[Today was the day!
I have been shooting a recurve since February of 2005 and I haven’t looked back. Last year was my first year to hunt the whole season with a traditional bow and I came home empty handed. I choked at the one opportunity that I had last year when I shot over the back of a doe.
Last Saturday morning I had a doe come into my shooting lane but there was a small tree in the way. The branches were just the right height that they covered her vitals just enough that I thought the shot would be too risky so I backed off from taking the shot. Saturday afternoon I had a doe come into the same shooting lane and now the problem tree is gone. She walked in, I aimed, drew my bow, whistled, she stopped and I shot….. and missed! Same shot as last year right over her back! I blame this on shooting at deer targets they never drop when I shoot at them. I always aim at the center of the chest when I am practicing and that is exactly what I did when I shot at her.
But today it all came together. At 8:30 this morning this beauty came to me. She had a little 5 point 1.5 year old buck chasing her. She stopped about 10 yards down wind from the tree I was in and started sniffing the air and getting wind of the scents that I put out. When she tipped her head back to smell the air she busted me! Not because I moved she just knew I looked out of place. This went on for about 10 minutes; she would reposition herself and look up at me and then move and look up at me again. The whole time I am repeating in my head “remember aim behind her elbow”. It seemed like eternity and I was trying to suppress the shakes that I was getting from the adrenaline rush that was taking place within me. But, she wouldn’t put herself in a position that offered me a good shot. She knew something wasn’t right and she turned to walk away.
“Oh no!” I thought, “Come back”. That’s when my little friend Bucky stepped in. He started to push her again and she turned and trotted away from him and positioned herself to offer a nice broadside shot. I aimed my 45lb Black Widow recurve, drew and released… smack! Yes it’s a good shot! My 580 grain (total weight) Carbon Express, Heritage 250 arrow tipped with a 125 grain three blade Snuffer broadhead is going for a ride!
The doe busted through the timber with lighting speed and grace. She jumped over logs and bolted under a tree that had fallen years ago but there was still enough room for her to zip under. I see the blood coming from the hole that I put into her and I see about 8” of the arrow that I had built protruding from her side. I whisper to myself “that was a good shot”. With a blink of my eye she is out of the timber and running down the trail that I’ve mowed. Her final sprint was into the wind. She runs the mowed trail for another 30 yards and then her legs gave out and I watch her fall. “That’s it she down” “A good clean kill” “Good job” I tell myself.
After following the blood trail (I did this to get some experience at following blood trails)
I made my way to the doe. There she lays in the dappled morning sunlight and green grass. What a perfect setting I thought. I knelt down beside her and said thank you to the old girl. Then it was time to capture the moment to share with others. I moved her from where she fell, spent a few minute cleaning her up and took this picture to remember the day of my first traditional bow kill.
Thanks for reading
Tom
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Topic: My First Traditional Kill Happened Today (Read 4802 times)
