An Opener to Remember

[John146]

Like everyone here, I was looking forward to this hunting season but for some reason this year the anticipation was notched up a bit.

My brother and I hunt a small tract of land and we were getting a lot more pictures than normal. We attributed this to the clearing that the loggers did last year and how thick things grew up. Lot more food and bedding cover for the deer.

Pictures of bucks like this were getting us pretty excited even though most were at night.

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[John146]

Both my brother and I had taken some much needed time off work and the weather was really going to cooperate making hunting early October a lot more pleasant than usual with low temps in the 50's. We grabbed the wives and met up at the camp looking forward to some bow hunting.

The season opened up on Thursday, October 1 and we began seeing a few deer the first couple days. Friday afternoon I set up on the edge of an oak flat in a tree stand. There was a little sign  under a big oak I had hunted before so this was going to be my place for the remainder of the afternoon.

About 4:30 a nice doe and her fawn began feeding my way and I settled in for the show. I love watching deer do what they do when they do not know you are there. She made her way toward my location and when she got directly down wind, froze in her tracks, ears went up and then, like her head was programmed, she began looking higher and higher until she pegged me in the stand.

Two seconds later she bolts back the way she came, fawn in tow and I sat their thankful for the encounter thinking I probably would not see anything else. I was wrong.

[bear bowman]

And! This sounds like it's going to be good.

Keep it coming!!!!

Bisch

[John146]

Later I hear some steps in the dry leaves off to my left and then nothing for a while. I was wondering if it was a squirrel but really could not tell. I stood up just in case. Here was my vantage in front of me.

 

All of a sudden purposeful steps are coming my way and I am wondering what I will see. A small doe pops out from under the leaves and walks right in the opening in the picture. I make a noise to stop her, pick a spot and release and watch my arrow go right over her back. She bolts back the way she came and stops.

I get another arrow on the string and wait. A minute later those same steps are coming to my left. She walks out from under the branches and is passing through a small window at 7 yards. I draw back, bending at the waist and connect in what I think is the right spot.

The next moments are so adrenalin filled that I am quivering,(just like Bisch after a shot) listening, wondering all at the same time. She is blasting through the woods and 10 seconds later I hear a crash and then silence. Everything seems in order but the wondering, oh the wondering.

[John146]

I gather myself in the stand for a moment praying that I made a good shot and that she indeed did die quickly. This is the first time I shoot a deer with my 47 lb. limbs on my Bob Lee Longbow. Shoulder issues had me reduce from 57lbs. and I wasn't sure what to expect. I am wondering about penetration, hopeful for a blood trail. She headed toward some of the thicker stuff and well...I am wondering, oh the wondering.

I get down and go over to the shot location and immediately find blood- this is good. I begin the trail and things are looking very good. I follow a great blood trail through pretty open terrain and then see profuse blood going over the railroad tracks that run through this little tract. On the other side is the thick stuff. Oh the wondering.

On my way down the track embankment there is a huge blow down so I make my way down and around to pick up the blood on the other side. I see nothing through the beam of my flashlight. More wondering. Where did she go? Did she take a left or right. How could the blood just stop. Maybe behind me... and there she is!

The crash was her landing in the blow down. I pull her out of the tangle and admire her beauty. I kneel and thank the Lord for this blessing and tell her thank you for her life given to me. She is about 80 pounds and will provide some delicious table fare and I am grateful for a quick kill. The arrow hit perfectly in her upper left side and exited in her opposite arm pit thus the great blood trail. My bow, arrow and 3 blade broad head had performed well.

I hooked her to my lineman's belt and drug her to the truck not believing my good fortune so early in the season. It was time to breakout the skinning knife my brother custom made for me. There was more blessing to come.

 


 

[fnshtr]

Ok, you got my attention!
   

[fnshtr]

I posted while you uploaded the finale.

Congrats! Great story and pics. Thanks for the ride.

[Matty]

[DanielB89]

Todd,
congrats on the deer, Brother! Looks like some good eating!  Can't wait to spank your butt on a 3D range!    

I thought about you the other day. Some how o have managed to tear up 2 sets of boots this year. I thought back to the real things shoot and couldn't help but laugh!

[John146]

In the 3 years since being on this place we had not taken a deer so early so we were excited to say the least. There is just something about breaking the ice.

We continued to hunt with numerous sightings including one of the big 8 points that my brother saw at 60 yards sneaking through the thick stuff. We also saw does with fawns on numerous occasions and let these walk by unharmed hoping the fawns would escape the 3 coyotes I had seen on the banks of the river Friday midday.

Monday was going to be a great day. It started with getting permission to hunt a 18 acre section of land that borders the tract we hunt that has numerous oaks in it. I decided that Monday afternoon I would go into this area for the first time.

Because our tract borders a small river I access some of it with a kayak which is just very cool for me. Just makes you feel kinda sneaky drifting downstream so quietly.

 

[23feetupandhappy]

 

Its sounding good so far  

[John146]

Temperatures have climbed by now and the cooler weather is coming to an end. I drift downstream, tie up the yak and go about 80 yards from the river to enter this new area for the first time. I have noticed the tree tops of some oaks and hope there are acorns under them. I am not disappointed. There are acorns and two piles of poop and I pick a tree to climb.

Once set up I am not real excited because I am sweating and trying to just cool down. I put on my armguard and shooting glove but leave off my Trad Gang hat and face mask. Not 15 minutes later I look to my right, toward the river and there is a doe 35 yards away feeding. I can't believe it.

She is nice size and I immediately assume I will see a fawn shortly. I hear some noise off to the left and it sounds small. Then I hear heavier footsteps and out pops a 4 wheel drive doe and the fawn with her. This doe was very gray and must have weight 135 lbs.! Biggest doe I have ever seen here and I realize the other doe may be a shooter.

I stand and slowly grab my bow with my glaring face uncovered wondering how this will go. The big doe and her fawn are in plain site and the smaller does meanders her way to 20 yards. I am convinced she is without a fawn and prepare for a shot. She turns broad side, I bend at the waist, anchor, release and watch my arrow hit her right in the shoulder! I hear shoulder blade crack as the arrow enters and my immediate feeling is good. She turns to run and I see a lot of arrow hanging out and my feelings change. I watch her for about 40 yards through the tree branches and then lose sight. I hear no crash, no thrash, no nothing!

[John146]

I am shaking again - I love this feeling - BUT I am wondering again as well. Did I just get one lung? Is she going to suffer? Is this where the drop in weight with my bow will cause problems?

Because she ran back toward the river I don't get down for an hour. While up there thinking, I realize these deer must have been bedded along the river bank where the cover is thick which means I probably passed within 30 yards of them drifting downstream. If I would have been walking along the bank I would have spooked them for sure. Notch one up for the Yak!

Again I prayed for a quick kill but without hearing a crash... I get down and go to the shot location. It is 6:35 and I see no blood! The light is fading which makes it harder for me to pick out blood but as hard as I look I see nothing!

I decide to walk in the direction I saw her depart. I had a good line on her travel for that 40 yard stretch and the woods are surprisingly clean. These big Privet Trees have shadowed the forest floor and there is hardly any undergrowth so I am hopeful I will see her fallen in the distance. I left my binoculars at the camp - not good!

After going a good ways and seeing nothing I decide to go back to the shot site and see if I can find any sign of blood. I break out a new flashlight I bought. It has a softer light that doesn't glare back at me even though it is 120 lumens, and my heart leaps when I see my first drop of blood. In my mind I think, "get the toilet paper out" and I begin placing small pieces of paper every place I find a speck of blood.

For the next 1 1/2 hours I trailed, sometimes on hands and knees - wondering. I would shine my flashlight down my back trail, being able to see her path clearly because of the toilet paper. When I hit a place that she took a hard right toward the river I was encouraged. It made sense that she would head back to her bedding area but I was thinking about her crossing the river and the very real possibility that I would have to seek permission to search on another piece of property.

Something inside just settled in to the task at hand. I remember telling myself to just get ready for a long night and follow this through. If I was going to take the shot then follow through on this part of the deal. I was close to the river now, the cover was getting thick. I was so focused on finding the next spot of blood that when I took my light and shined it ahead and saw her looking back at me from 8 feet away, I was startled.

I thought for an instant that she was alive because she had just collapsed on her front legs like she had folded them under her but alas she had expired! The next moments and feelings were surreal. I feel them even now while writing this. So much thankfulness welled up in me at the site of finding her. She was kind of stiff which meant she had expired quickly for which I was most grateful.

I turned off my light and sat there for a few minutes with her head in my hands. I looked up at the stars peeking through the tree tops and gave thanks to the Lord again for this blessing. She was so beautiful a creature and I had taken her life - or better yet - God had seen fit to let me have her and the weight of that fell upon me. May I never take for granted the taking of life!

[John146]

I dragged her to the bank of the river, dropped my fanny pack and bow and went downstream to get the yak. It hit me that I was finally going to put a deer in the yak. I have been using this kayak in numerous locations for the last 2 years and this would be a first.

The task of getting her in the yak was interesting. I did not have far to go with her but I was also going to have all my other gear strapped on and I did not want everything to go in the drink. After strapping things with bungee cords, paddling and pulling upstream I arrived at the take out point where we camp and there was a water moccasin waiting for me, curled up at the bank. If he would have stayed there I had a broad head just for him but he left.

I called my brother and wife and they came help me haul the yak and the deer up the bank. Right before they came I thought I should take a picture. I apologize for the picture not being the most honorable way to depict these beautiful creatures. I just never thought of getting a picture in the woods. I regret that now.

 

 

[John146]

She weighed about 105 lbs. and will provide many meals for me and my family. I was curious about the shot, so when my brother and I cleaned her I wanted to see what happened. Turns out the broad head broke through both the left and right shoulder blades but did not make an exit hole in the hide going out therefore the lack of blood.

 

The shot was as good as I could hope for but I will try a single bevel two blade now to see if I can increase the chances of an exit hole if I have the chance to shoot again.

To harvest two deer in the first 5 days of the season was a blessing hoped for but not often realized. For me it had never happened before. If it never happens again, I will always remember the opener of 2015. The blessings of my God, my family, a place to hunt and this great thing called traditional bow hunting. I wonder - can it get any better?

[John146]

Originally posted by DanielB89:
Todd,
congrats on the deer, Brother! Looks like some good eating!  Can't wait to spank your butt on a 3D range!    

I thought about you the other day. Some how o have managed to tear up 2 sets of boots this year. I thought back to the real things shoot and couldn't help but laugh!

Hey Daniel, Thanks man. You spanking me on the 3-d range is a pretty good bet but I ain't scared! At least I can keep my feet dry. You must have sasquatch feet or something! Either that or you are just suppose to be bare footed.

[SAM E. STEPHENS]

Congrats sir , well done....

,,,Sam,,,

[Homey88]

Congrats to you! Great hunt!

[Kip]

Very nice job Todd worked hard recovered  both deer and treated the animal right.Congrats.