Here recently I've been still hunting with my longbow. Actually, I'm probably doing some late scouting for next year and carrying my longbow while doing it. I've decided to hunt Scatter Creek next year, and have been spending alot of time over there these past few weeks with my grandson.
Even though it didn't result in a kill, let me tell you about my most memorable still hunt/stalk from my past. This was about 1990, I think. I was hunting on Cherokee Village, back before it incorporated into a city.
I had an afternoon that I could get out and hunt in late October, so I drove up to the Village, back to the big ridge I liked to hunt. I parked, and started to cimb up the side of the ridge. It was a very windy day, just right for stalking. I got close to the top when I saw two does angling up the same side of the ridge, just from the opposite direction. I picked up the pace and semi-trotted up to the top of the ridge, hoping to get an opportunity to shoot as they crossed my path. But, they didn't cross my path. Instead, they bedded in a blowdown about 60 yards from me. The wind was in my face, and they were facing toward me. So, I decided that my only chance for a shot would be to get as close as possible and wait for them to get up. So, the stalk was on.
I looked at my watch to check the time, it was 1:05. So I eased to my left until a large oak that was about 15 yards from them was directly between me and them. The oak blocked me from their view. I slowly eased up to the oak, and when I had finally made it to the oak, I slowly made the move to ease around it on the left side, so my bow would be in position for a shot. Since the blowdown was too thick to get an arrow thru with my recurve, I waited, and I waited, and I waited. Did you know that deer will stand up and turn around and around like a dog when it's bedded. They did this every hour. At times they would become alerted to my position, and would stare at me for long periods. I realized that everything in the woods was swaying in the wind except me, so I began to sway like the trees and brush around me. The deer finally decided that I was just part of the brush.
After a few hours of waiting for the does to get up, I heard a buck grunt way down the ridge behind me, and thought that I sure would like it if he would come over here. Finally, at 5:15 the deer stood up, and I thought, alright it's fixin' to get started. But, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye immediately to my right, and looked to see an 8-point standing just 8 feet from me. He was staring at the two does. He stood there for what seemed like forever, with me, and my bow, standing halfway around the left side of the oak tree. Finally, he took a step and curled his lip and took a big wiff of the wind blowing from the does. As he did this his head went behind another tree, and I whirled around the oak tree and came to full draw, but he then bolted stright toward the does. So, here I stand with the 8-point standing in the blowdown at 15 steps and the does standing in the open at about 5 and 8 steps.
My focus was now on the buck. He smell the beds for minute or two, and then stared at the does. The does decided to run up the ridge away from me, and the buck followed. He bolted out of the blowdown too fast for me to get a shot, so I ran up the ridge about 40 yards, stopped, and grunted. The buck and does stopped, the buck whirled and came straight to me at a run. The only problem was that he stopped at 15 steps behind the only brush that was too thick for me to get a shot through. He stared for a few seconds, but the does started to move up the ridge again, so he ran after them. Again, I ran up about 40 yards, stopped, and grunted. Again, the buck and does stopped, the buck whirled and came straight to me again. And again, he stopped behind the only brush that I couldn't shoot thru at a distance of 15 yards. And again, he stared straight thru me. Finally, the does decided that they were ready to leave, and the buck followed. I tried to grunt him back to me, but he wasn't interested this time.
So, here I was, standing on top of this ridge completely exhausted after spending over 4 hours standing in one spot waiting for a shot. I decided that no matter what happens now, I wasn't going to be able to top what had just happened. So, I called it a day, and headed to the truck. I was whipped after all that had went on.
I guess I should've shot one of the does, and who knows maybe I would've also gotten a shot at the buck. But, I was just caught up in the moment, and was totally focused on the buck.
Anyway, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
D.A.
Topic: Most Memorable Still Hunt (Read 378 times)
