Don't think little doe - think small target, tough shot!
I was hunting yesterday on my good friend's ranch in western Oklahoma. He needs to get his buck/doe ratio into a more optimal range and asks his friends to shoot at least one doe if they get the chance. He doesn't want any bucks shot unless they are old, mature bucks. The young ones need to grow up before they are shot. I promised him that I would shoot the first doe that presented a good shot.
At 7:30 am yesterday a young doe came walking towards my tree stand, feeding along the way. She wasn't very big, but my buddy wants them thinned out, and size or age is not a consideration. I was in a tree stand up the hill from where the doe was walking. At 22 yards she presented a standing, slightly quartering away shot.
This was my first hunt with my new 56" 57#@29.5" Shrew Classic Hunter takedown (Bow Bolt) with foam cores, carbon backing, macassar ebony veneered limbs, buffalo horn tips, and Texas ebony and phenolic riser. It is an incredible bow. I was also using AD Trad Lite arrows with 100 grain brass inserts that I bought from David Knipes tipped with 150 grain 2 blade Stinger broadheads. I have been shooting this combination (except with field tips) and found it to be accurate.
Back to the doe. The Classic Hunter was smooth as I drew to my anchor, concentrated on a shot that would angle through the doe's chest and hopefully take out lungs and heart, and released. As the arrow closed the 22 yards, I could see it was headed exactly to my point of aim. Two-thirds of the arrow went into the deer with just a little shaft showing in front of the fletching wrap. The doe bolted and took off at an all out run. From the position of the arrow and her reaction I knew it was a heart shot and that she would be dead in a matter of seconds. I watched her as she ran through the woods and then heard her tumble to the ground, knowing at that point she was dead. I did not hesitant, but instead climbed down from the stand and followed the path I had seen her take. Ninety-five yards later I was standing next to her.
My arrow was no longer in the little doe, so I backtracked on the blood trail that looked like it had been spread by a sprinkler. Fifteen yards away I found the fletch end of my arrow, and another fifteen yards back lay the broadhead end. Don't let anyone tell you that a 2 blade broadhead won't create a good blood trail under the proper conditions.
The arrow had entered the doe's chest a few inches behind her left shoulder and about halfway down from the top of her back. It came out in her lower chest just below her right leg. When we got back to the barn and started cleaning the deer, I pulled out her heart and saw that my arrow had indeed centered its mark.
The little doe may not be a "trophy" to hang on my wall, but she gave me some great memories and her blood baptized my new Shrew Classic Hunter.
Allan
Topic: Little doe (Read 1237 times)
