Ok guys. I am about three weeks new to this forum. I have got the traditional bug pretty bad. This is my second post, and I am very excited to post here.
To start, a very close friend of mine has been doing the trad thing for quite a while. He has killed several bucks over 140 inches with his modern equipment, and said he just wanted a fresh outlook on bowhunting. I sorta blew him off, but he has proved me wrong by killing quite a few deer with his longbow and recurve over the past few yrs. He is currently hunting with a black widow psax, and is just as efficient now as he can be with modern equipment. Off course his yardage is quite a bit less. Well, back in the summer he handed me a chapparall longbow, and a dozen wooden arrows with zwickey broadheads. He told me if I wanted a new outlook on bowhunting, then I needed to start practicing.
I took the bow, and diligently practiced with decent results before the MS season opened. I kept cutting my nose with the string, and it was effecting my shooting. I gave it up, picked up the compound and started hunting. I killed my biggest buck ever with the compound. He was an 8Pt that was just shy of Pope and Young by 1.5 inches. Nonetheless, a step in the right direction. I wanted a challenge so I told him my dilemma with the string cutting my nose. He helped me with my form by canting the bow a little more, and I also changed the brace height on the bow. I started practicing again three days ago. I was drilling out to 20yds so I felt like I might have a chance if I got one in the 20yd range.
I learned a valuable lesson yesterday about trophy hunting. TROPHY is in the eye of the beholder. I usually have a policy that if I am not going to mount a buck, then I don't shoot him. This all changed yesterday when I shot my first deer with the longbow. It was a 1.5 yr old spike. He means as much to me as the 150 inch 8pt that I killed with a gun last year.
I had been watching deer come out on my clover field for two days. I went at 3pm took my huntve, and drove to a pine that I had picked out on the edge of the field. I hung a lock on, parked the cart about 100yds away, and climbed in the stand with longbow for an evening sit.
I had been there 45min when I heard deer moving my way. I had two does come out to about 32yds. I just didn't feel condident with the range so I passed as they fed out toward the center of the field. Directly, I heard another deer coming. I looked up and at first thought it to be a large doe. It was a spike headed straight toward my tree. He walked approximately 10 yds, turned broadside, and started munching on clover. I have not been this nervous since my first deer at about age 14. I drew the bow silently and held it for what seemed like an eternity as I focused on the lungs. I released the arrow, and it was a perfect shot through the lungs exiting the heart. The arrow was protruding equal amounts out both sides of the deer. He turned ran about 50yds, and crashed. The emotion overtook me. My legs locked, and I felt like I was going to be sick. One would have thought that I had shot a true trophy. As I gathered my thoughts, I realized that indeed I had shot a trophy. I also realized that I should keep my lips closed if I am at a camp and someone shoots a buck that by today's trophy standards seems sub par. Quess what. The trophy is relevent to the person that shoots the animal.
In conclusion, I am hooked. I have rekindled the desire to enjoy the sporting practices of hunting again, and realized it is not just all about the bone. Thanks for a great sight, and I am very proud to say that I took a spike buck with traditional archery equipment. I also know that there was lots of luck involved for this to happen the first time out with a longbow. I also found half of the wooden shaft with the broadhead for a keepsake, and reminder of this wonderful day. Thanks for listening.
Topic: *** Daily Hunt Stories and Pics 2009 *** (Read 8675 times)
