Last summer I had the privilege of witnessing the creation of my Sunbear Longbow. Charlie Lamb put together a beautiful bow for me, and I loved every minute of watching the process. Since July, I have practiced like crazy and have been determined to take a deer with "Obit" this season. Grab a cup of coffee and pull up a chair for a while for the story of her creation here:
Weekend at the Sunbear Bowshop My task for this season took some perseverance...I shot right over the back of a small buck at my brothers early in the season, and then have seen alot of scenery since, but few deer with no shooting opportunities.
Probably around 100 hours on stands, a lot of reading sign and trying to figure things out after gun season ended. I moved into late season mode in mid December and started really concentrating on food plots to no avail.
Southwest Missouri actually got some snow for a change instead of ice this week and I was out of school for a few snow days. With the snow and bitter cold, I did some scouting and found an area in the center of the family farm deep in the woods with some turkey and deer tracks converging on broad flat heavily forested area. It was near one our traditional rut stands right in the heart of the farm. This evening I rolled the dice and tried a different strategy and sat the "Flying Squirrel" stand.
About 30 minutes prior to dusk a group of 5 worked into the wind heading toward my stand leisurely digging around under some oaks and meandering my way. 3 mature does and 2 yearlings. I knew I would have a brief window so I positioned myself as best I could and really tried to will them into position. I knew with that many eyes it was going to be difficult, but the wind was in my favor and they were heading in the right direction. They dug around under some blackjack oaks and one of the does presented a quartering away opportunity. I waited for her on-side leg to move forward and took the shot.
The arrow buried into the breadbasket and lodged into the offside rib. The three blade VPA terminator did its job well. I watched her go down in less than 10 seconds.
(Time-out for a brief side note...) Almost a year ago someone dumped a beautiful sweet flat-coat retriever mix on the farm and we nursed her from a rough state back to health and through her awkward "not quite a puppy, but not a dog yet" stage. She has proven to be a loyal companion and a great friend. I decided that since I knew the deer was down I would try Raven out on the track. (It is legal in Missouri, so long as you are not tracking with a weapon and I left my bow and quiver at the stand) Took her to the point of impact and let her go with some encouragement. Every hair bristled and she was off with her nose to the ground. Took me right to the doe in less than a minute. She pointed about 10 yards off from the doe and waited for me to get there. She was trembling like crazy and not quite sure what to do, so I praised her like crazy. I removed the arrow and let her enjoy her find for a bit, and then we had to celebrate and roll in the snow. What a wonderful happen-chance addition to the family and hopefully a good tracker for future needs!
Here is Raven with the post track celebration:
And here is a quiet moment of contemplation and thanks with the doe:
The completion of a season of perseverance and breaking in my Sunbear Longbow, Obit. Thanks Charlie!
Topic: "Obit" finally writes one (Read 530 times)
