I only had time today for a middle of the day hunt. I went to a spot that I like in the Apalachicola National Forest that runs along the Ochlockonee River.
Got out there at a late 1030am and planned to hunt to about 4. Not ideal, but hey, in two years I have seen a bunch of animals in the middle of the day. We have been having cold weather so I figured odds were good.
I still hunted along the river for several hours. Saw plenty of squirrels of course. Lots of bird activity, including a pretty comical 'owl sonata'. I moved slowly and spent a lot of time stopped, just scanning the distance always searching for the faintest sign of movement.
Well, that didn't yield any results, and I was frustrated because I wasn't finding much ground sign either...so I found a nice spot to sit, right east of an oxbow in the river...the area where I decided to sit was just outside the bow, meaning anything that was heading away from the river would likely pass somewhere north or south of my location.
Several hours went by. I grew a little antsy. But I forced myself to stay quiet and still, seated on my chair surrounded by some palmettos and saplings.
It was getting close to being time to head back to the car.
Finally after lots of false alarm racket from the danged squirrels I heard some more purposeful movement coming from the river's direction. I listened intently and prayed it would be a pig, as I had heard some sloshing sounds coming from the direction of an islet to the north of the oxbow.
Then I spotted movement and a glimpse of fur through the brush. Still wasn't sure what I was about to see...
Then out crept two big fat raccoons! LOL. Not quite what I was hoping for, but I was ready to play ball. I had not ever taken a raccoon, had passed on several on prior hunts, and decided today was gonna be the day. I have always wanted to try the meat also.
They were headed in a zig zag line pretty much right for me.
I already had an arrow on the string, so I waited until they were looking away and stood up silently and 'made ready'.
There were lots of trees of all sizes interspersed between them and I...it was going to very likely be a shot where I could not hesitate and had to make sure I didn't hit a sapling or tree.
Once they got within 10-12 yds I decided it was going to happen. I chose the larger of the two of them as my target.
For whatever reason they were now really making a beeline for me. I had to move to my left to keep the shot clear and I raised up my bow.
That's when my target, the big one, must have just spotted my slightest movement...I tried to time it for when it was looking away but the big coon must have just caught me!
No worries! What the coon did next proved to be its undoing! In anticipation of having to flee whatever it thought it just saw it sprang and hugged the base of a tree directly in front of me..
This provided a picture perfect broadside shot.
I picked a spot, came to full draw, and let it fly...visualizing the arrow hitting its mark, which it did.
That raccoon acted like it had just been tazed. It bolted up the tree, and I could clearly see that my arrow had perfectly transected its rib cage right behind the elbow and come out the other side...it was likely a double lung pass through but the arrow got stuck on the fletching inside its chest cavity. This was worrisome as it was more or less partially plugging the hole!!
No worries, I could already hear the blood dripping down. I looked at the ground at the base of the tree and sure enough bright red blood was steadily raining down. The coon had climbed as high up into the slender tree as it could..it made it up about 15 feet. With my arrow still sticking completely out one side. It gnawed and bit at the arrow, finally chewing through the carbon shaft partially, as I could see the arrow flop down where it had been biting at it.
By this time I already had a second arrow on the string, and was waiting to see what would happen. The blood that was accumulating on the ground said the wound was mortal, but the coon's behavior said it wasn't going down fast or easy.
Meanwhile the second raccoon was mightily confused by this whole sequence of events, and went ahead and climbed the tree right next to my target's. At this point I contemplated taking the second one, but it was a very high angle shot.
I started moving around the tree, assessing what I might do, and trying to wait out the one I shot.
After about 10 minutes from the initial shot it finally lost its hold and fell down from the canopy.
Again, all the bright red blood had me shaking my head that this animal was still not ready to give up. I started moving toward it, with plans to go for a second arrow. It noticed me and went for the next nearest tree once more. It passed through some underbrush, and must have lost the long part of my arrow with the broadhead there, cause it emerged and I noticed the arrow was gone, either that or the arrow broke when it fell and I just didn't notice it missing then. I saw it start to climb and move around the backside of the tree... I moved swiftly and smoothly around the tree knowing I would want to take any immediate opportunity to put it down with a second arrow if necessary. I spotted more blood on the ground.
All the blood aside, I knew it was the fletched end of my arrow that was delaying the process.
As I came around the tree, to my surprise it had a hollow in it, and the mortally wounded raccoon had crawled inside to take refuge about 7 feet above the ground.
I did not want it to die up in the hollow, so I did the only thing I could think to do, not having a ladder on hand...I reached up with my second arrow and poked it.
This elicited a snarl that actually surprised the heck out of me.
This did the trick though. The coon crawled up out of the hollow, now about 10 feet up. I moved into position for another broadside shot, and planned angle wise so I didn't have to shoot straight up and might actually recover my arrow.
I got it lined up and once again picked a spot and drew back. Perfect hit. My arrow lodged tip first in a smaller tree behind where I shot. I would retrieve it by knocking it down later.
1 more minute and the tough coon fell down to the ground.
The second raccoon was long gone by now.
I gutted the dispatched coon and examined the inside of the chest cavity. My fletching had indeed partially plugged the first hit, massive as the blood loss was to my eyes on the ground, there was even more blood flooded inside the body cavity. The heart was also lacerated. This was perhaps from the second arrow? Can't be sure.
Anyway, even though I left the woods today with "only" a raccoon, to me it was exhilarating.
This big ol' raccoon is now on ice, waiting to be skinned out and cooked.
I will tan the hide, flesh out the skull etc also.
Faith was a joy to carry and shoot today. I was shooting full length Beman Centershot 400s with 3x5 shields, 50g insert and 125g Magnus Stingers. The first arrow was a 2 blade Stinger, the second arrow a 4 blade Stinger. I think the 4 blade really did the trick on the second shot.
Topic: Chuck's kill with Faith 2014--- "Fine Dining" update PG 3 (Read 1303 times)
