corner of my eye. I could not believe my eyes. Not 10 yards away stood a 6pt eating the percimmons we were hunting over, and there we sat, her bow...NO ARROWS!!! it fed there for a couple of minutes. I tried to raise my bow back up but it caught the movement every time. I cussed that deer till a fly wouldn't light on him Finally it had enough and took off. A good lesson for her though.

That afternoon we got on stand by 3:00. We watched a small buck pass just out of range. I rattled him back but he circled directly downwind and smelled us.
At 5:00 I heard something in the brush and told my wife to stand up and get ready. Then i saw it, a bruiser of a buck, a huge 8 pt, probably 18" or so inside, 10" tines. I couldn't believe it. he came to about 14 yards and I whispered to my wife to hold her 10 yd pin high. That was my que for her to draw and shoot. She didn't. The buck turned straight toward us and walked behind a big pine tree. I thought, "OK, now she's gonna draw". She didn't. At 5 yards, with the buck looking straight at us she tries to draw her bow. He immediately spots the movement, wheels around and trots off directly away from us. I was sick, just sick. I could have drilled him at 20 yards. It was so hard to stand there and watch that buck and not be able to take the shot. Everybody has been saying that i should have just shot it. But I wanted her to get it, and i had no way of knowing she wasn't going to be able to take the shot. By the time I realized it, it was too late.
But oh well, it was a great lesson for her. Just rookie mistakes, but it just wasn't supposed to be a deer like that. I wanted to break her in on a doe or a small buck, not a buck like that. Hell, i've been bowhunting for 15 years and i've NEVER had an opportunity like that at a deer of such proportion. She keeps saying she's sorry cause she knows i wanted that deer bad, but i keep telling her it wasn't her fault, just to take it as a lesson learned.
Any similar experiences???

dough boy

Man....at least you got her in the woods!!!! I tried to get my wife to go and sit with me. She looked at me like I had 4 heads!!!! She doesn't mind that I hunt, she just won't go and watch me shoot a deer.[8D][8D]

WV8Point

That is a bummer! I haven't any any experience like that, because after about 1/2 an hour without seeing anything, my wife starts sighing. Not long after that, she is freezing, and that is followed by "starving to death".

Just be thankful that she will brave the elements to go hunting with you. My wife wants a bow to shoot with me when I practice, but she doesn't want to go out into the cold to hunt.

GR8atta2d

Well I sorta have a similiar expirience but not on a buck of that magnitude. My very first Buck season (rifle in Pa) I was 12. I was standing with Dad, when a nice fork-horn came walking in. He was close like 15-25 yards away just walking and feeding along the ridge we were hunting. I watched him, so excitedly, my skin was twitching. My rifle was raised (safety still on) and I followed him right around the corner. this whole scenerio was probably 8-10 minutes long. The buck walked away never knowing we were there.
The deer now gone, Dad says "why didn't you shoot"? I was figuring he would give me a verbal OK to take the deer. The fact that he didn't, I thought something must not have been right. We still laugh about it and it comes up every year at camp!

Shoulder Shot

You are a very unselfish person to do that. Ive been through the same thing with my son. Its hard sometimes.

livbucks

I hope you weren't mad at her. I hope you both laughed and hugged and enjoyed the experience. So she got busted, I bet she was thrilled at the experience and can't wait to go again. I bet she stays longer next time. If that didn't hook her nothing will.

CC in WestV

No i wasn't mad at her. I was somewhat mad at her for the morning hunt because she was griping the whole time wanting to go. But that definately made her wanna get back out there in the evening.
I was just very frustrated in the evening, not mad. It wasn't her fault. she just needs more experience. I'm sure we'll laugh about it soon. We're still crying about it now though...

Katbones

Great story,, and thanks 4 sharing!

Greavous

I bet she got buckitis and just forgot everything for the moment. I can recall similar situations when I first started bowhunting. Remember when you heart pounded so hard you couldn't hear? Hope she pulls it all off next time!