Well after not filling my moose tag I have been anxious to put some meat in the freezer. The moose hunt was great, but disappointing in that the bulls were not responding to calls. The hunt was a great adventure but pretty much consumed the first part of our expanded zone and regular archery seasons. I got out once or twice before the hunt but saw nothing. The rest of October also brought no sightings on any stand sits I did. I put a deer in the freezer quickly using an unmentionable form of weapon. The best part was it allowed me to start hunting with the longbow again.
Our expanded zone is about 25 minutes from the house and 45 from work so after school sits are impossible in the shorter days of November and December. That left Saturdays and holidays. On Veterans day I sat over a scrape in the morning, and then moved along to explore more of the area. The ground was wet and it was windy, so I snuck into a low area and called. Suddenly there was a doe standing about thirty yards away ( I paced it after). I could see two other deer but they were her little ones. The smaller deer started to leave and I could see she was going to also so I picked a spot and released. The arrow was perfect, but before it got to her she puled a Matrix move and spun out of the way and disappeared. I snuck around and explored some more and found some good sign and decent trails. This last Sat. I was back and snuck down in the predawn and found the tree I had marked on the previous scout near some trails crossing a stone wall. The problem was there were about 4 trails, none heavily used that crossed the wall in a 50 yard section. I decided that though the tree was perfect for the wind it put me too far away from the far trail. I split the difference and went up a tree in the dark, clipping branches on a close spruce tree as I went. About 7 I turned my head to check a noise I figured was one of the two red squirrels that had been busy all morning and saw doe slipping along the farthest trail behind me. I grabbed the bow slowly and carefully turned around in the tree stand, weaving the bow and arrow around the trees next to the stand. On the last movement my limb tip hit the tree and the doe stopped and looked up at me. I froze and looked away. She stared and tested the wind for about a minute, then dropped her head and continued on. I drew the bow as she stepped out from behind a tree and she froze, looked back up, and took a step back, spun and started to leave. I followed her and she stopped in a shooting lane looking at her back trail. I picked a spot behind the shoulder and released the arrow. At the sound of the bow she lunged forward and I saw the arrow bury into her hind 1/4 with a loud thwack. CRAP! The doe bolted about 40 yards and stopped. A second deer ran about the same and also stopped. Suddenly several crows flew in a kept calling and landing in the trees over the place the doe stopped. A minute later a third deer started blowing from beyond where I shot the doe. The second deer which I believe was one of the skippers took off. I thought I saw a deer running across an open area beyond where the doe stopped. The third deer started to blow again and continued as it circled around to where the skipper went too. I couldn't figure if that was the deer I had shot that had moved without me seing it. I decided to wait an hour and then get down. After the looong wait I quietly got down and organized my gear and the climber to carry out and snuck to the area she had been standing when I shot her. There was a large splash of blood and I could follow more with my eyes. A good sign. I hoped I had hit the femoral artery.
After returning to the truck and texting a couple of hunting buds I decided to give her until 10. After waiting the two hours I snuck back down and picked up the trail. It was easy to follow, so much so I kept moving around in the thick alders she went through and missed my broken arrow.
Sorry the image isn't better, my camera died when I got to even better sign, so this is the best image I have of the blood trail.
The trail continued to where she had stopped and there was an incredible amount of blood. Then the trail got tough. Suddenly there was no blood. I couldn't figure what had happened. I was able to find a couple of small sets of drops leading out into the open area beyond the alders. It is an old field that was last bush hogged about 5 or 6 years ago. A trail cut across towards where the other two deer had gone. I followed that, no sign. I followed it the other way, tracks, no blood. How could she have stopped bleeding so fast?!!!!
I went back to the last spot and moved super slow. I found two more small sets of blood that crossed the trail, then no more. I suddenly heard a lot of noise at the end of the field about 40 yards away and saw some large dead branches moving. I figured it had to be her.
I quickly moved across the field and nocked an arrow. I couldn't see anything where the branches had moved and wind was wrong so I slipped along the edge trying to see a deer laying in the leaves and raspberries. I circled up into the trees to get behind where the branches had moved. Suddenly I saw her at about 8 yards, laying down, head up looking back into the field. I took a shot, but put it right over her back since I rarely shoot at that close a distance. She got up and took off.
After she took off I backed out again to give her another hour. I called a buddy and he decided to come out and help. I waited and we headed back. The trail was easy to follow and we came up on her in a few minutes. She was curled up with her head covering her chest. Her breathing was very shallow. I wanted to quicken the end, but had no shot. I snuck (well sneak is relative since she was so far gone she did not seem to be able to see or hear) around behind her and put a second arrow in her chest and it was over in seconds.
My second trad deer was in hand.
The shot had been perfect as the arrow went right where I was looking, the only problem was that the part I was looking at was not there anymore. As I thought about it later, if I had been shooting a faster bow (read wheelie)I probably would have gut shot her. Lesson learned is that shooting at an animal that is on alert is tough. Even with a very quiet longbow the noise is enough to cause them to move.
When I butchered her (and thanks to those who helped with suggestions on the blood shot ham) I was really impressed with what the WW did. The femur was shattered from 3" above the knee all the way to the top. There was about a 3" section of bone left attached to the head of the bone, but it as split in half. If the arrow hadn't broken I could have used the head later that day. I was shooting my Iroquois @57#, with a 250 grain WW original making the CX 150 have a total weight of 565 gr.
Topic: My Maine season so far (Read 470 times)
