I bowhunt at my home on about 120 acres along the Sabine River just north of Kilgore, TX. Like most of you, I’ve been watching hunting shows, drawing my bow at the TV, target shooting off my porch, and generally getting stir-crazy waiting for the opener.
Last Wednesday I got a phone call from my father-in-law, Roy. Roy has been working on a house addition and I promised to help him with the roof framing. Well, due to his schedule the only time we can do it is…you guessed it…opening weekend. Roy helped me build my house so there was no question of staying home. I packed up my tools along with my wife and 2 kids and spent Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning framing an add-on in Rockdale, TX (in between rain showers). Meanwhile it rained at home all weekend.
We drove home yesterday afternoon in the rain, but it slacked off as we arrived home at about 4:15. By 4:45 I was up in a ladder stand. The mosquitos were nasty, but thanks to advice from the green screen, I had a thermacell and used it for the first time. It worked perfectly and I’m in love with it.
The stand I was in is in a creek bottom about 10min walk from the house. I had sat this stand about 30 times over the last 5 years and had seen a grand total of 2 deer and no hogs. The deer were a doe that I passed, and the buck in my avatar. There is no such thing as a 30yd shot in this area. The nearest spot to see an animal and thread an arrow is 23 yards. I have a feeder there and occasionally hang a game camera nearby. Early in September I had a few deer pics there, but a big boar (see pic below) took up residence and seemed to keep everything else away. All of the boar pics were at night but I rationalized that with the recent rain finally clearing and the dark cloudy nights, maybe the animals would move early this evening. I went out hoping to get a shot at the boar and get him out of the area.
I sat in misty rain, seeing nothing (as I really expected) but enjoying being out. About 7pm it was almost dark when a deer walked out from my right and was suddenly at 20yds. I recognized a buck I wanted to shoot. I was about 25 feet above him and his body was facing me, but he was looking left. He was cautious and looked around carefully then took a few steps toward me and stopped, fully screened by brush. I stood and drew my bow..and waited..and waited.. he stepped out but had turned left about 90 degrees and was giving me a nearly broadside shot (slightly quartering to me) at about 12yds. I aimed for the exit hole and released. It looked like the lumenock disappeared into his right shoulder and the buck whirled and kicked. I swear his back feet were 8’ in the air. In 2 big leaps he was out of sight back down the trail he came in on.
I sat shaking and replaying in my head what I thought was a good shot. I couldn’t see my arrow. After about 10 min I crept down and saw my arrow exactly where I expected it, with good lung blood on the arrow. The lumenock had gone out during pass-thru. I quietly backed out and made the 10 min walk back to the house (opposite direction of the deer) in 3 minutes. I kissed my wife, called my neighbor for tracking support, and rounded up a propane lantern and flashlight.
45 min later we were searching for blood along the 20yds where I saw the buck run. We couldn’t find a drop. I shined the flashlight ahead down the trail and immediately saw the buck. He had gone about 50yds cashed out. His chest cavity was a mass of blood, but there was almost no blood at all until the spot where he fell. Due to the shot angle, the arrow had entered high on his right shoulder and exited at the back of his diaphragm. Some tissue had blocked the exit hole and all of the blood was trapped inside.
A few weeks ago I caught a picture of this buck on a trail camera at a different spot on my property (see pic below). He is a 3 1/2 yr old 8 point (I confirmed this with his teeth). He’s not a monster for the green screen and I know he probably would’ve been a really good deer next year, but deer management is impossible in my area and on my small plot of land. It’s a rarity for me to get a legal shooter in bow range and I’m proud of him.
Thanks for reading. Good luck to all.
Last Wednesday I got a phone call from my father-in-law, Roy. Roy has been working on a house addition and I promised to help him with the roof framing. Well, due to his schedule the only time we can do it is…you guessed it…opening weekend. Roy helped me build my house so there was no question of staying home. I packed up my tools along with my wife and 2 kids and spent Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning framing an add-on in Rockdale, TX (in between rain showers). Meanwhile it rained at home all weekend.
We drove home yesterday afternoon in the rain, but it slacked off as we arrived home at about 4:15. By 4:45 I was up in a ladder stand. The mosquitos were nasty, but thanks to advice from the green screen, I had a thermacell and used it for the first time. It worked perfectly and I’m in love with it.
The stand I was in is in a creek bottom about 10min walk from the house. I had sat this stand about 30 times over the last 5 years and had seen a grand total of 2 deer and no hogs. The deer were a doe that I passed, and the buck in my avatar. There is no such thing as a 30yd shot in this area. The nearest spot to see an animal and thread an arrow is 23 yards. I have a feeder there and occasionally hang a game camera nearby. Early in September I had a few deer pics there, but a big boar (see pic below) took up residence and seemed to keep everything else away. All of the boar pics were at night but I rationalized that with the recent rain finally clearing and the dark cloudy nights, maybe the animals would move early this evening. I went out hoping to get a shot at the boar and get him out of the area.
I sat in misty rain, seeing nothing (as I really expected) but enjoying being out. About 7pm it was almost dark when a deer walked out from my right and was suddenly at 20yds. I recognized a buck I wanted to shoot. I was about 25 feet above him and his body was facing me, but he was looking left. He was cautious and looked around carefully then took a few steps toward me and stopped, fully screened by brush. I stood and drew my bow..and waited..and waited.. he stepped out but had turned left about 90 degrees and was giving me a nearly broadside shot (slightly quartering to me) at about 12yds. I aimed for the exit hole and released. It looked like the lumenock disappeared into his right shoulder and the buck whirled and kicked. I swear his back feet were 8’ in the air. In 2 big leaps he was out of sight back down the trail he came in on.
I sat shaking and replaying in my head what I thought was a good shot. I couldn’t see my arrow. After about 10 min I crept down and saw my arrow exactly where I expected it, with good lung blood on the arrow. The lumenock had gone out during pass-thru. I quietly backed out and made the 10 min walk back to the house (opposite direction of the deer) in 3 minutes. I kissed my wife, called my neighbor for tracking support, and rounded up a propane lantern and flashlight.
45 min later we were searching for blood along the 20yds where I saw the buck run. We couldn’t find a drop. I shined the flashlight ahead down the trail and immediately saw the buck. He had gone about 50yds cashed out. His chest cavity was a mass of blood, but there was almost no blood at all until the spot where he fell. Due to the shot angle, the arrow had entered high on his right shoulder and exited at the back of his diaphragm. Some tissue had blocked the exit hole and all of the blood was trapped inside.
A few weeks ago I caught a picture of this buck on a trail camera at a different spot on my property (see pic below). He is a 3 1/2 yr old 8 point (I confirmed this with his teeth). He’s not a monster for the green screen and I know he probably would’ve been a really good deer next year, but deer management is impossible in my area and on my small plot of land. It’s a rarity for me to get a legal shooter in bow range and I’m proud of him.
Thanks for reading. Good luck to all.
Attached Files
Comment