This season I had a friend who is an incredibly talented knapper, give me matched weight stone arrow heads with the hopes I would use one to harvest a deer. I’ve killed a pile of deer this season with compound, rife and recurve. On and off I had been hunting with my longbow and wooden arrows and stone heads. Although I had passed a bunch of deer this season and generally hold out for at least a 4.5 year old buck, I had made the decision to take the first deer that presented a 15 yard broadside shot with this equipment. No matter what the deer was. On December 13th, I finally had my opportunity as a young buck came to a ridgetop pool to drink. As he left the water I drew and settled in for the shot. As I increased back tension, he stepped behind a tree, partially covering his vitals. I let down and drew again as he stepped out. I increased back tension and the string slid from my fingers. The arrow buried to the fletch in his ribs and he took off down hill on a sprint. I stood there half in awe. I had just accomplished something I had dreamed of since I was a kid. I had killed a deer with a stone point, made by a good friend, specifically for me. I had carefully hafted it to a cedar shaft, using sinew from a previous traditional deer kill and fletched it with feathers from a Tom I had taken with my recurve. I hadn’t been this excited to shoot a spike since my first deer 23 years ago. I sat down to give the deer time and enjoy the rest of the evening as snow started to fall. Two more bucks, including a young 7 with great potential came in to drink as a red fox worked his way back and forth along the hillside. From the tree I could see blood splatter on a sapling where the buck was standing at the shot. Just before dark I climbed down and followed the trail for about 40 yards and found the front half of my arrow. I decided to go home and meet my brother in law to help with the track and drag. We were back at the hit site a short time later and the blood was getting hard to follow due to the snow. We found the middle section of my arrow and the blood tapered off. He stayed with the trail and I headed down towards where I lost sight of the buck. I immediately found heavier blood and called him down. We walked 10 yards further and there lay my buck, who had obviously died on a full run. No more than 15 seconds after the shot. What an amazing feeling to walk up and lay my hands on this deer. It meant more to me than all the other deer I had shot or passed the entire season.
Topic: First Stone Point Deer (Read 4685 times)
