I went out to my local hunting spot yesterday afternoon. By 4pm I was in the Lone Wolf strap on watching a farm trail through some white oaks. I spent the first 2 hours watching squirrels eat acorns and chase each other. A few minutes after 6 I heard a noise behind me and saw a mature doe at about 25 yards moving towards me. I stood silently and waited. Suddenly the wind changed and she stopped. She changed course and eased away. No shot.
I was disappointed I didn't get a shot at her, but I was excited that the deer were moving an hour before dark. About a half hour later I heard a tractor. One of the gentlemen who keeps cattle on the farm drove a tractor up the path to deliver a round bail. He didn't see me, so I was happy with the stand placement. I figured that I had at most 35 minutes of shooting light left, so I made the decision to get down and still hunt rather than hope the deer would disregard the tractor.
I walked to the end of the path and decided to go to a nearby part of the farm that I had scouted in the spring. There is a string of cedars about 100 yards long with a good game trail on either side. I went to my left because the wind was coming from the right. I knew there are a few shooting lanes between the cedars to the other side and my plan was to try to pick off a deer moving on the opposite side.
I worked my way about 80 yards along the left side and found the window I was looking for. There are some bushes I stood in front of to break up my outline and two separate shooting lanes about 4" squared to the other trail. I hadn't been set up for a minute when I heard a deer walking down the other trail. I remembered reading here that holding your bow in vertically in front of your face sometimes helps to break up one's outline, so I did that.
A short time later, what I thought was a medium sized doe appeared in the window. Unfortunately, she was facing me head on. Her chest was centered in the left shooting window. There were maybe 5 minutes of shooting light left. The deer saw me, but didn't know what I was. I waited for about a minute hoping it would turn, but we were at an impasse. At 15 yards I knew I could hit her in the chest and I knew my set up would get the vitals even with a frontal shot. I drew slowly and the deer didn't move. I hit anchor, concentrated on my spot, and released.
I use green lumenoks and I saw a green laser hit the deer in the chest and disappear. She spun to my left and was gone. I walked to the spot where the deer had been standing and found blood. The blood was good, but not what I was expecting. I followed it with my flashlight for less than 35 yards and found my deer dead. My "doe" was a button buck that weighed about 75lbs. Not a huge deer, but the smaller ones are harder to hit. :cool:
My arrow entered in the front of the chest and exited right in front of the diaphragm. The lack of impressive blood was due to the heart being hit.
Bow: Bob Lee Signature 70lbs @ 28". I draw 29.5"
Arrow: GT Trad 7595 30.5", 100gr insert, 100gr of screw in weights, 125gr magnus Snuffer.
Pictures:
Entry wound:
I'm wearing orange because we're in muzzleloader season here in KY. I took off the hat so as no to obscure my rugged good looks. :rolleyes: For reference, I'm about 6'3" and 265lbs.
Topic: Snuffers work (Read 650 times)
