Your most memorable experience
11-29-2005, 06:09 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: some were
Posts: 801
Your most memorable experience
I had the idea that we could post a story ofour most memorable experience whilein the woods and then we could all vote on the best story.Because some of us are new tothe Traditional way the experiance dosn't have to involve Traditional gear, but it may help in the voting proces. I think this will give us a chance to tell a cool experience to people who will understand it.
Lets try to stay as close to the facts as posible
.
I will work on mine and have it up in the nextday ortwo.
Lets try to stay as close to the facts as posible
. I will work on mine and have it up in the nextday ortwo.
11-30-2005, 12:48 AM
#2
Typical Buck
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Troutdale Oregon
Posts: 569
RE: Your most memorable experience
Ok I'll Bite, But I is scared to even go here.
Well, It was openning day Of our Oregon elk season and we had been up and down the mountains all day long. We were about 3 miles back and We ran into a group of bull elk, One was a hum dingger of a 6x6 . They were High on a ridge and our legs were wore out from hunting all day But my buddy started after them and I stopped him and I told him there was a road up there and if we hoofed it back to camp we could hop in the truck, drive up there and come down on them. He agreed and we headed for camp. We were walking down a old skid road that was nothing more than a small trail anymore with trees growing up in the middle and lots of blow down, but it was a lot easier walking than the side hill. We came to a creek crossing and Bill stopped he had to take a dump and I told him I would continue to the truck so We could get up there. About a 100 yards from there I glanced down the ridge and I saw something light brown move. I stopped and pulled a arrow from the quiver Of My Mathews Feathermax And Nocked it. It was A large Couger Just laying In the sun near a elk trail that crossed the creek. My senses went into overdrive He was at least 80 yards down hill. The river was makeing just enough noise that he didn't hear me walking down the trail. I took off my boots and began a slow stalk putting a tree between him and I, moveing very slow and just focused on my target. I was calm and determand to take this cat. I finnaly got to the tree and looked around it to see the cat now sitting on his butt faceing the tree licking his paw. He was still 50 yards down hill and a steep down hill at that. There was no more cover between him or I so I took a step back from the tree and drew my bow, I placed the 40 yard pin on his neck and shot. The arrow dropped in perfect hitting the big cat right in the chest and exiting near his rear. I thought for sure it was a heart shot, Had to be. The big tom never seen it comming, he jummped about 12 feet in the air and then ran across a log over the river and disappered about 10 yards the other side of the creek just as he went over some blow down. I then began to shake uncontrolably . I thought to myself Did I just emagin this or did it really happen I kept playing it over in my mind and I could no longer stand I was shakeing to badly. Just then My buddy bill walked up and said He watched the whole thing from the trail, He said it was the cooliest thing he ever saw. In fact he was shakeing too. After about ten Min. we decided he must be dead because he never move again since the shot so we slowly walked up to where we last saw him. I was leading and as soon as I stepped on that old blowdown snag he jumped up and snagged my boot with his right paw. His nail penitrated my Danners and then I jumped back and he laid down again. We didn't want him to suffer so bill worked his way around but couldn't see him . There was a small dip under that blow down and he was in it. the only way was to get up on that log and shoot again. so I knocked another arrow and stood back up on the log slowly shuffleing my feet down it till I could see him at about 2 feet from me. Our eye's meet and I can see his musels tense as he is readying for the attack. I shoot him again threw the side and he attacks at the same time the arrow hit him, The arrow pierced his side in mid air before it was even totaly out of the bow and I began to run backwards holding the bow like a base ball bat. he followed me for about ten feet and then ducked under another fallen tree and died. The shakes then set in again and I couldn't even talk they were so bad this time. After about 20 min of just sitting on the ground we tied it to a pole and packet it the 1.5 miles to camp and took pic's What a hunt. I'll never forget it.
Well, It was openning day Of our Oregon elk season and we had been up and down the mountains all day long. We were about 3 miles back and We ran into a group of bull elk, One was a hum dingger of a 6x6 . They were High on a ridge and our legs were wore out from hunting all day But my buddy started after them and I stopped him and I told him there was a road up there and if we hoofed it back to camp we could hop in the truck, drive up there and come down on them. He agreed and we headed for camp. We were walking down a old skid road that was nothing more than a small trail anymore with trees growing up in the middle and lots of blow down, but it was a lot easier walking than the side hill. We came to a creek crossing and Bill stopped he had to take a dump and I told him I would continue to the truck so We could get up there. About a 100 yards from there I glanced down the ridge and I saw something light brown move. I stopped and pulled a arrow from the quiver Of My Mathews Feathermax And Nocked it. It was A large Couger Just laying In the sun near a elk trail that crossed the creek. My senses went into overdrive He was at least 80 yards down hill. The river was makeing just enough noise that he didn't hear me walking down the trail. I took off my boots and began a slow stalk putting a tree between him and I, moveing very slow and just focused on my target. I was calm and determand to take this cat. I finnaly got to the tree and looked around it to see the cat now sitting on his butt faceing the tree licking his paw. He was still 50 yards down hill and a steep down hill at that. There was no more cover between him or I so I took a step back from the tree and drew my bow, I placed the 40 yard pin on his neck and shot. The arrow dropped in perfect hitting the big cat right in the chest and exiting near his rear. I thought for sure it was a heart shot, Had to be. The big tom never seen it comming, he jummped about 12 feet in the air and then ran across a log over the river and disappered about 10 yards the other side of the creek just as he went over some blow down. I then began to shake uncontrolably . I thought to myself Did I just emagin this or did it really happen I kept playing it over in my mind and I could no longer stand I was shakeing to badly. Just then My buddy bill walked up and said He watched the whole thing from the trail, He said it was the cooliest thing he ever saw. In fact he was shakeing too. After about ten Min. we decided he must be dead because he never move again since the shot so we slowly walked up to where we last saw him. I was leading and as soon as I stepped on that old blowdown snag he jumped up and snagged my boot with his right paw. His nail penitrated my Danners and then I jumped back and he laid down again. We didn't want him to suffer so bill worked his way around but couldn't see him . There was a small dip under that blow down and he was in it. the only way was to get up on that log and shoot again. so I knocked another arrow and stood back up on the log slowly shuffleing my feet down it till I could see him at about 2 feet from me. Our eye's meet and I can see his musels tense as he is readying for the attack. I shoot him again threw the side and he attacks at the same time the arrow hit him, The arrow pierced his side in mid air before it was even totaly out of the bow and I began to run backwards holding the bow like a base ball bat. he followed me for about ten feet and then ducked under another fallen tree and died. The shakes then set in again and I couldn't even talk they were so bad this time. After about 20 min of just sitting on the ground we tied it to a pole and packet it the 1.5 miles to camp and took pic's What a hunt. I'll never forget it.
11-30-2005, 03:05 PM
#3
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: some were
Posts: 801
RE: Your most memorable experience
Rich that is a great story. It is amazing that you got that close to such a amazingly stealthy creature.
Here is mine, thereare some fishing references so be warned.
It was mid June, one of those days that fill your dreams all winter. I found my self some were between here and there, covered in bug dope and hoping that tonight would be the night that the river let lose and its surface boiled with rising fish. I was fishing a spot I call Skunk Hole, it is a fast deep run at the end of a mile long section of slow frog water. I will spare you all the fishing details, what you need to know is this is my place, passed down to me from my old man. I feel more at home here then I do in my own living room.
I had just landed a small brook trout and was putting on a new fly, when out of the corner of my eye I picked up some movement. Up stream, about 20 yards from me, on an outcropping of rocks sat a coyote pup. He stood under a foot at the shoulders and still had the fluffy coat of a young dog. The brave or dumb little devil was in no way worried about me, he just sat on his back lags and watched me go about my business.
I returned to my fishing and tried to only glance now and then to see if he was still there. This went on for around and hour, I fished and he watched, he occasionally bent down to take a drink of water. The fishing was slow and my attention span is short so after loosing a fly to the other bank I decided to see how bold this little guy was. I set my pole down and stated to make my way slowly towards the little dog. To my surprise he didn’t even stand up he just sat there, carefully watching my every step. I closed the distance to around ten feet and he still never moved. I figured this was close enough, so I sat down on the bank and opened the coke I had in my vest. This is when the little guy did something I never expected, he threw his head back and let out a series of howls and yips that lasted for about a minute. I have never laughed so hard in my life.
There we both sat for a good 15 minuts watching each other and the river, I don’t know what he was doing there and he probable couldn’t figure why I was there, but for that few hours we just seemed to just get along. I didn’t fish much that night, I figured I could fish any day but how many time will I be able to share a drink with a yote. I finished my pop and stud up, off in the distance I could here his family let out. His ears twitched, he stud up and clumsily made his way into the dark swamp. The rest of the trip out in my canoe I listened to the pack as the came together for there night hunt.
They only one I told about this was my Dad. As I told him his eyes got big and when I was done he said “you may not believe this, but about 12 years ago I was fishing that same run and had a small yote watch me fish from that same rock outcropping.” To this day I still can’t believe it happened and when I am fishing that magical spot I always look up from my fishing devotions to see if I have any company. It has never happened to me since, and somthing tells me it will never happen agin.
Here is mine, thereare some fishing references so be warned
.It was mid June, one of those days that fill your dreams all winter. I found my self some were between here and there, covered in bug dope and hoping that tonight would be the night that the river let lose and its surface boiled with rising fish. I was fishing a spot I call Skunk Hole, it is a fast deep run at the end of a mile long section of slow frog water. I will spare you all the fishing details, what you need to know is this is my place, passed down to me from my old man. I feel more at home here then I do in my own living room.
I had just landed a small brook trout and was putting on a new fly, when out of the corner of my eye I picked up some movement. Up stream, about 20 yards from me, on an outcropping of rocks sat a coyote pup. He stood under a foot at the shoulders and still had the fluffy coat of a young dog. The brave or dumb little devil was in no way worried about me, he just sat on his back lags and watched me go about my business.
I returned to my fishing and tried to only glance now and then to see if he was still there. This went on for around and hour, I fished and he watched, he occasionally bent down to take a drink of water. The fishing was slow and my attention span is short so after loosing a fly to the other bank I decided to see how bold this little guy was. I set my pole down and stated to make my way slowly towards the little dog. To my surprise he didn’t even stand up he just sat there, carefully watching my every step. I closed the distance to around ten feet and he still never moved. I figured this was close enough, so I sat down on the bank and opened the coke I had in my vest. This is when the little guy did something I never expected, he threw his head back and let out a series of howls and yips that lasted for about a minute. I have never laughed so hard in my life.
There we both sat for a good 15 minuts watching each other and the river, I don’t know what he was doing there and he probable couldn’t figure why I was there, but for that few hours we just seemed to just get along. I didn’t fish much that night, I figured I could fish any day but how many time will I be able to share a drink with a yote. I finished my pop and stud up, off in the distance I could here his family let out. His ears twitched, he stud up and clumsily made his way into the dark swamp. The rest of the trip out in my canoe I listened to the pack as the came together for there night hunt.
They only one I told about this was my Dad. As I told him his eyes got big and when I was done he said “you may not believe this, but about 12 years ago I was fishing that same run and had a small yote watch me fish from that same rock outcropping.” To this day I still can’t believe it happened and when I am fishing that magical spot I always look up from my fishing devotions to see if I have any company. It has never happened to me since, and somthing tells me it will never happen agin.
12-01-2005, 07:42 AM
#6
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 9,175
RE: Your most memorable experience
I've had my moments as well, but I've spent nigh on 24 hours trying to replay 45 years of hunting with a bow, thencome up with only one that I'd say is the most memorable. Can't do it. In the end, most of the ones that really stick out for me would seem pretty mundane in comparison to most, I guess.
Nailing a sparrow on my 3rd birthday with the bow grampa made for me ranks well up there. That's what really got me hooked on bows-n-arrows, so how could that not be one?
Then there was the time I got lined up perfectly andgot two rabbits with the same shot.
I've still got the old Person Deadhead broadhead I used to kill my first wild pig.
The lucky shot I made while out stump shooting is another. I flung at a clump of grass that was about 80 yards off, in a 25-30 mph crosswind, and made a perfect hit. An unfortunate quail was hiding in that clump of grass and he went home with me for dinner.
The time I was getting ready to flat hammer a really, really nice 10 pointwhen therancher on the adjoining property started honking his horn to bring in the cows and spooked the biggest deer I'd ever had in front of me. That's one I'll NEVER forget.
The little 6 point I stalked up on that was feeding in a group of 10 deer. Lots of eyes and noses that could've busted me, but I did it. That was a real challenge andmakes my list ofgreatest hits.
Then there was the time I was sitting with my back against a tree taking a siesta, and woke up with a doe feeding next to me, facing the other direction. Reached out with the tip of my bow and goosed her in the butt. I think she set a new world's record in the high jump. I still get a chuckle when I think of her.
Then there was the time I was on one side of a cedar bush and I heard what I just KNEW was a deer rustling the leaves on the other side of the bush. I had an arrow on my string quick. No doubt in my mindit was a buckand hewastaking his sweet time coming out from behind there. I was getting more and more excited. By the time 5 minutes had passed, I'd talked myself into believing it was a huge buck. Muy Grande. SUPERBUCK. As the rustling got to the edge of the tree, when I knew he was just about to step out, I drew. Then.... I killed that %&*!armadillo.[:@][&:]
You didn't say they all had to be success stories, Guss, just memorable. [8D]
Nailing a sparrow on my 3rd birthday with the bow grampa made for me ranks well up there. That's what really got me hooked on bows-n-arrows, so how could that not be one?
Then there was the time I got lined up perfectly andgot two rabbits with the same shot.
I've still got the old Person Deadhead broadhead I used to kill my first wild pig.
The lucky shot I made while out stump shooting is another. I flung at a clump of grass that was about 80 yards off, in a 25-30 mph crosswind, and made a perfect hit. An unfortunate quail was hiding in that clump of grass and he went home with me for dinner.
The time I was getting ready to flat hammer a really, really nice 10 pointwhen therancher on the adjoining property started honking his horn to bring in the cows and spooked the biggest deer I'd ever had in front of me. That's one I'll NEVER forget.
The little 6 point I stalked up on that was feeding in a group of 10 deer. Lots of eyes and noses that could've busted me, but I did it. That was a real challenge andmakes my list ofgreatest hits.
Then there was the time I was sitting with my back against a tree taking a siesta, and woke up with a doe feeding next to me, facing the other direction. Reached out with the tip of my bow and goosed her in the butt. I think she set a new world's record in the high jump. I still get a chuckle when I think of her.
Then there was the time I was on one side of a cedar bush and I heard what I just KNEW was a deer rustling the leaves on the other side of the bush. I had an arrow on my string quick. No doubt in my mindit was a buckand hewastaking his sweet time coming out from behind there. I was getting more and more excited. By the time 5 minutes had passed, I'd talked myself into believing it was a huge buck. Muy Grande. SUPERBUCK. As the rustling got to the edge of the tree, when I knew he was just about to step out, I drew. Then.... I killed that %&*!armadillo.[:@][&:]
You didn't say they all had to be success stories, Guss, just memorable. [8D]
12-02-2005, 01:26 PM
#8
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: some were
Posts: 801
RE: Your most memorable experience
AP the most memorable stories are usually the ones we go home empty handed.
Rich, I have read yours a few times and am not clear on one part. I can’t figure out what made people so mad, cool story. I do have a question. The hole in the guts, is that were the first arrow came out?
Rich, I have read yours a few times and am not clear on one part. I can’t figure out what made people so mad, cool story. I do have a question. The hole in the guts, is that were the first arrow came out?
12-02-2005, 02:27 PM
#9
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Mississippi USA
Posts: 15,296
RE: Your most memorable experience
Art's compilation made me think harder (now my head hurts...not used to thinking [X(])
One year while gun hunting, I was sitting on a creek bank watching a field on the other side. I heard a noice, looked back behind me around the tree I was leaned back on, and scared the crap out of a deer that was only a few feet away. Scared the crap out of me to!
Out stalking bunnies one day (used to do that quite a bit--got to get at it again), and got within 20 yds or less of a nice cottontail. I drew, released, and the bunny dissapeared. I don't mean hopped into a bush, I mean flat out vanished like a puff of smoke. I couldn't believe it--everything felt so perfect! I had noticed my arrow skipping on down the gravel road I was on (on my brother's property, well off the public road). I stood there trying to figure out what happened, then finally went to retrieve my arrow (with broadhead). When I picked it up, it was covered in blood from one end to the other (who would have guessed a rabbit had that much blood in it?). I went back to where it was sitting when I shot, and there he lay, in a little ditch. It was an absoulte perfect broadside double-lung, and it had fallen dead in it's tracks without a quiver. The little ditch was just deep enough to hide him from view in the setting sun.
A few years ago I was in Northern Ontario on a moose hunt (with Kip and friends). My spot for the morning was a HUGE boulder where I had a little bush to hide me (ok, so it wasn't such a small bush if it was hiding me). From the top of it I could watch the cutover we were hunting. The one side was sloped just enough that I could clamber up it, the back side was a straight drop of maybe 20'. It was getting on up in the morning, around 9 am. The sun was coming up and warming me up, and I was getting sleepy..........then I heard an unmistakeable huff that made every hair on my body stand up. I was afraid to move--I'd never been around a bear, but I knew full well that's what it was. Some of the guys in camp were there to hunt bear, and we'd seen bear signs. It huffed again, and I began to wonder just how good bears were at climbing rocks--it sounded like he was in my back pocket! I sat there frozen for what seemed like forever, before I got the nerve to look behind me.....and he was gone. I'd probably nodded off and bobbed my head and alerted him--wish I'd got to see him at least!
The very best was a couple years ago when I got my first deer. That deer was 20+ years in the making (talk about a slow learner!). I'd been hunting most of my life, with rifle, shotgun, handgun, compound, recurve, and longbow. I'd killed numerous critters with each weapon (except for very few with a compound--didn't shoot one long), but it had never come together for me with a deer. I'd missed a few--one each with a compound, longbow, and handgun, and had watched gobs of them from blinds and tree-stands. Well, this one wasn't going in the record books, but it wouldn't have mattered to me if it had been a new world record--I couldn't have been happier.
I was in TN hunting with my buddy Tom (who was one of the bear hunters on the Canada trip). He'd set a stand on a mutual friends place, and it looked really good. Most of the place was a big meadow, with a few trees here and there out in it, bordered by a horse pasture on one side, and a woodline on the other. I was in the woodline, less than 10 yds. It was a 12' ladder stand, and when Tom set it it was really brushed in good. Well, the fellow that owns the property is an older gentleman and fellow bowhunter. He saw it and thought he might like to hunt from that stand one day, but he didn't like all the brush--he wanted to be able to see better--so he cleared it out like a living room floor! There was absolutely nothingbetween me and the field except a few little privet hedges. I figured what the heck, because with my luck with deer was so awful I'd never get a shot anyway.
The first evening we went, I saw a deer--a young doe--and she didn't follow the rules like she was supposed to. She came from the woods side and went around the tree behind me. All I could do was crane my neck to watch her walk off. I checked my watch.
The next evening I went to the same stand--I had something for that little doe, and aimed to give it to her! I checked my watch, and when it was getting about the same time I stood up (one reason I couldn't shoot at the doe--I was sitting and when I saw her she was too close for me to stand, and I couldn't get a shot in that direction while sitting). I got my bow up in the "ready" position so I wouldn't have to move much if any at all when she came out. Sure enough, right on schedule, I heard the "crunch, crunch, crunch" I'd heard the day before, coming from the same direction. However, she didn't follow the rules again! If it was that deer (I'm not sure), she never came into view. I was looking and looking, trying to find her, when something waaaaaaayyyyyyyyy across the field caught my eye. I saw a deer topping a hill in the horse pasture that was the adjoining property. From then on out it was like they try to make it look on the videos. He jumped the fence and headed for the wood line, behind where I was sitting. It was a good 200 yds or more when I first saw it. He never changed his pattern--take a few steps, grab a wad of grass, take a few steps, grab a wad of grass.....he wasn't in a hurry, but he was on a mission. He went to the woodline, then instead of going in starting coming up the side, still following the same pattern.....step, step, step, chomp.........that is, until he was almost in my shooting lane. His head was sticking out, but his body was behind the bush, and no way I could thread an arrow through it. He'd come to a dead stop and began looking all around at eye level. I figured "well, this is it--my luck is holding strong". I honestly almost threw my bow at him--here I was,just 12' off the ground, in the wide open, less than 10 yds away. Then he took one step, followed by another..... I don't remember drawing or releasing, but I do remember seeing my arrow in flight, then it dissapeared. The deer, which turned out to be an 8-point, ran about 30 yds up the woodline, turned like he was going in, and stopped. He looked around like he was thinking "what the heck was that?", then he swayed, stumbled, reared up on his hind legs, and fell over backwards. When he reared up, I would have sworn I saw my arrow sticking out. It looked like I got about 4-6" of penetration. When he hit the ground, I was thinking "get up stupid--you ain't hurt!" and stood there puzzled about why my arrow didn't go deeper. Then it hit me--that buck was dead. I almost jumped out of the stand, then caught myself--I'd have broken both ankles at best. Then my knees got weak and I had to sit down. Tom had been watching from his stand, and although he couldn't see me when I shot, he had watched thee deer come down, heard the arrow hit, and heard the deer crash. I was still sitting there when he climbed out of his stand, walked across the meadow to my deer, kicked it, and looked at me wondering what the heck I was still there for! I'm here to tell you--if that tree had caught on fire, I would have just had to sit there and burn, because my knees were on vacation. I finally got it together enough to climb down and inspect my trophy--he was beautiful! An average 2.5 year old TN buck, we guessed him to weigh 165-175#. He had an unusual rack--tall and narrow, and pretty small for his body size. I didn't care--I was on cloud #9. Then I started looking for what was left of my arrow. I figured it was in a million pieces (wood)after he reared up and fell over like that, but I couldn't find even a splinter. By this time the sun is going down, and I was once again puzzled--where the heck was my arrow? I finally went back to where he was standing when I shot, and there it was buried in the ground. When I got home I measured to the last little wad of dirt stuck on the shaft--it had gone at least 7 5/8" into the dirt, after passing through and nicking a rib on both sides. To this day I have no clue what I saw when he reared up--my arrow was painted cadium yellow with yellow feathers and a yellow nock, so it's not like it favored any of the sticks and twigs laying around.
Anyhow, those are some of my highlights.
Chad
One year while gun hunting, I was sitting on a creek bank watching a field on the other side. I heard a noice, looked back behind me around the tree I was leaned back on, and scared the crap out of a deer that was only a few feet away. Scared the crap out of me to!
Out stalking bunnies one day (used to do that quite a bit--got to get at it again), and got within 20 yds or less of a nice cottontail. I drew, released, and the bunny dissapeared. I don't mean hopped into a bush, I mean flat out vanished like a puff of smoke. I couldn't believe it--everything felt so perfect! I had noticed my arrow skipping on down the gravel road I was on (on my brother's property, well off the public road). I stood there trying to figure out what happened, then finally went to retrieve my arrow (with broadhead). When I picked it up, it was covered in blood from one end to the other (who would have guessed a rabbit had that much blood in it?). I went back to where it was sitting when I shot, and there he lay, in a little ditch. It was an absoulte perfect broadside double-lung, and it had fallen dead in it's tracks without a quiver. The little ditch was just deep enough to hide him from view in the setting sun.
A few years ago I was in Northern Ontario on a moose hunt (with Kip and friends). My spot for the morning was a HUGE boulder where I had a little bush to hide me (ok, so it wasn't such a small bush if it was hiding me). From the top of it I could watch the cutover we were hunting. The one side was sloped just enough that I could clamber up it, the back side was a straight drop of maybe 20'. It was getting on up in the morning, around 9 am. The sun was coming up and warming me up, and I was getting sleepy..........then I heard an unmistakeable huff that made every hair on my body stand up. I was afraid to move--I'd never been around a bear, but I knew full well that's what it was. Some of the guys in camp were there to hunt bear, and we'd seen bear signs. It huffed again, and I began to wonder just how good bears were at climbing rocks--it sounded like he was in my back pocket! I sat there frozen for what seemed like forever, before I got the nerve to look behind me.....and he was gone. I'd probably nodded off and bobbed my head and alerted him--wish I'd got to see him at least!
The very best was a couple years ago when I got my first deer. That deer was 20+ years in the making (talk about a slow learner!). I'd been hunting most of my life, with rifle, shotgun, handgun, compound, recurve, and longbow. I'd killed numerous critters with each weapon (except for very few with a compound--didn't shoot one long), but it had never come together for me with a deer. I'd missed a few--one each with a compound, longbow, and handgun, and had watched gobs of them from blinds and tree-stands. Well, this one wasn't going in the record books, but it wouldn't have mattered to me if it had been a new world record--I couldn't have been happier.
I was in TN hunting with my buddy Tom (who was one of the bear hunters on the Canada trip). He'd set a stand on a mutual friends place, and it looked really good. Most of the place was a big meadow, with a few trees here and there out in it, bordered by a horse pasture on one side, and a woodline on the other. I was in the woodline, less than 10 yds. It was a 12' ladder stand, and when Tom set it it was really brushed in good. Well, the fellow that owns the property is an older gentleman and fellow bowhunter. He saw it and thought he might like to hunt from that stand one day, but he didn't like all the brush--he wanted to be able to see better--so he cleared it out like a living room floor! There was absolutely nothingbetween me and the field except a few little privet hedges. I figured what the heck, because with my luck with deer was so awful I'd never get a shot anyway.
The first evening we went, I saw a deer--a young doe--and she didn't follow the rules like she was supposed to. She came from the woods side and went around the tree behind me. All I could do was crane my neck to watch her walk off. I checked my watch.
The next evening I went to the same stand--I had something for that little doe, and aimed to give it to her! I checked my watch, and when it was getting about the same time I stood up (one reason I couldn't shoot at the doe--I was sitting and when I saw her she was too close for me to stand, and I couldn't get a shot in that direction while sitting). I got my bow up in the "ready" position so I wouldn't have to move much if any at all when she came out. Sure enough, right on schedule, I heard the "crunch, crunch, crunch" I'd heard the day before, coming from the same direction. However, she didn't follow the rules again! If it was that deer (I'm not sure), she never came into view. I was looking and looking, trying to find her, when something waaaaaaayyyyyyyyy across the field caught my eye. I saw a deer topping a hill in the horse pasture that was the adjoining property. From then on out it was like they try to make it look on the videos. He jumped the fence and headed for the wood line, behind where I was sitting. It was a good 200 yds or more when I first saw it. He never changed his pattern--take a few steps, grab a wad of grass, take a few steps, grab a wad of grass.....he wasn't in a hurry, but he was on a mission. He went to the woodline, then instead of going in starting coming up the side, still following the same pattern.....step, step, step, chomp.........that is, until he was almost in my shooting lane. His head was sticking out, but his body was behind the bush, and no way I could thread an arrow through it. He'd come to a dead stop and began looking all around at eye level. I figured "well, this is it--my luck is holding strong". I honestly almost threw my bow at him--here I was,just 12' off the ground, in the wide open, less than 10 yds away. Then he took one step, followed by another..... I don't remember drawing or releasing, but I do remember seeing my arrow in flight, then it dissapeared. The deer, which turned out to be an 8-point, ran about 30 yds up the woodline, turned like he was going in, and stopped. He looked around like he was thinking "what the heck was that?", then he swayed, stumbled, reared up on his hind legs, and fell over backwards. When he reared up, I would have sworn I saw my arrow sticking out. It looked like I got about 4-6" of penetration. When he hit the ground, I was thinking "get up stupid--you ain't hurt!" and stood there puzzled about why my arrow didn't go deeper. Then it hit me--that buck was dead. I almost jumped out of the stand, then caught myself--I'd have broken both ankles at best. Then my knees got weak and I had to sit down. Tom had been watching from his stand, and although he couldn't see me when I shot, he had watched thee deer come down, heard the arrow hit, and heard the deer crash. I was still sitting there when he climbed out of his stand, walked across the meadow to my deer, kicked it, and looked at me wondering what the heck I was still there for! I'm here to tell you--if that tree had caught on fire, I would have just had to sit there and burn, because my knees were on vacation. I finally got it together enough to climb down and inspect my trophy--he was beautiful! An average 2.5 year old TN buck, we guessed him to weigh 165-175#. He had an unusual rack--tall and narrow, and pretty small for his body size. I didn't care--I was on cloud #9. Then I started looking for what was left of my arrow. I figured it was in a million pieces (wood)after he reared up and fell over like that, but I couldn't find even a splinter. By this time the sun is going down, and I was once again puzzled--where the heck was my arrow? I finally went back to where he was standing when I shot, and there it was buried in the ground. When I got home I measured to the last little wad of dirt stuck on the shaft--it had gone at least 7 5/8" into the dirt, after passing through and nicking a rib on both sides. To this day I have no clue what I saw when he reared up--my arrow was painted cadium yellow with yellow feathers and a yellow nock, so it's not like it favored any of the sticks and twigs laying around.
Anyhow, those are some of my highlights.
Chad
12-02-2005, 02:52 PM
#10
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Posts: 801
RE: Your most memorable experience
And you say you didnt have anything, LBR. that deer story reminds me of my first (with a gun) I dont remember anything after reaching for the gun. The next thing I know I was looking to see if the gun even went off.
I was debating between the story I wrote and another that happened to me on that same river. It involves a bear. If I have time at work I will type up what I remember.
I was debating between the story I wrote and another that happened to me on that same river. It involves a bear. If I have time at work I will type up what I remember.