Yesterday (Friday) was a tough one at work. I wanted to get out early and sit in a stand I had put up a couple days before. Our archery deer season opened on the 1st, but I have been so busy I had only gotten out for a couple hours last Monday in a blind. The day had many problems, poor communication issues, and I was asked to wait to solve an issue at 2 pm only to be called at 4 pm and told not to worry about it. I was frustrated as I had hoped to be on stand around 4 because I had seen deer moving in the shaded areas nearby that early several times recently.
I raced home and put on some camo, and grabbed my bow to race out to the stand site. I drove near the stand to drop my gear off so as not to sweat on the way in as much, and the landowner drives in behind me with his tractor and starts doing some work. I think great, this will keep the deer away till long after he is gone. He then followed me part of the way out and drove on across the pasture scaring 3 bucks out of a small patch of timber (3 of the 4 bucks I had been watching). They went up the mountain, and again I'm thinking another tough break. I sit the stand anyway as there were other deer in the area, it was getting later, and I didn't have a good alternative.
The landowner drove up on his tractor and asked if I had seen the bucks, I said yes, and he said he thought they might come back down the mountain, but would probably go to a different pasture and to the neighbors apple tree. He looked at my stand and asked if I could shoot across the pasture, about 60 yards in this narrow pinch point. I said no, I needed to keep it to about 20 yards, and preferably 15 cause I had been so busy, I hadn't practiced as much as I like. He gave me a look and grin like I was nuts and drove off.
It was now 2 1/2 hours to dark. My hang on stand was uncomfortable as the only decent tree in the location leaned slightly outward, so I couldn't lean back. I was mentally grumbling about everything when I saw a doe come out of the woods about 125 yards away. I watched her feed for about 30 minutes and she disappeared. I was sleepy and uncomfortable and trying not to fall out if I drifted off to sleep ( I had my harness and safety system in place). Then a small flock of 5 turkeys fed out of the woods across from me at about 60 yards. At least they were entertaining.
The witching hour arrived and I tried to stay alert. About 45 minutes before dark, 2 of the bucks spooked earlier came walking into view. One was a 3 x 3 and the other a forkhorn. A buck has to have 3 points on one side to be legal here. Of course the forkie fed right up to within 10 yards of my stand while the 3 pt fed across the pasture.
This went on for about 10 minutes until suddenly the 3 pt walks over, pushes the forkie aside and starts looking around. They are both at about 12 yards now, and I'm thinking I have to be careful and fool 2 sets of eyes. Both turned broadside with the 3 pt slightly quartering away. I am excited but know I have to wait until both are looking away so I don't get busted. Suddenly both look across the pasture. I have my spot on the 3 pt. picked and focusing intently. I start my draw when suddenly in my peripheral vision I see a jerking movement as the forkie looks at me. I lost some of my focus and I was only 3/4 to 7/8 drawn but since I shoot instinctively, my arrow was pointed at my spot, so I instinctively released. The arrow hit about near the back of the ribs angling down and forward. With the short draw the arrow buried to the fletching and most of the arrow out the far side. I could see blood on the arrow and dripping as the deer spun and ran across the pasture turning into an opening behind some trees and disappeared. I thought the hit was fairly good, but further back than I wanted. The forkie and the third buck I hadn't noticed coming in ran across the pasture and stopped at the edge of the trees and looked at where their buddy had disappearred. They stood there quite awhile making me think my buck was probably down just out of sight. I waited until just before dark, about 30 minutes after the shot, and climbed down. It then hit me I had left home so fast, I hadn't brought a knife or flashlight. (Brother, what a day). I followed the blood until it got under the trees where I could no longer see it. I jumped in my truck and went to the landowners cabin. I asked to borrow a flashlight, (I found a small pocketknife in my truck). He asked if I had stuck something and I told him one of the bucks he had spooked. He was aamazed and found a flashlight and followed me back to the woods to look for the deer. He drove his 4 wheeler around looking while I went back the blood and trailed it another 40 yards to where the buck piled up. The landowner was amazed that a recurve could kill a deer so quickly. He left to finish his nightly chores, and that's when I found just how dull that old pocketknife was.
There had been a bigger buck in the area, but with as little time as I have to hunt this season, I was happy.
But, the day sure ended much better than most of it had been!!
Topic: Challenging day got much better!! (Read 325 times)
