I have hunted on and off for about 25 years. For years I hunted small game, then married into a family of hunters. I was the first to introduce bow hunting and my brother in law became a fan after 4 or 5 years of watching me struggle to harvest a deer. I was a wheelie guy to start with and shot pigs, squirrels, rabbits, fish, raccoons. I never had any luck hunting public land for deer. Yes, I did miss on 2 separate hunts. One shot high and another low. After years of multiple compound bows, I decided to return to my roots. I shot a recurve in elementary school and my father was a phenomenal shot. I witnessed him shooting pennies out of the air. He actually met Fred Bear at a tournament and Fred gave him a string to finish a tournament. He did have a collection of trophies and had harvested his share of many different game. He shot a 45# Ben Pearson with Bear arrows and broadheads. Last year I ordered a Blacktail Elite VL from Norm Johnson. The best purchase I have ever made. I had shot a Hoyt Dorado the year before, but yearned for the feel of wood. Last year was uneventful. I hunted out of a climber, and I truly feel that the noise of the climber was a factor in not seeing any deer. This year I bought a Millenium Loc on with gorilla climbing sticks. I was able to get 20 feet up. October 2nd was a brisk 45 degrees. I hunted in the morning and had a yearling doe present at 0810. Well, the nerves got the best of me. Yes, I failed to pick a spot and bend at the waist. A fifteen yard shot saw the arrow fly 2 inches over the deer's back. The deer just slowly walked off and I don't think she even knew I was there. Last Friday on October 19th, the weather was cool again. It was 46 degrees, no mosquitos which is rare for Louisiana. I stayed standing once daylight arrived. At 0740 I heard footsteps. I saw a small deer approaching from my left. The area I am hunting is filled with oak trees and I decided to do very little lane cutting. I wanted it to stay as natural as possible. Well, this deer was intent on coming into this oak flat. I do believe it was the same yearling I missed 2 weeks prior. She looked for my treestand and kept staring and moving her head trying to get me to move. I played the game with her and only moved when she looked away. After 2 minutes or so of this another yearling came into feed. Now I had two sets of eyes to deal with. I had to deal with the frustration of a miss 2 weeks earlier and now have to watch two deer and attempt a shot. Well, my heart got its stress test. After about 6 or 7 minutes of these deer moving in and out of the trees and briars, both deer stood fairly close together. I decided to take the closer shot at 23 yards. I pulled to anchor, held, then released. I can hardly remember the shot, but I heard the unmistakable thwack and the deer ran about 50 feet, yes feet and not yards. The deer just stood there. I lost sight of her after a few seconds. I looked for my arrow on the ground and saw nothing. At this time I got a terrible case of the shakes. I sat down and shook for about 10 minutes. Once I finally began to get my composure, I decided to pack my bag and wait another 10 minutes. I lowered my bow, climbed down and heard no movement in the woods. All was deadly quiet. I walked toward where the deer was standing when I shot and could not find any sign of blood or the arrow. My heart sank. I looked in the direction of where I had last seen the deer and saw it laying on its abdomen trying to take its last breaths. As heart breaking as it was to not relieve its misery, I did not have a shot with the amount of vegetation. It only lasted about a minute and she laid her head down and took her last breath. I pulled the deer from its final resting spot. The amount of blood on the ground was unbelievable. The VPA 125 grain 3 blade broadhead did its job. I later found my arrow about 5 feet from where I was looking. Things become a little distorted when you are 20 feet up. All the ground looks the same. The arrow entered in the deers flank. I don't know if the deer lurched forward at the shot, or if I just had a bad shot. The shot was a complete pass through and did a quick work of the deer. I called my wife immediately, for she knows that this had been a dream for many years. To finally have killed a deer with a bow, and to have done it with traditional archery gear was something that God granted me. He has a time and place for everything. My dad is long deceased and never hunted with a recurve and never did much rifle hunting. He did not need to. Next weekend opens for rifle season. I have killed many deer with a rifle and shot gun, but I have chosen to hunt the same stand with the same bow. Today I was sharpening the broadhead, refletching arrows, and hoping for another opportunity. My trailcam has many pictures of some 5 to 6 deer in one shot at this location. Two separate 8 point bucks are frequenting the area. If the Good Lord wills it, I hope one of these is the next opportunity. It took years to finally have this happen. I have confidence now in my equipment, my area, and ability. Thanks to all of you for imparting your wisdom on this site. I do want to apologize. I am antiquated in more than my choice of equipment. I have no camera on my cell phone and have no ability to post pictures. I hope you enjoyed the story without the pictures.
Thanks,
Kajun Archer
Topic: First Trad Deer (Read 558 times)
