This past Saturday was my birthday and I celebrated the event by doing what I love to do most; bowhunt on my family farm in northern Shannon County. I arrived at Dad's house Friday evening where he had a big pan of Red Flannel Hash (my favorite) waiting for me on the table.
Dad had put out some trail cameras that week and shared the card contents with me as I ate. There was the usual procession of does and fawns but what really caught my eye was the time stamps. At a place we call the Deer Turnaround, the majority of the pictures were taken in the afternoon. I have hunted that spot for over 20 years and could count the number of deer I've seen in the afternoon there on one hand. I had planned on hunting there Saturday morning but decided to change things up after seeing those photos.
Saturday morning was crisp and still down in the holler and I packed my climbing stand over to the mouth of Shop Holler to hunt that morning. I would be overlooking a food plot at the edge of our upper hay field and it was here that I missed a doe a couple of weeks ago. I won't bore you with the details of my morning sit other than to say I saw seven deer in three different groups. Due to a comedy of errors, though, no shot opportunities came out of the sightings.
I got an early start on my evening sit, arriving at my hickory tree on the northwest corner of the Deer Turnaround about 2:30. The place got its name because it once was a small logging loading ground that was just big enough to turn a truck around in. Dad has a salt lick and a food plot there now. It sits about halfway up a ridge that borders the western side of our lower field. The hickory nuts were falling fast and furious and I wondered if I should have brought a hard hat!
About 5:15, I heard a deer coming through the forest from the southeast. It was a yearling doe coming to graze in the food plot. The wind was in my face so all I needed to do was wait for a shot. She came out of the brush and started nibbling on the sparse vegetation. Every now and then, she would throw her head up and look the direction she had come. I figured there was another deer behind her and, sure enough, another young doe joined her in few minutes. They both fed as I waited for an opportunity.
The first doe finally started working her way toward me and eventually walked to within 10 feet of the tree I was in. At first the shot was head on and then it was straight down - neither one will I take. Finally, she turned around and for a brief moment gave me a good quartering away angle. I started to draw but she turned again. The angle was too steep so I let the tension off the string.
While the first doe was walking away, the second one started towards me at a much better angle. I knew if I was patient, I would get the shot I wanted. She was now quartering away but her head was turned towards me. I waited just a little bit more and she turned her head away and extended that front leg. I immediately drew my longbow and picked a spot lining up with the front leg on the off side. The arrow hit perfectly and I watched her bound off into the brush and down into Woodland Holler. I listened as she ran and then caught sight of her as she made about a 100 yard semi-circle. I saw her stumble and then keel over. There was a bit of thrashing and then she was still. From shot to expiration might have been 20 seconds. My single-bevel Meathead had gotten the job done!
I took a good compass reading on her position before I climbed out of my tree. I had plenty of daylight left but I was still glad that I could walk over to her instead of having to trail blood. I took my time gathering up my things, grabbed my bow and quiver and then went over to investigate. I planned on walking an old skid trail until I got to where I would need to start fine tuning my search. Fortunately, I didn't need to. She was laying right next to the road. The exit point of my arrow was right behind the elbow of her front leg so it looked like I got lung and heart. I knelt down next to her, placed my hands on her side, and gave thanks to her spirit for the meat she would provide my family. Then I walked out to our lower field where my truck was, came back to get her, and headed towards Dad's house. I stopped in the field to get a few pictures because the light was better and then went home to start the work ahead of me. Not a bad way to spend your birthday, in my estimation!
Darren
I found the back 1/3 of my arrow in her body cavity. I never did locate the more expensive front 2/3. Oh well, it was a small price to pay!
I always try to get all the meat off the carcass that I can. Dad often kids me about leaving something for the coyotes to eat. I always tell him that the coyotes can go get their own deer!
BEFORE
AFTER
Here's a short video of the hunt. I slowed down the shot at the end.
Topic: Happy birthdoe to me! (Read 2850 times)
