My First Bow Kill (North Carolina)
09-12-2002 | 08:55 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 216
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From: Clarendon NC USA
My First Bow Kill (North Carolina)
My 1st Bow Kill 9-11-2002
At day break (6:30 or so) and up on my stand with all gear in place, I told my self, this has to be the worst tree that I could have climbed. How could I have put forth so much effort to spoil it with a stupid decision on tree selection? It seemed so bad, I was thinking about just climbing down and going home. This is my second year bow hunting, and I’ve never felt this way before.
I entered the woods from a farm field at 5:30 A.M. with intentions of climbing a pine 2yds North of a heavily used trail running from West to East about 75 yards into the woods. My plans were to hunt facing South. With this set up, a swamp would be 100 yd. to my right. I would be on the top of a hard wood/pine ridge, and to my left at 100 yd., the trail leads to the continuation of the swamp. My approach to the tree was from the South and it would be on my right going in on a heavily traveled trail. It just so happens that the trail becomes two parallel trails at the tree, and I take the trail to the left rather than the right. I approach the tree and sense that something just doesn’t look right, but possessed with setting up real quiet & quick, I question it no more. I placed my Trails End 307 scent filled bomb about 3 yards West of the tree and smear some Excite lure about 3 yd. East of the tree and begin to climb. When I reached my hunting height and strapped my climber into place, I realize that the holly tree to my right is blocking my view of the West, and this is the way the deer will come from. I also had to saw a few Holly limbs because of them rubbing my arms. At this point all that’s left to do is hoist my bow, put my face mask and Bug Tamer gloves on and strap on my release. After doing all this, it’s breaking day and I have not been settled down long enough to feel forgotten or undetected. I usually try to be still and quiet 30 minutes before the break of day.
Where is that tree? When it was light enough to see, I realized what I had done. I was 5 yd. off course, and the tree I had intended to climb was to my left. I can’t climb down now; I’ll spook every thing within a mile. Why didn’t I take the time to find the right tree when I sensed something just didn’t look right? It’s too late to do what I should have done, so I’ll just stay put and do the best I can with this mess I’ve put myself in. As the morning progresses I start forgetting about all the mistakes I made today. I think about the good decision of wearing my Bug Tamer suit this morning because the mosquitoes and chiggers are very bad. I washed the suit last night and it was still damp this morning. I almost opted to wear a camouflage tee shirt and regular camouflage pants instead, which would have been a big mistake. It’s about 8:00 A.M. now and a birds eye view over the top of a brier and vine thicket is visible like I have never realized before. I hunted near this thicket last year and thought of it as being a bedding area for a nice buck, but now from this view, I bet for sure it could be a good bedding area.
It’s about 9:00 A.M. now and I’m watching the birds and squirrels at the peak of their morning activity. All of the sudden the canopy of the thicket is full of little birds perching in the vines. I watch the top of one vine move and then an adjacent one and a chain reaction happens but I see no bird. Could this be a deer? Sure enough a doe pokes here nose from under the canopy of the thicket 10 yd. to the right of my stand. How she could walk through such, I’ll never understand. As doe walks the trail from the swamp toward my stand, I’m thinking I’ll be directly over her when she passes by, and this is not the shot I want to chance. She stopped directly in front and under my stand due to the Trails End 307. She is now very alert, trying to figure out the smell. She just stands there what seems to be 2 minutes or so looking left to right, twitching her ears, and actually looking up to the bottom of my stand’s platform a couple of times. I’m standing and ready to draw but not making move. Now I understand why I should have chosen a tree about 10 yd. Away from the main trail. Oh what a broad side shot this could have been. My experience in the past has been that when the deer get enough of the Trails End 307 scent, they will go back where they come from or change their intended direction. This doe chooses to change her direction in my favor and walks South for 1yd. and then East 1 yd. Guess what, this puts her broad side at 10 yd., and how lucky could I get. I didn’t even have to think about drawing and holding my 20yd. Pin on her lungs while releasing.
Finally after many hunts I’m thinking this one may be successful. I could tell by the blood colored look of the fletching, the arrow sticking up in the ground and hearing her crash in the thicket about 30 to 40 yd. that this may turn out to be my best hunt ever.
I wait 30 minutes like the pros do before I decide to climb down to inspect the arrow and look to see if the doe is where I heard her crash. I lower my bow to the ground, remove the strap from the seat section of my climber, place my feet into the stirrups of the platform and ready myself for the descent down. I catch a glimpse of a deer on the backside of the thicket about 60 yd coming from where I think the doe is lying. Could it be I missed the doe and she is now leaving the thicket? No! It’s a 6 point buck heading my way just like the doe did and my bow is on the ground! The buck seems intimidated by the Trails End 307 and never comes as far as the doe did before he follows her exact trail to the arrow that I think killed her sticking in the ground. He sniffs the arrow’s fletching about 2 times. I bet he smells more than fletching, and from my view the fletching looks blood stained. Yes, He’s broad side at 10 yd, and my bow is on the ground! This buck looked to be 2 years old with what I call a small basket rack. He finally gets enough of the smell and walks Southward to the farm field where I entered before day.
Well, it now looks safe for me to finish my decent and start tracking the doe’s blood trail. After packing up all my gear, I retrieve my arrow and sure enough, it’s very much blood stained. I see no blood on the ground where she reentered the thicket however, so I walk to where I heard her crash, and there she was! My first bow kill!
This the 5th day of North Carolina’s 2002 bow season, will now be nothing more than a fond memory of a 70 lb. doe, but a memory worth 70 lb. of gold to me.
At day break (6:30 or so) and up on my stand with all gear in place, I told my self, this has to be the worst tree that I could have climbed. How could I have put forth so much effort to spoil it with a stupid decision on tree selection? It seemed so bad, I was thinking about just climbing down and going home. This is my second year bow hunting, and I’ve never felt this way before.
I entered the woods from a farm field at 5:30 A.M. with intentions of climbing a pine 2yds North of a heavily used trail running from West to East about 75 yards into the woods. My plans were to hunt facing South. With this set up, a swamp would be 100 yd. to my right. I would be on the top of a hard wood/pine ridge, and to my left at 100 yd., the trail leads to the continuation of the swamp. My approach to the tree was from the South and it would be on my right going in on a heavily traveled trail. It just so happens that the trail becomes two parallel trails at the tree, and I take the trail to the left rather than the right. I approach the tree and sense that something just doesn’t look right, but possessed with setting up real quiet & quick, I question it no more. I placed my Trails End 307 scent filled bomb about 3 yards West of the tree and smear some Excite lure about 3 yd. East of the tree and begin to climb. When I reached my hunting height and strapped my climber into place, I realize that the holly tree to my right is blocking my view of the West, and this is the way the deer will come from. I also had to saw a few Holly limbs because of them rubbing my arms. At this point all that’s left to do is hoist my bow, put my face mask and Bug Tamer gloves on and strap on my release. After doing all this, it’s breaking day and I have not been settled down long enough to feel forgotten or undetected. I usually try to be still and quiet 30 minutes before the break of day.
Where is that tree? When it was light enough to see, I realized what I had done. I was 5 yd. off course, and the tree I had intended to climb was to my left. I can’t climb down now; I’ll spook every thing within a mile. Why didn’t I take the time to find the right tree when I sensed something just didn’t look right? It’s too late to do what I should have done, so I’ll just stay put and do the best I can with this mess I’ve put myself in. As the morning progresses I start forgetting about all the mistakes I made today. I think about the good decision of wearing my Bug Tamer suit this morning because the mosquitoes and chiggers are very bad. I washed the suit last night and it was still damp this morning. I almost opted to wear a camouflage tee shirt and regular camouflage pants instead, which would have been a big mistake. It’s about 8:00 A.M. now and a birds eye view over the top of a brier and vine thicket is visible like I have never realized before. I hunted near this thicket last year and thought of it as being a bedding area for a nice buck, but now from this view, I bet for sure it could be a good bedding area.
It’s about 9:00 A.M. now and I’m watching the birds and squirrels at the peak of their morning activity. All of the sudden the canopy of the thicket is full of little birds perching in the vines. I watch the top of one vine move and then an adjacent one and a chain reaction happens but I see no bird. Could this be a deer? Sure enough a doe pokes here nose from under the canopy of the thicket 10 yd. to the right of my stand. How she could walk through such, I’ll never understand. As doe walks the trail from the swamp toward my stand, I’m thinking I’ll be directly over her when she passes by, and this is not the shot I want to chance. She stopped directly in front and under my stand due to the Trails End 307. She is now very alert, trying to figure out the smell. She just stands there what seems to be 2 minutes or so looking left to right, twitching her ears, and actually looking up to the bottom of my stand’s platform a couple of times. I’m standing and ready to draw but not making move. Now I understand why I should have chosen a tree about 10 yd. Away from the main trail. Oh what a broad side shot this could have been. My experience in the past has been that when the deer get enough of the Trails End 307 scent, they will go back where they come from or change their intended direction. This doe chooses to change her direction in my favor and walks South for 1yd. and then East 1 yd. Guess what, this puts her broad side at 10 yd., and how lucky could I get. I didn’t even have to think about drawing and holding my 20yd. Pin on her lungs while releasing.
Finally after many hunts I’m thinking this one may be successful. I could tell by the blood colored look of the fletching, the arrow sticking up in the ground and hearing her crash in the thicket about 30 to 40 yd. that this may turn out to be my best hunt ever.
I wait 30 minutes like the pros do before I decide to climb down to inspect the arrow and look to see if the doe is where I heard her crash. I lower my bow to the ground, remove the strap from the seat section of my climber, place my feet into the stirrups of the platform and ready myself for the descent down. I catch a glimpse of a deer on the backside of the thicket about 60 yd coming from where I think the doe is lying. Could it be I missed the doe and she is now leaving the thicket? No! It’s a 6 point buck heading my way just like the doe did and my bow is on the ground! The buck seems intimidated by the Trails End 307 and never comes as far as the doe did before he follows her exact trail to the arrow that I think killed her sticking in the ground. He sniffs the arrow’s fletching about 2 times. I bet he smells more than fletching, and from my view the fletching looks blood stained. Yes, He’s broad side at 10 yd, and my bow is on the ground! This buck looked to be 2 years old with what I call a small basket rack. He finally gets enough of the smell and walks Southward to the farm field where I entered before day.
Well, it now looks safe for me to finish my decent and start tracking the doe’s blood trail. After packing up all my gear, I retrieve my arrow and sure enough, it’s very much blood stained. I see no blood on the ground where she reentered the thicket however, so I walk to where I heard her crash, and there she was! My first bow kill!
This the 5th day of North Carolina’s 2002 bow season, will now be nothing more than a fond memory of a 70 lb. doe, but a memory worth 70 lb. of gold to me.
09-12-2002 | 09:09 PM
#2
Boone & Crockett
Joined: Oct 1998
Posts: 18,322
Likes: 0
From: Hughesville, PA USA
RE: My First Bow Kill (North Carolina)
Congratulations on your first bow kill. My first one was a nice doe as well. I'll always have that memory with me and I often reflect back to her. You've done well and I'm glad that what you thought was starting out so wrong, turned out so well. Sometimes that's the way it goes.
<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote<font size=1 face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica' id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>
Finally after many hunts I’m thinking this one may be successful.
<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica' size=2 id=quote>
All hunts can be successful regardless of tagging out on an animal that particular day. I try to learn something everytime I go out regardless of what the day offers. Sometimes I don't even see a hair but I take something home with me, knowledge, peace and I solved all the days problems that few hours on stand.
Congrats again.
<font color=blue>Good Luck and Good Shooting</font id=blue>
<font color=red>Rob</font id=red>
<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote<font size=1 face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica' id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>
Finally after many hunts I’m thinking this one may be successful.
<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica' size=2 id=quote>
All hunts can be successful regardless of tagging out on an animal that particular day. I try to learn something everytime I go out regardless of what the day offers. Sometimes I don't even see a hair but I take something home with me, knowledge, peace and I solved all the days problems that few hours on stand.
Congrats again.
<font color=blue>Good Luck and Good Shooting</font id=blue>
<font color=red>Rob</font id=red>
09-12-2002 | 09:15 PM
#3
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 175
Likes: 0
From: Dixon IL USA
RE: My First Bow Kill (North Carolina)
Awesome W.D.-Crongrats on your first bow harvest.I have found myself second guessing which stand i should have used many times.But learned to go with that first instinct,it pays off in the end!!
I really enjoy reading others stories of there hunt.Good job
It's not how big the Deer,But the size of the experiance that matters!!
I really enjoy reading others stories of there hunt.Good job
It's not how big the Deer,But the size of the experiance that matters!!
09-12-2002 | 09:50 PM
#4
Spike
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 73
Likes: 0
From: Lewisburg, PA
RE: My First Bow Kill (North Carolina)
Congrats on the deer. My first deer was last year, a doe about the same size.
Reading these stories on here makes me realize what a long 22 days it is gonna be!!!<img src=icon_smile_sad.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_sad.gif border=0 align=middle> But I enjoy reading them none the less!!
Reading these stories on here makes me realize what a long 22 days it is gonna be!!!<img src=icon_smile_sad.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_sad.gif border=0 align=middle> But I enjoy reading them none the less!!
.