God continues to bless a Swamper and I am thankful. I hunted the Post oak ridge again this evening that I killed a doe on a week or so ago. The acorns have all fallen and the Turkeys have near wiped them out. A big Flock of Birds will clean a ridge of acorns up quickly just like pigs and the deer were having to scrounge for acorns on this ridge now....
Notice the acorn split in half. A sure sign of deer feeding.
I got on stand and was sweating. It was hot and humid this evening and I almost did`nt go hunting. The wife was beginning to think of Honey-do`s so I decided it was best to escape while I could....
About 5:30 squirrels begin to stir and I could hear Wood Ducks coming into the creek. It is awful dry here this year but the Beavers have a couple of spots dammed and holding enough water for the Ducks.I could hear my Uncles Beagles chasing a Rabbit across the creek in a Rabbit "pen" .About 15 acres fenced in. He is retired and has been a Houndsman for life.His younger Brothers built the Rabbit pen for him so he could enjoy his passion without having to chase his dogs all over the County.He never shoots one just listens and Grins.
The sound of dry leaves crunching brought me out of daydreaming of past fox hunts with the Old Man and I soon realized a deer was nearby. I cupped my hands to my ears because my directional hearing is poor and finally located a direction of the deer and spotted it. It was making circles under a post oak and then started my way. It got almost sideways when I heard another behind it. I let the doe go by and then the next deer appeared it was a yearling. I quickly looked back at the first deer that had stopped behind some bushes and then heard another deer coming. It was a huge Doe. I was hoping it was the Big 8 pt I had seen here several weeks ago.
The big doe was circling wide...the yearling was walking under my stand and the 1st Doe was almost through my "gap". I shifted my leg a bit to be able to lean over for a shot at the first doe and must have made a bit of noise because she locked up. I was sitting and leaning with my bow shoulder pointed at her with my bow up.She stomped one time and was looking at the yearling under my tree. I knew it was about to over so I started drawing slowly.
Just as I got about half draw she looked up and stomped again. I came on back to anchor and picked my spot very low knowing she was gonna drop.
At the shot she dropped and whirled and the arrow looked to have went in mid body. I heard her run a bit then all was quiet except for the yearling snorting and the Beagles.
I waited about 30 minutes and got down not wanting the yearling to figure it out. Walked over to where the Doe was standing..
Not to bad. I knew the shot was back a bit but was glad no stomach matter was on the arrow. A liver shot for sure I thought.Gonna have to give it a bit of time.
The feathers on the arrow are from a Jake I killed last Spring with a Howard Hill longbow.Hand sanded and trimmed by hand.
After about 1.5 hours I took up the trail...
A whole lot like this for about 100 yards...
Entry...
Exit
And a pic of an awful Lucky feller...With a Mohawk Vince built some kind of mojo in...
A learning tip for me and maybe some beginning bowhunters. I waited because I was not sure before taking up the trail Experience let me "read" the arrow and know that it was not a lung hit.Had I pushed the deer it would have no doubt covered a lot more ground faster and probably hit water. I know this because I found several places where the deer had stopped and stood for long enough the blood puddled. I always wait a bit unless I hear the deer crash. Thank You Lord. RC
Topic: A great year #9 (Read 804 times)
