I started Friday morning at 7 am having to drive to
Lafayette, La. on account of work. So, by 4:30 I had
already been driving nearly seven hours and hadn't even
begun the eight hour trip to Ft. McKavett Ranch! My
lovely bride, Jeanette, and I were the last of the group
to arrive, pulling up to the cabin a few minutes after
midnight.
Brush Country's Robert Rutledge had waited up for our
arrival, and after a very brief discussion about the
morning plans and where to sleep, we turned in for the
night!
The 5:00 am alarm sounded what seemed only moments
later. I walked downstairs to find the entire Brush
Country contingent, which consisted of Robert, Carl and
Paul busily preparing a breakfast of bacon, eggs and
toast. The toast took three attempts, as the first
two attempts resulted in well-burnt toast, but the final
batch couldn't have been any better!
As breakfast was cooking, I was finally able to meet
Callie and her dad, Curtis. Callie was dressed in
her new set of Brush Country Camouflage, and certainly was
a better model for the gear than the other five guys,
including myself, that were also adorned in the best
camouflage on the market!
Terry drove Callie, Curtis and me to the area where
Callie would be hunting, while the three Brush Country
members headed out to hunt their own stand
locations. We dropped Curtis out at a tower blind
that overlooked the feeder, about 100 yards away. Terry then took us to the
Brush Country camo'd ICE Blind that he had set up the
previous morning. Terry drove away, and it didn't
take long for things to get exciting. While we were
still getting our gear set up in the blind, less than 10
minutes from the time Terry pulled away, we heard the
sound of rocks turning. It sounded like we were
being invaded! We could barely make out the shapes
of deer converging on the area. I have no idea how
many there were, but they were literally all around our
blind! I don't know about Callie, but my heart began
to thump as I strained my eyes to count the deer in the
darkness. It was still at least thirty minutes
before shooting light, and we were covered up in
deer!
As the sky began to lighten ever so slowly, we could
see more and more deer. We watched, and could
occasionally see the silhouette of an antler on just about
every deer we saw! As the dawn finally overtook the
darkness, we could see deer everywhere! As luck
would have it, they were all bucks, and several of
them would certainly qualify as trophies! There was
also an Impala in the group that fed with the deer.
Unfortunately, for the morning hunt, we had agreed that
Callie would shoot a doe, and perhaps later in the hunt
have an opportunity at a management buck.
One buck that fed to less than 8 yards from the well
camouflaged ICE Blind was particularly impressive!
The massive 5x4 antlered buck would be considered a trophy
by anyone's standards!
Watching the bucks certainly kept us occupied, but we,
or maybe I should say "I", became more and more
anxious as we weren't seeing any does! Finally, a
small yearling doe came in to the feeder, and behind her
was another mature doe. She was more cautious,
however, and sensed something might not be quite
right. Callie had indicated that she felt more
comfortable shooting from her knees than sitting on the
stool, so we felt like it might be a good time to get into
shooting position. Unfortunately, the metal stool on
which she was sitting creaked, causing the deer to become
nervous and scatter. We knew that the deer would
return, so Callie continued positioning herself for a
shot. I could see the deer milling around behind us,
but the lone doe became more and more nervous, and
eventually all the deer walked out of sight into the
brush.
About fifteen minutes later, however, deer began
filtering back into the feeder, led by a small spike and
another young six pointer. As I looked back behind
the ICE Blind through the Pro Staff viewing windows, I
spotted another buck and a doe slowly working their way
in. The were cautious, yet relaxed and unconcerned
with the blind. I told Callie to get ready, and soon
the doe made her way into a shooting window. Callie
had to shift slightly to get into position for a shot, and
was able to do so undetected.
I can't speak for
Callie, but my heart was racing as the doe was feeding
broadside at about 15 yards. Callie asked whether
she should use her 10 yard pin or her 20. I felt
like using her 10 yard pin would be the best bet to
account for a potential jumping of the string.
Callie slowly drew her bow while I carefully framed the
deer in the viewfinder of my camera. I heard sound
of Callie's bow fire while simultaneously seeing the doe
disappear from my viewfinder! Did she get it?
I looked at Callie and she whispered, "I think I
missed."
I looked back out the window of the ICE Blind and saw
that both the young buck and the doe were now standing at
only 25 yards, unsure of what had happened. I
instructed Callie to nock another arrow, thinking the doe
would relax and return to the corn on the ground.
Sure enough, a few seconds later the doe walked back
toward and by the blind at less than 10 yards.
Confident that she was in no danger, the doe made her way
back into the shooting lane. Callie again prepared
to shoot while I focused on the deer with my camera.
Callie squeezed the release and the arrow headed toward
the deer. The deer dropped in her tracks as the
arrow hit her spine. The doe made an attempt to get
up, so Callie nocked another arrow. I didn't figure
the deer would be able to get up, but figured the best bet
was to get another arrow into the deer. Callie asked
where she should shoot, and since the deer was facing
away, I told her to try to shoot it between the
shoulders. The deer moved just as she shot, but the
arrow hit cleanly through her throat, severing the veins
in her throat! That was it! Callie had her
first deer ever, in her first bow season, on her first
morning bowhunt! I high-fived Callie! I think she was almost as
excited as I was! Soon, Terry drove to get Curtis,
and then they made their way to us for a round of
congratulations and pictures!
Click on image above to see
the video of Callie's shot!
We loaded Callie's doe into the back of the pickup and
headed back to the cabin. On the way we saw some
very impressive exotics that call Ft. McKavett Ranch their
home.
I knew that we had driven quite some distance west, but
I didn't think we had made it into the elk country of New
Mexico!
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