After 15 years of hunting with a longbow or recurve the jinx has been put to rest. We have had some tough seasons with 2 wolf packs in our area and a number of rough winters taking their toll on the deer heard. Not to make excuses, I have had 3 good chances prior to this; a branch not seen deflected an arrow toward a nice buck working a scrape line. Later shooting over a doe and hitting another that could not be found after days of looking added to the list.
As I was strapping on my safety harness a doe and button buck came by and watched me. Over the next half hour I tried to get harness on and my bow off the hanger. I finally got the arrow knocked only to spook the doe.
An hour and a half later a fat doe came in towards me and went almost under my stand before walking away and giving me a 12 yard or so quartering away shot. I drew and released my arrow without thinking and the arrow disappeared into the fur as the doe turned slightly and busted out down the trail. Not seeing the arrow finish I thought it was a good shot but had to wait 15 minutes to climb down our of my stand. I was greeted with a spraying blood trail at the point of impact and the arrow a few short yards away.
I went back to the cabin to give some time for things to settle down. My son and I had a bite to eat and we headed out. The blood trail was good and my son saw doe piled up about 50 yards from my stand. High fives and smiles all around.
It was worth the wait, the tens of thousands of arrows shot. Despite taking almost 20 deer prior to this (some nice bucks included) I have never felt the satisfaction I felt with this hunt.
Topic: Well, finally! (Read 673 times)
