My work has been pretty hectic lately with a new acquisition so my field time has been very limited, every single chance I get I hit the woods though. Even if I've only got an hour or so I still try to get out. Our trees are a mix of gold and fire right now and the temperatures are perfect. So far it has been a gorgeous beginning to fall and an excellent start to bow season.
Yesterday afternoon with about two hours of light left I grabbed my bow and my camera and set off down the trail behind the barn.
Words can't do the woods justice.
I'd been still hunting down my old logging road, enjoying just being out. Slight overcast, light breeze and keeping my face into it as I hunted. About an hour before dark I was standing still, leaning lightly on an old maple when a flicker caught my eye about forty yards away and to my left.
We'd finished off last year's venison while in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area back in July and I've had a hankering for more so the adrenalin kicked in. Sure enough a slickhead was working a browsing trail, coming from my left, she'd pass by me at about eighteen yards if everything held true.
Time slowed to a crawl, she was in no hurry and was on high alert. Wolf sign has been heavier this year, we've got a new pack that has moved into the back abutting edge of my property and Superior National. As a result our deer are even more high strung that they usually are and primarily nocturnal year round. I kept wondering why the sound of my thudding heart wasn't causing her to bolt off into the next county!
Finally the moment arrived, broadside at eighteen, she looked away from me. I don't remember bringing the bow up, nor the draw, not the tickle of hitting full draw. I do remember the streaking arrow flying forward and disappearing just behind the shoulder. In a whirl she was gone, leaving me standing there somewhat amazed and at a loss for words.
I knew the hit was good but I still wanted to go through the motions as I learn something new every time I do it. I recovered my arrow, it had passed completely through the deer and hit the ground a good nine or ten yards beyond. The full length 32" arrow tipped with a 200gr Ace Express two blade broadhead had certainly done it's work. The blood trail was heavy and less than fifty yards long, the bow Leon Stewart made for me performed flawlessly as it always has.
First meat of the 2012/13 season, the finest sustenance a man can get to feed my family and myself through the rugged Minnesota winter to come. Hopefully the wind will be in everyone's favor this season!
Topic: Addin' Some Sag to the Meat Pole (Read 6316 times)
