This season started out slow for me. My husband Matt and I ranch and outfit hog hunts for a living so our season got off to a late start due to being so busy on the ranch. Matt was able to get out a few more times than I had, only because he was more willing to part with a soft pillow early each morning. Thankfully he spent much of that time passing up some smaller deer that weren't quite up to his standards. With several P&Y bucks under his belt, Matt is more of a trophy hunter when it comes to shooting bucks. He's already put a doe in the freezer so he doesn't shoot antlered deer just for the sake of shooting a deer...good thing for me. For the past two weeks we've both spent our evenings hunting some property that we've hunted for the past two years. We've learned that if we hunt our own land, we always feel like we should be working. By driving a few miles down the road, we wouldn't be tempted to climb down early and finish up some chores. Anyways, Matt's been telling me about some smaller bucks he's been seeing around a couple of our stands. Every time I hunted those stands I'd see squirrels and rabbits, but not the deer that he'd been seeing. I was all but convinced that I was doing something wrong. I checked the wind closely to make sure it was in my favor, I sat dead-still the whole time I was in the stand, and I even tucked the tail of my fox quiver inside the strap so it couldn't possibly flap in the wind for fear it was spooking animals that I wasn't even seeing! But finally, Friday night it all came together for me.
As I sat in my stand with dusk approaching, I began to have that sinking feeling that I was about to be skunked again when I heard that familiar "crunch..crunch..crunch" of footsteps coming through the leaves. It was too late for turkeys to be moving through, and it just didn't have the right cadence to be hogs. Suddenly I saw a hoof move below the canopy of leaves to my right, then the leg of a deer stepped out. As the doe approached in front of my stand another appeared, a small button buck, probably her fawn. I had taken a doe the first night I hunted this year so decided to pass and hold out for a branch antlered buck. Matt kept telling me about the eight point he had been seeing and his words rang in my head "if you keep shooting the first deer you see, you won't shoot any big bucks". Well, his idea of a trophy is measured in inches while mine is measured in yards...fifteen to be exact. That's my limited range of accuracy with a longbow so basically anything that steps within that range is a trophy to me! I sat there for what seemed like an eternity and watched the deer milling about below my stand and thought about how we really could use some more venison burger. I was holding my bow up in case I had a shot and my arm was starting to fatigue a little bit. Finally when I decided I wasn't going to shoot, I heard a twig snap off to my right. I focused on the spot under the cedar where the trail appeared in the clearing and then I saw another hoof appear, and then a head with it's nose to the ground. Dog gone it, another doe. Well, when she lifted her head, the antlers became obvious. All of a sudden my heart went into hyperdrive and I could feel it pulsing in my bow. In fact I thought I could hear my heartbeat echoing through the bowlimbs when I realized there really was an audible sound...it was the sound of my lower limb ticking against the stand in unison with my pulse. Doh! When the buck snapped his head up to look in the direction of the sound, I just froze and closed my eyes, trying to slow down my heartbeat and relax enough to take a shot. Fortunately, he was more interested in finding an amourous doe and forgot about that noise coming from above him. I watched him as he checked each doe and hardly noticed the fourth deer as it appeared. Great, now I've got four sets of eyes to contend with. I tried drawing my bow and immediately one of the does spooked. Fortunately she didn't run far, and came right back in . The buck seemed puzzled by her behavior, but still wasn't alarmed by it. Fortunately we're close enough to the rut here that his brain wasn't functioning to full capacity. I took a deep breath and waited for him to turn and offer me a broadside shot, and before I could count to three, there it was. Head down, foreleg extended forward, perfect. I don't even remember releasing my arrow- yet there it was sticking in one side of his chest and out the other as he ran off. I stood and listened as he disappeared over the rise just ahead of me. I watched the other deer bound off and then they all stopped in unison and the woods got dead calm. I heard a distinctive thrashing sound in the direction the buck had run and knew he was down.
I climbed down from my stand and grabbed my cell phone, flashlight and a couple of glow sticks- in case Matt came looking for me and I didn't have a signal (he knows that if there's a glow stick hanging near the stand, it means I'm out tracking). It was already getting dark and I couldn't see blood without the flashlight, so I decided to just walk over the rise where I heard the deer fall. I crossed a very comforting bloodtrail on my way over the rise and then I saw the telltale sign of a white belly piled up in the brush. He didn't run 70 yards, but it was all downhill from where I shot him. It took me a while to get him dragged out, but I couldn't wait to get him out by the edge of the pasture where Matt would come to pick me up. I couldn't wait to share my experience with my bestest hunting buddy.
As soon as I saw the headlights peaking over the ridge, I knew my partner was on his way and my heart did a little dance. I don't know if I was more excited about shooting the deer or about telling Matt the story! As soon as he pulled up, he saw me tugging the deer through the brush and he ran out to help me and give me a big hug. There's nothing like getting to share an experience like this with your spouse. I was doubly blessed that night, and I'm so thankful that Matt passed up this trophy so I could have a chance at it. He may not be the biggest buck in Oklahoma, but he sure is a trophy to me!
Cheryl...aka huntress
As I sat in my stand with dusk approaching, I began to have that sinking feeling that I was about to be skunked again when I heard that familiar "crunch..crunch..crunch" of footsteps coming through the leaves. It was too late for turkeys to be moving through, and it just didn't have the right cadence to be hogs. Suddenly I saw a hoof move below the canopy of leaves to my right, then the leg of a deer stepped out. As the doe approached in front of my stand another appeared, a small button buck, probably her fawn. I had taken a doe the first night I hunted this year so decided to pass and hold out for a branch antlered buck. Matt kept telling me about the eight point he had been seeing and his words rang in my head "if you keep shooting the first deer you see, you won't shoot any big bucks". Well, his idea of a trophy is measured in inches while mine is measured in yards...fifteen to be exact. That's my limited range of accuracy with a longbow so basically anything that steps within that range is a trophy to me! I sat there for what seemed like an eternity and watched the deer milling about below my stand and thought about how we really could use some more venison burger. I was holding my bow up in case I had a shot and my arm was starting to fatigue a little bit. Finally when I decided I wasn't going to shoot, I heard a twig snap off to my right. I focused on the spot under the cedar where the trail appeared in the clearing and then I saw another hoof appear, and then a head with it's nose to the ground. Dog gone it, another doe. Well, when she lifted her head, the antlers became obvious. All of a sudden my heart went into hyperdrive and I could feel it pulsing in my bow. In fact I thought I could hear my heartbeat echoing through the bowlimbs when I realized there really was an audible sound...it was the sound of my lower limb ticking against the stand in unison with my pulse. Doh! When the buck snapped his head up to look in the direction of the sound, I just froze and closed my eyes, trying to slow down my heartbeat and relax enough to take a shot. Fortunately, he was more interested in finding an amourous doe and forgot about that noise coming from above him. I watched him as he checked each doe and hardly noticed the fourth deer as it appeared. Great, now I've got four sets of eyes to contend with. I tried drawing my bow and immediately one of the does spooked. Fortunately she didn't run far, and came right back in . The buck seemed puzzled by her behavior, but still wasn't alarmed by it. Fortunately we're close enough to the rut here that his brain wasn't functioning to full capacity. I took a deep breath and waited for him to turn and offer me a broadside shot, and before I could count to three, there it was. Head down, foreleg extended forward, perfect. I don't even remember releasing my arrow- yet there it was sticking in one side of his chest and out the other as he ran off. I stood and listened as he disappeared over the rise just ahead of me. I watched the other deer bound off and then they all stopped in unison and the woods got dead calm. I heard a distinctive thrashing sound in the direction the buck had run and knew he was down.
I climbed down from my stand and grabbed my cell phone, flashlight and a couple of glow sticks- in case Matt came looking for me and I didn't have a signal (he knows that if there's a glow stick hanging near the stand, it means I'm out tracking). It was already getting dark and I couldn't see blood without the flashlight, so I decided to just walk over the rise where I heard the deer fall. I crossed a very comforting bloodtrail on my way over the rise and then I saw the telltale sign of a white belly piled up in the brush. He didn't run 70 yards, but it was all downhill from where I shot him. It took me a while to get him dragged out, but I couldn't wait to get him out by the edge of the pasture where Matt would come to pick me up. I couldn't wait to share my experience with my bestest hunting buddy.
As soon as I saw the headlights peaking over the ridge, I knew my partner was on his way and my heart did a little dance. I don't know if I was more excited about shooting the deer or about telling Matt the story! As soon as he pulled up, he saw me tugging the deer through the brush and he ran out to help me and give me a big hug. There's nothing like getting to share an experience like this with your spouse. I was doubly blessed that night, and I'm so thankful that Matt passed up this trophy so I could have a chance at it. He may not be the biggest buck in Oklahoma, but he sure is a trophy to me!
Cheryl...aka huntress
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