A little over 2 years ago my daughter told me she wanted to start bowhunting. I was ecstatic. We bought her a used Hoyt Rintec for Christmas. At the time she could only draw 33#. It was made clear to her that she had to shoot at least 40# by the time hunting season rolled around or she wouldn't be able to hunt with it for the next season. She was very dedicated, shooting almost every day throughout teh spring and summer. She is very athletic anyway and she quickly made it to and surpassed the 40# minimum requirement. By the time season rolled around, she was shooting 46# although I had told her she had barely made the 40# mark.
Things did not pan out as planned last year as she did not get an opportunity at a deer, but she did manage to take 3 turkeys.
Fast forward to this season. She had a little growth spurt over the spring/summer and we had to lengthen her draw length an inch. She continued to practice throughout the summer to maintain her strength, even though she struggled a little with her shooting, it was more than acceptable. On our first outing of the season, she did not get an opportunity to get a shot at anything. Last weekend that all changed.
Saturday morning we arrived in Mineral Wells to 25+mph winds. We sat in the blind all morning but all was uneventful. After checking cameras and getting a bite to eat, we returned to the blind for the afternoon hunt. The wind was still kicking pretty good, but we were still hopeful. Finally about 4:30 the wind started dying down. At 4:45 we had a cull buck walk in. But he never came close enough or stopped long enough to present a shot. At 5:15 two does were spotted. I could tell she was getting excited saying that the were headed right for the feeder. My view was obstructed from seeing the direction that they were coming from because my son was in the blind with us as well, so we were sitting in a kind of half circle in the blind with my daughter being in the middle. Problem was, the zipper on the window of the blind had broken and I couldn't open that window. I suddenly remembered why I love my DB blinds and don't like the others.
I despise zippered windows! Anyway, the one doe cam right in to the feeder while the other hung back and just watched. She sent the rookie in to see what was up. I believe this is the same doe that has come in and hung up just out of bow range on two other occasions while I was hunting. She's a wise old girl that needs to die. I peeked around he window to see what she was doing and the deer was perfectly broadside. I told her to take the shot whenever she was comfortable. At this point, I was probably shaking as bad or worse than she was. Sh came to full draw and as she got to the last inch or so of draw, the velcro on her release made that loud ripping sound that it is so famous for doing at the exact wrong moment. (Did I mention I hate velcro as well?) Amazingly, the doe never looked up. She held at full draw for about 15 seconds and released the arrow. From where I was sitting I could not see the hit but I heard it. I looked out the window in time to see the deer running off with the arrow hanging out and the Firenock dancing the whole way. I was so excited for her I yelled you got her! All the time the older doe was standing around trying to figure out what happened. I cannot express the pride and excitement that I was feeling at that moment. She was over in the chair breathing heavy and shaking like crazy and I'm sure I was too! I asked how the shot looked and she said it was too far back. I could tell that she was disappointed but I tried to encourage her and tell her we just needed to give her some time. I picked up the binoculars and scanned the area. I saw the deer standing about 100 yards away a little wobbly legged and head down. I felt like this was a good sign. After a little bit, I climbed out of the blind so I could go mark first blood while it was still daylight. I got back in the blind and we waited for almost an hour and a half. We picked up the blood trail, which was pretty sparse, but we also found a large clump of hair and some meat then the blood trail got a little better. Withing 75 yards of the shot, we found the arrow and it was drenched in dark red blood. I felt like it was a liver hit and we would find her shortly. The blood trail continued but was not as heavy as I would have liked it to be but it was pretty steady so we pressed on. After about 150 yards, we found a large area of blood and suddenly it just disappeared. I have seen deer do some amazing things but the amount of blood that we found I cannot for the life of me understand how that deer kept going, much less quit bleeding like that. I'm sure we bumped the deer, but we never heard it get up and run away. I marked that spot on the GPS and with a trail marker and we decided to back out until the next morning.
We returned the next morning and looked for another 2 hours, preforming grid searches and ever increasing circular patterns. We never found the deer.
I could tell she was disappointed and I felt so bad for her, it just broke my heart. I told her I was sorry and that I should ave made the decision to back out earlier, but I was probably over excited and really thought from the sign that we would find the deer dead in a short time. It was a pretty quiet walk back to the truck. When we got in the truck and were riding around, she asked when we were coming back.....and that right there made me more proud of her than anything. She could have easily given up or felt sorry for herself but she didn't. She got right back up and is ready for the next challenge.
Even though you probably won't read this, I am proud of you and I love you baby. My little girl and favorite huntin' buddy.
Things did not pan out as planned last year as she did not get an opportunity at a deer, but she did manage to take 3 turkeys.
Fast forward to this season. She had a little growth spurt over the spring/summer and we had to lengthen her draw length an inch. She continued to practice throughout the summer to maintain her strength, even though she struggled a little with her shooting, it was more than acceptable. On our first outing of the season, she did not get an opportunity to get a shot at anything. Last weekend that all changed.
Saturday morning we arrived in Mineral Wells to 25+mph winds. We sat in the blind all morning but all was uneventful. After checking cameras and getting a bite to eat, we returned to the blind for the afternoon hunt. The wind was still kicking pretty good, but we were still hopeful. Finally about 4:30 the wind started dying down. At 4:45 we had a cull buck walk in. But he never came close enough or stopped long enough to present a shot. At 5:15 two does were spotted. I could tell she was getting excited saying that the were headed right for the feeder. My view was obstructed from seeing the direction that they were coming from because my son was in the blind with us as well, so we were sitting in a kind of half circle in the blind with my daughter being in the middle. Problem was, the zipper on the window of the blind had broken and I couldn't open that window. I suddenly remembered why I love my DB blinds and don't like the others.
I despise zippered windows! Anyway, the one doe cam right in to the feeder while the other hung back and just watched. She sent the rookie in to see what was up. I believe this is the same doe that has come in and hung up just out of bow range on two other occasions while I was hunting. She's a wise old girl that needs to die. I peeked around he window to see what she was doing and the deer was perfectly broadside. I told her to take the shot whenever she was comfortable. At this point, I was probably shaking as bad or worse than she was. Sh came to full draw and as she got to the last inch or so of draw, the velcro on her release made that loud ripping sound that it is so famous for doing at the exact wrong moment. (Did I mention I hate velcro as well?) Amazingly, the doe never looked up. She held at full draw for about 15 seconds and released the arrow. From where I was sitting I could not see the hit but I heard it. I looked out the window in time to see the deer running off with the arrow hanging out and the Firenock dancing the whole way. I was so excited for her I yelled you got her! All the time the older doe was standing around trying to figure out what happened. I cannot express the pride and excitement that I was feeling at that moment. She was over in the chair breathing heavy and shaking like crazy and I'm sure I was too! I asked how the shot looked and she said it was too far back. I could tell that she was disappointed but I tried to encourage her and tell her we just needed to give her some time. I picked up the binoculars and scanned the area. I saw the deer standing about 100 yards away a little wobbly legged and head down. I felt like this was a good sign. After a little bit, I climbed out of the blind so I could go mark first blood while it was still daylight. I got back in the blind and we waited for almost an hour and a half. We picked up the blood trail, which was pretty sparse, but we also found a large clump of hair and some meat then the blood trail got a little better. Withing 75 yards of the shot, we found the arrow and it was drenched in dark red blood. I felt like it was a liver hit and we would find her shortly. The blood trail continued but was not as heavy as I would have liked it to be but it was pretty steady so we pressed on. After about 150 yards, we found a large area of blood and suddenly it just disappeared. I have seen deer do some amazing things but the amount of blood that we found I cannot for the life of me understand how that deer kept going, much less quit bleeding like that. I'm sure we bumped the deer, but we never heard it get up and run away. I marked that spot on the GPS and with a trail marker and we decided to back out until the next morning. We returned the next morning and looked for another 2 hours, preforming grid searches and ever increasing circular patterns. We never found the deer.
I could tell she was disappointed and I felt so bad for her, it just broke my heart. I told her I was sorry and that I should ave made the decision to back out earlier, but I was probably over excited and really thought from the sign that we would find the deer dead in a short time. It was a pretty quiet walk back to the truck. When we got in the truck and were riding around, she asked when we were coming back.....and that right there made me more proud of her than anything. She could have easily given up or felt sorry for herself but she didn't. She got right back up and is ready for the next challenge.Even though you probably won't read this, I am proud of you and I love you baby. My little girl and favorite huntin' buddy.
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