After many years of resisting the temptation to pick up a bow, last season I finally caved when a buddy of mine was upgrading to another bow. He sold me his old High Country for a steal of a price and took it home and put it in the closet after shooting it only a few times.
I got a phone call from another bow hunting buddy around Christmas to see if I was interested in going on a bow hunt in South Texas. I told him I didn’t think I was ready to bow hunt, but I did have a bow. He assured me he could have me hitting my mark in no time.
He had me take him my bow to look it over. He replaced the rest on it, as I told him I really didn’t care for it much. He told me he had an extra Whisker Bisket if I wanted it. I’d heard nothing but negative remarks about them from everyone else I knew that had been shooting a bow for any length of time at all. Anything had to be better than what had, I thought.
The day arrived for our trip to Cotulla, Texas. On the drive down we discussed many tips on bow hunting. On of the most stressed tips was to aim low. He explained that deer would sometimes “jump the string”, ducking the arrow before they wheel to leave.
Our first trip to the blind had us sitting in some pretty decent South Texas cover, not far off of a creek. We hunted in a ground blind together so he could coach me through putting an arrow through my first deer.
It seemed like little time had passed when a doe approached the blind. He let me know she was coming and reminded me to aim low. As a repeated “aim low” in my mind over and over, it seemed to vanish as I drew the bowstring back. I released an arrow towards the deer’s vitals, and just as he had warned me; she jumped the string and my arrow sailed across her back. He got all of this on video.
I hunted the next couple of days and shot at two more deer on the trip, but brought home no venison.
The season closed and I was unable to hang my first bow kill on the game pole.
As this season approached, I set a goal to be ready to put some meat in the freezer with my bow. The closer and closer season got I kept telling myself I needed to get the bow out and do some practicing. The day before the season opener, I finally slowed down long enough to break out the bow a fling some arrows. I probably shot less than ten times and drilled the bull’s eye with all but one. I didn’t see any reason to practice any more.
My first hunt this season went by without seeing anything with hair one it. I saw plenty birds, but not so much as a rabbit or a squirrel.
On my second trip, I saw plenty of deer, just nothing I wanted to harvest. Four weeks in to the season and I was finally headed back to the lease, with plans of hunting Sunday-Tuesday. Even Wednesday morning if need be!
I got a little bit of a delayed start, and didn’t get into the tree until about twenty minutes before 7. Just after 7:00 a.m. I saw my first deer of the hunt. There were three doe that came in together. My heart pounded and my knees shook. I finally attempted to draw back my bow and they all bolted before I could come to full draw. I bumped my quiver full of arrows hanging in the tree behind me. Just a few minutes passed and they were all back in front of me.
They all went on alert and I watched as two more doe entered the theater. The first three gave up their ground and made room for the second set of deer.
Now I had five doe feeding within 20 yds of my hiding place.
I said a prayer and asked God to still my heart, steady my breath and allow my arrow to find its mark.
I saw the perfect opportunity and drew my bow. As I did, my target turned and offered no shot at all! I sat with the bow at full draw for what seemed like an eternity. Just as I began to wonder how much longer I was going to be able to hold the string back, she turned to her right, giving me the perfect shot. Her near front leg was forward and the opposite one back.
I put my ten-yard pin on the target and squeezed the release. THWACK!!! All of the deer bolted and I could see my arrow had found its mark as she went crashing through the brush.
I listened as the woods finally fell silent once again.
My first bow kill was down, now I just had to make myself wait a little while before I went to look for her. I sent messages to my wife and bow hunting mentors.
On my way back to camp, I decided to climb up in a tripod that I thought might offer a glimpse of her. Sure enough, she’d fallen on one of the property roads and I could easily see she was down and out.
I headed back to camp to get the truck, and encountered a skunk along the way. I tried to shew it away by throwing rocks at it. The fourth rock, about the size of a golf ball, struck it right in the head and it too was now down for the count!
What a morning! This hunt I will not soon forget!
Thanks Larry and DR730 for all of your help!
I got a phone call from another bow hunting buddy around Christmas to see if I was interested in going on a bow hunt in South Texas. I told him I didn’t think I was ready to bow hunt, but I did have a bow. He assured me he could have me hitting my mark in no time.
He had me take him my bow to look it over. He replaced the rest on it, as I told him I really didn’t care for it much. He told me he had an extra Whisker Bisket if I wanted it. I’d heard nothing but negative remarks about them from everyone else I knew that had been shooting a bow for any length of time at all. Anything had to be better than what had, I thought.
The day arrived for our trip to Cotulla, Texas. On the drive down we discussed many tips on bow hunting. On of the most stressed tips was to aim low. He explained that deer would sometimes “jump the string”, ducking the arrow before they wheel to leave.
Our first trip to the blind had us sitting in some pretty decent South Texas cover, not far off of a creek. We hunted in a ground blind together so he could coach me through putting an arrow through my first deer.
It seemed like little time had passed when a doe approached the blind. He let me know she was coming and reminded me to aim low. As a repeated “aim low” in my mind over and over, it seemed to vanish as I drew the bowstring back. I released an arrow towards the deer’s vitals, and just as he had warned me; she jumped the string and my arrow sailed across her back. He got all of this on video.
I hunted the next couple of days and shot at two more deer on the trip, but brought home no venison.
The season closed and I was unable to hang my first bow kill on the game pole.
As this season approached, I set a goal to be ready to put some meat in the freezer with my bow. The closer and closer season got I kept telling myself I needed to get the bow out and do some practicing. The day before the season opener, I finally slowed down long enough to break out the bow a fling some arrows. I probably shot less than ten times and drilled the bull’s eye with all but one. I didn’t see any reason to practice any more.
My first hunt this season went by without seeing anything with hair one it. I saw plenty birds, but not so much as a rabbit or a squirrel.
On my second trip, I saw plenty of deer, just nothing I wanted to harvest. Four weeks in to the season and I was finally headed back to the lease, with plans of hunting Sunday-Tuesday. Even Wednesday morning if need be!
I got a little bit of a delayed start, and didn’t get into the tree until about twenty minutes before 7. Just after 7:00 a.m. I saw my first deer of the hunt. There were three doe that came in together. My heart pounded and my knees shook. I finally attempted to draw back my bow and they all bolted before I could come to full draw. I bumped my quiver full of arrows hanging in the tree behind me. Just a few minutes passed and they were all back in front of me.
They all went on alert and I watched as two more doe entered the theater. The first three gave up their ground and made room for the second set of deer.
Now I had five doe feeding within 20 yds of my hiding place.
I said a prayer and asked God to still my heart, steady my breath and allow my arrow to find its mark.
I saw the perfect opportunity and drew my bow. As I did, my target turned and offered no shot at all! I sat with the bow at full draw for what seemed like an eternity. Just as I began to wonder how much longer I was going to be able to hold the string back, she turned to her right, giving me the perfect shot. Her near front leg was forward and the opposite one back.
I put my ten-yard pin on the target and squeezed the release. THWACK!!! All of the deer bolted and I could see my arrow had found its mark as she went crashing through the brush.
I listened as the woods finally fell silent once again.
My first bow kill was down, now I just had to make myself wait a little while before I went to look for her. I sent messages to my wife and bow hunting mentors.
On my way back to camp, I decided to climb up in a tripod that I thought might offer a glimpse of her. Sure enough, she’d fallen on one of the property roads and I could easily see she was down and out.
I headed back to camp to get the truck, and encountered a skunk along the way. I tried to shew it away by throwing rocks at it. The fourth rock, about the size of a golf ball, struck it right in the head and it too was now down for the count!
What a morning! This hunt I will not soon forget!
Thanks Larry and DR730 for all of your help!
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