Hunting in the 'New Year' @ Solana Ranch....

[BowHuntingFool]

This is a great thread, keep the stories coming!!!!!  

[bowhunterfrompast]

What a trip of a lifetime. Congrats to all.

Guru..I like your new avatar, I'd be proud of that buck.

David..your smile says it all, any animal taken with a bow and arrow is an accomplishment, congrats!

bhfp

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Wow! I sure am glad I opened this thread! What a great hunt! Way to go guys!

[Guru]

Mr. Laaaaammmmbb........    

[Charlie Lamb]

Ok, where was I?
  :D

[Charlie Lamb]

I'm really not sure where the time went. All that I know is there were a thousand conversations with good friends and my hunting time was filled with so many deer that they almost all run together.

With a doe in the cooler, I felt a little more relaxed. I'd really wanted a doe for the freezer. This ended up being a lean year for me in Missouri and the little lady was making it known that she wanted more venison in the freezer.

The doe encounter was good in that I had learned something important from the experience... hold real good and low even if it does go against every instinct in your body.

The last evening hunt came around and I was back in the pop up blind from the first morning. I liked this spot. It had shown me quite a few deer including a couple of pretty nice bucks.

It must have been popular with one or two other hunters before me if the looks of the screen was any indication.
 

[Charlie Lamb]

I guess I'd been there for an hour with nothing but a couple of small deer that passed by a hundred yards out.

I'd opened a corner of one of the covered windows in the blind so I could peek out in a direction that the deer were fond of approaching.

I'd lean forward every now and then and strain my neck to my left. During one of these inspections I found a small fork horn buck standing just in sight beside a cedar. My view beyond him was obstructed by more cedar.

He stood like a perfect, sleek, gray, statue. I could see the big liquid brown eyes searching every detail of the scene. Taught muscles rippled under the slate hide. His big ears worked like little radar dishes searching for a hint of a sound.

Finally, happy that all was good, he walked tentatively forward into the clearing with me.
He was out of sight for just a few minutes as he walked toward my main shooting window.

I picked up my bow and leaned into the shooting position at the window. I didn't want this forky, but I figured he probably wasn't alone and I was going to be ready if a buck I did want showed up.

As I leaned to look out the main window, I could see two bucks coming head on to the clearing. I knew immediately that I'd shoot either.
The deer that reached the clearing second was the bigger of the two , but I didn't intend to get too picky at this point in the game.

I let the first buck come until he was just a little under fifteen yards from me. I'd watch and wait and see if the bigger buck would come... he'd hung up not far from where I'd first seen him.

He really seemed undecided as to what he wanted to do and I realized he could just as well turn away from my hide and walk off into the Texas brush as come one step closer.

I focused my attention on the "bird in the hand".
 

As the closest buck closed to a solid broadside 15 yards I put tension on the string. I'd been focusing all my concentration on the horizontal line of his chest and a spot no further back than the last rib.

The string of my 63# Sunbear, "Curly", came back smoothly and without effort. There would be no worry about the buck seeing me through the net. I knew he couldn't.

A solid anchor and boring a hole on the spot I wanted to hit I let the string slip as smooth as silk. The arrow rocketed through the screen and flashed as it came into bright sun out of the shadows.

The buck did his boogy thing and I watched my arrow sail beautifully, perfectly, over his back by an inch.

Almost instantly I was alone in the clearing. Little whisps of dust blowing low to the ground the only clue that there had been deer right there.

[JEFF B]

lol!!!    ya had me sitting on the edge of my seat charlie right up until the last word.

[Guru]

   

[Danny Rowan]

Ok Charlie, ya up yet???? I just know there is a buck at the end of this story.

[Charlie Lamb]

If you would have been a fly on the wall of that pop up blind, you'd have been in for quite a show.
I about broke my leg trying to kick myself in the butt. The walls of the blind offered no solace either. Being cloth they just wouldn't do, I wanted something to smack my head into. Wood would have been nice, brick would have been perfect.  
   

Somehow I kept my composure enough to maintain noise disipline. I can assure you there was a blue streak of profanity pouring out of my ears as the new curse words filled my head and forced the old out.
I even managed to invent a couple of new words just because the old stand bys weren't doing the job.

[Guru]

He's baa aack......  

[Charlie Lamb]

It was late enough in the evening that I figured there would be little chance of any deer coming to the clearing.
The three bucks had scattered to the points of the compass and would surely communicate their fear to all they encountered.
Yep!! It was over.

I finally sat back in the shadows of the blind to reflect on the hunt and what had just happened.
The shot was executed as perfectly as I could have done it in any situation. My aim was true and on the mark.
These deer were just too fast.

It was in the middle of these ruminations that I leaned forward to peek out of the side window. It was more of a reflexive action than anything and I sure didn't expect to see anything out there.

There was the little forky standing exactly where I'd seen him the first time. No more, no less on edge than he had been.

Could it be??!!!!

[Charlie Lamb]

I seriously doubted that this forkey would even make it to the clearing let alone be followed by the other bigger bucks... but I was going to be ready regardless.

Once again I scooted forward in my chair and into alignment with the shooting window. As I settled into position and my vision focused out through the screen my breath came up short.

There standing just yards away was what must be the bigger of the two bucks from a few minutes ago.
There was no time to ponder the why's of such an event. I sat ready with bow in hand and the time was obviously NOW.

As soon as the bucks body aligned broadside to me I came to full draw. Once again I buried into my anchor point and once again I stared a hole on the spot I wanted to hit.

The kicker was that this time I held the arrow so that if the buck didn't move the arrow would pass harmlessly through air at the level of his knees.

I'd shot away my number one arrow (a four blade Magnus I) at the first deer. The next up in line was the same razorsharp Magnus I except it had no bleeder.
I usually do that... carry some with bleeders and some without.
It helps with crowding in the bowquiver I prefer, gives access to a deep penetrating two blade if I need it and I have no reservations about shooting that big old two blade at game.    

Once again the razor sharp messenger was away like light, once again the shot was near perfect, once again the buck reacted to the shot... but this time things were different.

He was gone in an instant and as usual the screen of the blind had made it difficult for me to see the arrow after it exited the blind, but I had seen, if only for an instant, the arrow buried deep in the bucks chest.

I sat back in the chair and breathed again.

[Charlie Lamb]

Have you even noticed how time slows down after you've shot an animal? It was moving at a crawl right then!

I sat back once again to wait. I knew there would be no more deer this evening. It was just a matter of waiting for John and the guys to show up. I left a message on John's phone to let him know we'd be tracking.

It was a time for reflection and thanks. I prayed for a short blood trail and for the gift of sharing a great hunt with good friends.

Guys like me who were here for the comraderie and the love of the bow. What more could you ask for? With luck, tonight I would walk the walk of the successful hunter and talk the talk over and over to anyone who would listen... and there would be no shortage of the latter.

Dark had settled gently on the Texas Hill Country and cloaked the cedar and oak mott in inky blackness. Finally I could hear the rattling of the diesel engine as John's truck eased up the road toward me.

John hadn't opened my voice mail. Wouldn't have mattered if he had. He had the other boys on the truck and was just doing a normal pick up.

As he rounded the corner 50 yards from the blind his lights flashed back at him from the reflective wrap on my arrow. Everyone knew the deed was done before they pulled up to get me and had a better idea of where the buck went than I did.

I quickly recounted the event even as Stubby was released on the trail, his little bell tinkling in the night and with nose to the ground trotting steadilly in the direction the buck had run.

We found the expired 8 point a hundred yards away in the middle of the food plot. Stubby was appeasing his blood lust on the dead beast as we approached. I had to savor the moment and just stood there looking until finally I reached down and claimed my prize.

The antler in my hand felt like success and I was at once thrilled and humbled. I breathed a word of thanks for the life of my buck.
 

[Guru]

A-men brother    

[Shaun]

Now, there's a smile!

I was riding on the high seat in the back of John's truck and enjoying the warmest evening of the hunt. When we stopped short of the blind, I wondered only for a moment what the delay was about. There in the circle of the headlights lay a bright reflection. It was a carbon arrow with reflecting wrap - and the fletching was stained red. All right!

What an honor to be present for that short tracking job and share the joy.

[Mike Gerardi]

[Bill Turner]

Great story. Great thread. Keep it up gang. There has to be more. Skyler has blood on his mind and Guru wants to take a few more pictures.  

[paleFace]

Charlie being there when you recovered that buck was one of the highlights of my trip. The grin on your face in that photo just don't show how really excited you were about that buck!

our little bud "Stubby" HE!! on wheels...

   

Congrads from Michael aka "sunny hill archer"

   

Great friends sharing a very special moment
Charlie and Shaun