Well, I'd read that hunting arrows don't have to be tuned all that well and it's a "proven fact" that practically all bow hunters kill stuff with set-ups that aren't anywhere near perfect tune (I read that on the internet so it's got to be true) so I shot at the spider with a junker arrow. Big mistake. You'd think I would have known better than to trust the word of a guy who's claim to fame was putting on tights and a Robin Hood costume for a bit part in a soap opera in the 70's...but he sounds sooooo convincing and he's got a whole troop of followers that remind me of the Jim Jones cult back in the 70's...(seems we have a 70's vibe going on here
)
Guess it's just as well the spider went unharmed. I have no idea what I would have done with a hide that big...to hot for a tent, to heavy for a blanket...and I haven't found a good recipe for spider meat. No way I could have afforded the taxidermist fee for that thing, and even if I could I'd have to pull a Denny Sturgis Jr. and add an entire room to my house just for the mount.
I'm just glad it let me off with a warning...it helped that I told it I'd read "the book". Guess the spider figured if I was that naïve and inexperienced I had to be harmless, and certainly wouldn't be a threat with a bow and arrow... :
Weird...I'd never heard a spider laugh before that, but it rolled around giggling when I mentioned "the book".
I DID kill that mouse though! Well...in all honesty I actually beat it to death. It was caught between the window mesh and blind material and I didn't want to stab a hole in my blind. It did make a racket and scared the crap out of me for a second. That's the truth. I might have exaggerated just a little about the size of that spider (Lord I apologize
)...but it really was a BIG sucker. Biggest I've ever seen in the woods, probably the biggest I've ever seen outside a pet store. Still in there as far as I know. I just nudged it with my bow and it ran away. Probably planning on how it's gonna' get me next time...