Post by Davidmil on Nov 18, 2003 9:56:17 GMT -5
So I arrived all alone in NY, walked off the road about 1/2 mile and found a tree. I was settled in by 11:00 AM between 2 trails. I immediately saw one whispy little limb that was a problem. I debated climbing down and getting it but said I'd get it when I got down at dark. For the next 5 hours I must have said 20 times...that pencil limb has got to go. At 4 a small one came by and I said NO. At 4:10 the biggest doe I've ever seen in the Southern Tier came from the wrong direction and had gotten through my two shooting lanes before I saw her. She stopped in the lane 2 yards this side of a 33 yard marker.. right in line with the Whispy limb. YUP, you guessed it.... I hit it. Arrow off into 4 inches of fresh snow.
The next morning I'm in the same tree. At 7 the same doe and 3 others pass by going to the bedding thicket but they were 50 yards away and in the pines. At 9:00 this nice little buck comes up the hill. I'm facing the tree. It was a chinese firedrill as I changed direction a half dozen times as the deer did trying figure out which side he'd go by on. At 40 yards he strightened out and I said, the 20 yard trail. I got my body ready and he changed directions. Came dead to my tree and sniffed the garbage bag I had placed on the ground to lay my bow on before I pulled it up. He freezes 3 feet from the tree. I can't see him(he's on the other side directly under me. I can see his shadow. He starts to turn left, I move, he turns back, I swing the arrow to the other side of the tree and clip the pine bark, a piece of which falls to the ground. He bolts back right and up the hill. I whirled, drew and bleated with my voice. He hit the breaks at 30 yards(I thought) right in a small hole. I could see his shoulder and ribs. I said 30, whack and I gave him a reverse mohawk right behind the shoulder across his back. There was enough hair there it looked like someone skinned a cat. I gave him an hour and got down. NO blood. I followed him out for 200 yards and found a speck of blood and a couple more piece of hair where he ducked under a hemlock. I followed him for another 700-800 yards. One time he went under a blowdown and left hair and blood where his back rubbed on it. The deer never went to a walk, never stopped and finally lost me in a maze of tracks and hunter tracks. I found maybe 3 eraser sized spots of blood on the snow. I was sure it was a grazing shot but followed for a half mile to make sure. I went back, stepped off the 23 yards to the deer. DUHHHH... nice range estimation in haste Dave.
Round number 3 was the that afternoon. I went to my hidden apple trees. I saw a 6 point cruise by chasing a doe at about 100 yards. A spike and a raghorn spike showed up. 4 does came in from the other side. I watched them and decided the 4 point would make a good deer for my buddy. I watched him for 15 minutes. He came to the heaviest apple tree where I was stationed in a pine. He got to 10 yards, turned broadside and looked away. Well, I raised the bow, started to draw, got about 2 inches drawn and the release went off. The arrow made it a little more than half way to the deer. He jumped about 15 yards and looked at the arrow. I reach down to the side of my stand and was retrieving a second arrow when one of the 4 does behind me saw the movement. The kind of jogged off. The buck steps behind the apple tree. He looks around for a couple minutes and follows the does. 15 minutes later the spike comes back, then a doe and a fawn, then another doe, then 5 more, then a little basket rack and a BIG deer but he stayed out at about 80 yards harassing a doe running back and forth. Two of the smaller deer smelled my arrow 5 yards away and thought nothing off it. A third one walked by and jumped right out of her skin. She came back, smelled it and bounced away. I decided I wasn't going to shoot a doe in case the big boy came in. When it got to dark to see my pins I started clearing my throat, flashing my light, coughing... the 12 or 15 deer within 50 yards finally wandered away so I could get down. It was a blast, but if anything could go wrong it did. I took Sunday off to play with my non bowhunting highschool classmates and watch football. My buddy went to the apple trees this morning and shot a nice buck with his gun about the time I was back in Baltimore dragging out Lens multiple kills.
So there you have it. I screwed up more shots in 36 hours than I do in a year. Go figure. I blew out my release before the deer came back. CLipped on and off the loop a half dozen times. Drew the bow 5 or 6 times and it worked fine. I had gotten snow in it walking in and had it on when I sawed a couple limbs off climbing up. I don't know if it had trash in it or I somehow got the trigger tangled in my cutt off finger fuzz on my gloves. I always cut off the trigger finger but it was cold so I'd put on a thermax glove liner under it. I don't know what happened.
The next morning I'm in the same tree. At 7 the same doe and 3 others pass by going to the bedding thicket but they were 50 yards away and in the pines. At 9:00 this nice little buck comes up the hill. I'm facing the tree. It was a chinese firedrill as I changed direction a half dozen times as the deer did trying figure out which side he'd go by on. At 40 yards he strightened out and I said, the 20 yard trail. I got my body ready and he changed directions. Came dead to my tree and sniffed the garbage bag I had placed on the ground to lay my bow on before I pulled it up. He freezes 3 feet from the tree. I can't see him(he's on the other side directly under me. I can see his shadow. He starts to turn left, I move, he turns back, I swing the arrow to the other side of the tree and clip the pine bark, a piece of which falls to the ground. He bolts back right and up the hill. I whirled, drew and bleated with my voice. He hit the breaks at 30 yards(I thought) right in a small hole. I could see his shoulder and ribs. I said 30, whack and I gave him a reverse mohawk right behind the shoulder across his back. There was enough hair there it looked like someone skinned a cat. I gave him an hour and got down. NO blood. I followed him out for 200 yards and found a speck of blood and a couple more piece of hair where he ducked under a hemlock. I followed him for another 700-800 yards. One time he went under a blowdown and left hair and blood where his back rubbed on it. The deer never went to a walk, never stopped and finally lost me in a maze of tracks and hunter tracks. I found maybe 3 eraser sized spots of blood on the snow. I was sure it was a grazing shot but followed for a half mile to make sure. I went back, stepped off the 23 yards to the deer. DUHHHH... nice range estimation in haste Dave.
Round number 3 was the that afternoon. I went to my hidden apple trees. I saw a 6 point cruise by chasing a doe at about 100 yards. A spike and a raghorn spike showed up. 4 does came in from the other side. I watched them and decided the 4 point would make a good deer for my buddy. I watched him for 15 minutes. He came to the heaviest apple tree where I was stationed in a pine. He got to 10 yards, turned broadside and looked away. Well, I raised the bow, started to draw, got about 2 inches drawn and the release went off. The arrow made it a little more than half way to the deer. He jumped about 15 yards and looked at the arrow. I reach down to the side of my stand and was retrieving a second arrow when one of the 4 does behind me saw the movement. The kind of jogged off. The buck steps behind the apple tree. He looks around for a couple minutes and follows the does. 15 minutes later the spike comes back, then a doe and a fawn, then another doe, then 5 more, then a little basket rack and a BIG deer but he stayed out at about 80 yards harassing a doe running back and forth. Two of the smaller deer smelled my arrow 5 yards away and thought nothing off it. A third one walked by and jumped right out of her skin. She came back, smelled it and bounced away. I decided I wasn't going to shoot a doe in case the big boy came in. When it got to dark to see my pins I started clearing my throat, flashing my light, coughing... the 12 or 15 deer within 50 yards finally wandered away so I could get down. It was a blast, but if anything could go wrong it did. I took Sunday off to play with my non bowhunting highschool classmates and watch football. My buddy went to the apple trees this morning and shot a nice buck with his gun about the time I was back in Baltimore dragging out Lens multiple kills.
So there you have it. I screwed up more shots in 36 hours than I do in a year. Go figure. I blew out my release before the deer came back. CLipped on and off the loop a half dozen times. Drew the bow 5 or 6 times and it worked fine. I had gotten snow in it walking in and had it on when I sawed a couple limbs off climbing up. I don't know if it had trash in it or I somehow got the trigger tangled in my cutt off finger fuzz on my gloves. I always cut off the trigger finger but it was cold so I'd put on a thermax glove liner under it. I don't know what happened.
;D 
