I hunted for the first time with my Stalker Coyote FXT 49# at 28 inches shooting 3 Rivers Traditional Only 340 spine carbon arrows with 200 gr Cutthroat broadheads. I was previously a rifle hunter but finally started to do what I've always wanted to do 5 months ago, bow hunt with a trad bow. I've been practicing and practicing and have become decent with it. I'm hunting in Cuero, Texas and they recently had 6-8 inches of rain the last few weeks. This has left everything green, thick, humid and a ton of bugs, i.e mosquitoes. I set my Barronett Big Mike blind around ~17 yards from the feeder 6 weeks ago to allow the deer to get comfortable with it. I would love to use a tree stand but there are no big trees present. The property is a friends that uses it for hay but has 20 acres that is heavily covered with Huisache brush and tall grass.
Yesterday morning I get in the ground blind at 0630 and more thunderstorms are moving through the skies. Once I got into the blind I notice scorpions everywhere along the walls trying to get away from the rain. I killed 12 of them with a small stick before I sit in my seat. These scorpions won't kill you, but damn they hurt and they will get you. About 2 hours go by and the rain is now slowing down and I am hoping some deer start to come out. Well instead of deer I see 3 new scorpions crawling on the walls of the blind. I try to ignore them but I then find one crawling up my blue jeans to which I had to knock off and crush with my boots. I was now paranoid and kept feeling "things" crawl on me but it was just my imagination. I said screw this and went to the feed store around 9am to buy anything that would help my situation. I ended up getting some bug foggers and Bengal spray and went back to the blind to finish what I started. As I fogged the blind I notice 5 more scorpions scurry out the windows. This would end my morning hunt and I was not too sure if any deer would come out with all this chemical smell.
I nervously get back in the blind (scared of the scorpions) around 5pm and NO scorpions or other bugs present in my blind which made me very happy and the rain was gone. There were some people on the next property roughly 500 yards away shooting skeet so this worried me some. Then around 630 [ Invalid Attachment ] [ Invalid Attachment ] [ Invalid Attachment ] pm two buck come out, a small 8 pointer and a spike! I was getting very excited and my usual case of buck fever. The 8 point came close to my blind but not only is he small he's not legal in my county. The spread must be outside the ears and he was borderline, I was not going to take that chance. I was however going to take a chance on that spike. It took about 20 min then he finally came broadside at 16 yards. I took my shot and it was a hit! It was a little high but looked like it would do the job as I saw the buck run off into the brush with the arrow in his side. It looked like hit 4-5 inches above the heart and a few inches below the spine and likely a lung shot. I called my wife immediately that I got one!
The sun was coming down fast so I quickly went out to look for it.
I found my arrow broken and covered in blood on a small trail a few yards into the brush line (~ 40 yards from where I shot it). But NO blood trail whatsoever. I searched for 2 hrs in the dark and it was now drizzling rain and I could not find him. I was excited at first that I shot my first deer but now it left a bittersweet taste in my mouth. Not only could I not find him, but I could not help but think that the deer was probably suffering and would be a waste of meat. I went home and came back in the morning to look again but still was unable to find it.
I may start to only hunt the morning as it would give me all day to look for the deer since the brush is so thick here and it can be a problem. I will be going hunting again in a couple of weeks with a friend in a totally different county but this one hurts. I will use it as a learning lesson and will continue to hone in on my shooting and hunting skills.
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Too long didn't read version - I killed a ton of scorpions in morning but shot my first deer (a spike) in the evening but unable to find it.
Topic: My first hunt and a bittersweet ending (Read 2822 times)
