I decided to take a half day off of work last Friday to scope out a new spot for the weekend. I ended up sitting on a major trail with 1 very nice shooting window at about 8 yards from my tree. Due to some canopy branches being in the way, I could only climb to about 15 feet or so, but the wind was absolutely perfect for this set so I wasn't worried about being that low at all.
Friday evening after climbing I saw 5 doe, though none came within shooting range. They didn't use the main trail I was on, and worked past me at about 60 yards. It was still an encouraging sign.
Saturday morning I was in the tree by 6:45am, and at 7:15 I had a doe come right up the trail as I expected - I couldn't have drawn it up more perfectly. It was raining out which caused it to stay dark a little later than usual, so even at 7:15 it was still fairly dark. Just like I drew it up, she stepped right into my opening at 8 yards and looked the other direction. I drew back, and shot directly over her back. DOH!
She barely moved. She was unable to locate me as the source of the sound, took two leaps backwards, and stood broadside at 12 yards.
I nocked another arrow, told myself to focus extra hard on picking a spot due to the slight darkness, drew back, andddd...shot right over her back again. DOUBLE DOH!
At this point I almost went home. The thought crossed my mind. I ended up sticking it out for the rest of the morning until I packed out to get some lunch and dry my clothes.
I went back in to the same tree around 2pm, and by then the rain had mostly let up. It was a gorgeous evening for a sit.
Side story, and something I haven't told many people...in 2011 when I was a junior in college, I lost one of my good high school friends in a car accident. Though we never hunted together, he was a fellow outdoorsman and got in the woods every chance he could. Last year on the morning of November 7th I prayed and asked him for a little help as I hadn't seen many deer the entire week, and knew he would be up there watching me freeze to death in the rain/sleet mix and getting a good chuckle out of it. Less than 5 minutes after that, I had an absolute brute of a 10 point run right in to me and stand broadside at 30 yards. He jumped my string and I had a non-fatal hit on him (I was lucky enough to capture it all on film and confirm the hit), but after that I knew from then on I had a hunting parter with me every time I went in the woods.
After missing the doe broadside in my shooting lane in the morning, I asked my buddy that evening for a little help with redemption (I was warmed up, after all). He didn't disappoint.
At 5pm I had 3 doe filter in from a bedding area to my left. They came in on the same trail as the doe the night before that all worked directly away from me, so I never even stood up or took my bow off of the hook.
To my surprise, the lead doe took a hard left and made a B-line for the large shooting lane I had in front of my stand. I scrambled to stand up and get my bow as quietly as possible, and within 30 seconds she was in my shooting lane.
I made sure I burned a hole about 3 inches lower after my misses this morning, and sent an arrow straight through the pump house. She ran 20 yards and piled up.
I started taking the stickbow out into the woods sometime in 2011 at the age of 20. I could shoot straight, but had no idea what I was doing to get "stickbow close". Over the next few years I dabbled off and on, and sometime around 2014 made the permanent switch to traditional - and never looked back. I learned more in my first season than I had all of my years hunting prior combined. It took 4 years, but I finally was able to put it all together and I couldn't be happier. I know now I have what it takes to be successful every time I step foot in the woods, and that's a huge feeling after so much uncertainty. I couldn't have done it without the help of all of the wonderful folks I've met along the way in person and on this wonderful site.
Thanks for reading
Topic: First Traditional Harvest (Read 5968 times)
