As some of you know this is my first year hunting with traditional gear, came close a couple of times over the years but just never committed to it fully...until now.
I hunted one sit in Georgia opening weekend and had a close encounter with three bucks, two 8 pointers and a 6 pointer. The biggest of which will crowd 130"s all day and got to within 15 yards but I never could get a shot. I was sitting on the ground in a natural blind and he came in to my immediate right side. I was heartbroken that I didn't get a a shot but to be that close to such a beast on my first ever trad hunt really got me pumped up.
Opening weekend in Florida was a bit of a wash for me due to a travel softball tournament with my daughter. I felt being there for her was the right thing to do and will do so again in a heartbeat.
I finally got a free afternoon last Sunday (they won the tournament) and had a decent 7 point hang up on me at about 30 yards. Probably could have burned him with my compound but since I sold it a couple weeks back, no dice. Next came a spike but again, no shot. Close to dark thirty, two jumbo does came into range and I shot the biggest one at 18 yards. I thought the shot was perfect and immediately texted gblrklr and told him it was done...my first trad kill was in the books.
I left the swamp that night around 11:00 with no deer, no arrow, no blood, no anything other than skeeter bites, catclaw gouges and hurt feelings. Back the next morning and stumbled up on the fletching end of my arrow with blood covering about a foot of it, but the business end was still in the deer (6 inches worth to be exact). Picked up blood trail within 10 steps of where I found the arrow and followed it for about 200 yards....straight to a deep, thickly tangled cypress head. When the water spilled over the top of my 18" high Danner Snake Boots I called it a day.
Shot was tight behind shoulder and I'm sure the 175 grain VPA had to have taken out the onside lung. Blood was sprayed to left of trail, definitely lung blood, with bubbles present at times. I can only surmise that she whirled a bit and maybe the angle forward was steeper than I thought at the time of the shot. To say I was dejected is an understatement of epic proportions but I spent upwards of 8 hours looking and simply couldn't move it any further in the swamp. Nobody informed the deer that if you feel a stinging sensation to simply lay down and someone would be along shortly to take care of it. They are tough critters.
Work obligations and daughter's volleyball cut my seat time short during the week but again on Friday night I got a pass. This time I bypassed the ground blind and chose a Gunslinger climbing stand. Off in the distance I could hear the PA system at the local high school as the football team prepared to do battle with a rival team. At about 6:20 I got busted by a group of two does and yearlings and figured that was probably all of the action for the day (not sure if they saw me or smelled me). At 6:45 the weather got a little sketchy and I feared I was going to get soaked before "that" time arrived.
I figured one last ditch effort consisting of a few grunts was in order and if nothing appeared by 7:00 or so I'd pack it in before the rains came. Next thing I know I hear the unmistakeable sound of a deer walking in an overgrown food plot I'm adjacent to. I'm set up with a wall of brush in front of me to hopefully screen my movements before the deer actually make it to my lane. When the deer finally appeared, I immediately knew I wanted to shoot him. Freaky looking rack with junk jutting out from both sides and more stuff around the bases. I somehow stood up and started burning a hole in his armpit, the Super K came back almost on auto pilot and I'd like to say I remember relaxing my fingers but I can't and probably didn't.
What I do remember is seeing the buck leap into the air and immediately blood is gushing out of a gaping hole right where I was staring seconds earlier. With around 100 compound bow kills under my belt I knew this deer was dead on his feet. He made it about 40 yards and tipped over rather uneventfully. This time when I texted gblrklr I told him I KNEW it was over now as I could see him laying in the pines from my perch! Deer turned out to be a bit of a freak, 8 "points" by Lake Butler standards but more like a spike with trash. I'm going to get a euro mount done on him since he's my first trad kill and is pretty gnarly looking to boot.
I have been in the woods my entire life, have seen and done some cool stuff along the way in my 44 years. This kill is without a doubt my proudest achievement when it comes to hunting...nothing else even comes close. Monkey's off my back, now I can relax and enjoy it again, I had put way too much pressure on myself to get it done. Sorry for the long read, I hope you enjoyed at least some of it. This pretty much sums up my mood... :D
Topic: First traditonal kill... (Read 965 times)
