An Incredible Day

For those of you that are not familiar with my hunting career, there are several years behind this story. For many years, I not only did not bow hunt, but I strongly bashed those that did. My holier-than-thou gun hunting aspect and false concerns about wounding deer set me up for a humbling experience. Last year I overcame my foolishness and bought a bow, but was unsuccessful in my pursuits, though I did miss a close shot. This summer I upgraded my bow and spent a great amount of time dedicated to learning and practicing.

Practice and Preparation
Friday night I returned to the great state of Ohio and went directly to Milo's to shoot my bow one last time before my season started. He had made a new set of arrows for me. Despite my practice over the summer, I had hit a wall and thought shooting vital groups, I was not shooting consistently to the point of accuracy where I wanted to be. With some coaching, I was drilling arrows, but still unleashing a few fliers to the left of my aim. Milo instructed me to focus on leveling my bow before aligning my pin, and when I was able to do that, I was dead on. I shot my practice head with a new broadhead, 150 grain Magnus 4 blade Stingers, and was ready to go. I knew that if I did my job, I would able to harvest my first deer. Of course, that was shooting on level ground with no buck fever, so I knew that I would have to bring my A game to the field. I prepared all my stuff as I normally do, filling pockets and laying out clothes, after everything was smoked up thoroughly. I stacked my totes inside, and was ready to go. As I was on my way home from Milo's, the other Steve (Hoytmania) texted me and invited me to sit with him in a double-hung stand a the property where we had turkey hunted together in the spring (Gern also shot a turkey there). My primary setup isn't a great morning spot, so I readily accepted his offer and was glad to know that I'd be with an experienced hunter.

A rough start
With my crazy schedule that limits the amount of sleep that I could get, I had a difficult time waking up at the right time. My alarm was set at 4:30, and typical, I woke up at 4 wide awake, but foolishly didn't get out of bed. I woke up at 5:15, 15 minutes from when I was suppose to meet Steve a distance away. Not a good start. I rushed through getting dressed and hauled ass to meet him. We wound our way down the backroads and reached the woods. After touching everything up with fresh smoke, we walked into the woods along the top of the ridge, found the stand, and climbed up. Although I've walked the property, it's a little difficult for me to describe. It angles down a ridge, with the stand at the high point. From my stand, to the left I could see our entrance, the other side of the ridge to my front, and along the ridge to my right. Steve, on the other side of the tree, overlooked the downhill portion, including a tractor path.

As I sat in the stand and readied myself, I thought about the start of my season. A lot of preparation, more than ever before, had gone into it, and I was ready to go. Saturday was a beautiful morning and in the dark I prayed and thanked the good Lord for being home, the opportunity to hunt, and asked for a successful and safe season. As the dark woods started to brightened, my focus soon came to my stomach. For whatever reason, I felt very under the weather, and as the woods started to get brighter, my body freaked out that I was sitting in an unfamiliar tree. I had a drink of water and said to Steve "I think I'm gonna puke!" I have no idea what he was thinking, but moments later as I leaned over the side of my stand hurling my guts out, I knew that I had ruined the morning hunt by throwing up! My body settled as I finally relaxed and watched the sun come up, but my mind kept telling me that I had just wrecked a potential morning and a good stand!

Thankfully, at around 7:45 or so, we saw a doe work her way from the far side of the ridge, across in front of Steve and down into a thicket by the tractor path. She was followed by a basket rack buck, probably 100 yards or better out. I was pumped! That pair was soon followed by four deer, a monster doe and her yearling, and then two more medium sized doe, that came up from the opposite direction and worked their way across in front of Steve, down to the field at the end of the property. I was pretty excited to see deer, but we weren't sure when they'd be coming back. Some time later, probably forty five minutes, the first two deer headed back across the ridge. I grabbed my bow and turned, and the deer sure did close the distance from 60 yards to 20 quicker than I had expected! The lead deer, a monster doe, stood directly facing me at less than 20 yards. I made the mistake of making instant eye contact, and though she did not wind us, she certainly knew we were there. She turned to go broadside and I broke my freeze, and she busted us. My nerves went crazy! I knew that I had just blown a potential shot, but there wasn't much I could have done, it happened so quickly. I was thankful for the learning experience, but realized that I wasn't hunting with my A game and there was some rust that needed to be knocked off as the season progressed.

For those of you that are freaks about controlling scent, this morning was a wonder to you. Having two deer within 20 yards after I threw up out of the stand puzzled me. After they ran off, Steve took advantage of the break in action to empty the pot of coffee he drank off his side of the stand. No deer would go near all those smells, right?


The deer walked broadside at 20 yards...

I can't believe that just happened

Soon after the first encounter, a heavy fog rolled in and our visibility was getting pretty limited. I sat down in the stand and mentally kicked myself for ruining my first opportunity of the season. Not 20 minutes later, I looked along the ridge and my eye caught deer at the same exact spot where I picked up the other two. I hissed "STEVE" as I stood up and got my bow. Steve, not hearing me and not noticing that I had picked my bow off the hanger, was trying to get my attention as the deer quickly approached. I couldn't believe this - the same two deer came back?!? No, it was the second half of the original four. At 20 yards, they stood where the first pair had, only turned broadside and headed towards Steve's side of the stand. As the first doe entered a wide shooting lane, relaxed and broadside, I came to full draw. My harness strap impeded my right arm, and I almost let down, but I readied myself. "Holy crap, I can't believe this is gonna happen." Zip. THUNK!

I cannot express the emotions as I watched my arrow hit the doe and dropped her in her tracks. I instantly saw that my shot was high and back, but she was down!!! I was a smiling, laughing, fist pumping fool and Steve and I rejoiced over watching her. She crawled into the thicket and out of sight. We listened to her thrash but then heard her stop. We both were on our phones, me calling my father, and Steve dealing with a work issue. We agreed to sit a little bit longer, because Steve had his bow. And we moaned when we realized that though had his camera filming the whole thing, he neglected to push the play button! We sat for another hour and half as I texted a few people, but not too many - we were still hunting! Nothing resulted from that, except a good laugh. Steve and I were whispering on one side of the tree and he said he was going to rattle and grunt, which he did. I turned around and looked to the other side to see a button buck at 20 yards look at us like we were idiots. Hahaha. As Steve said, "Note to self, scan the woods before rattling, there might be one under you already!".

After a recovery that needed a follow up shot, Steve and I admired my first doe. We didn't really say too much, but we both reflected on the beautiful creature that I had harvested. I knew that I had torqued the bow and my shot had gone left, just like at Milo's the night before. I put a bad shot on the deer, but a shot that demobilized her. Call it karma, call it fate, call it whatever you want, there is no way to learn archery until you do it, and that, I have finally done. That experience will only drive me to practice more and become a better archer. We hauled the deer up, a feat in itself, and took pictures.

My first archery deer, 10/29/11 - an incredible morning I will never forget.



An obvious thank you to Milo for all those times I shot at your place this summer, the texts after each session, reassuring phone calls, and hooking me up with arrahs. I can't say enough man, and I'm looking forward to better my abilities with my bow. Steve - I think you overpaid in return for my turkey calling! Thank you so much for letting me sit with you and everything you guided me through that morning. You are a true sportsman, in every sense, and your respect for the hunt and the whitetail shined brightly. And thanks to all my encouraging TOO brothers.

Chapter TOO

After getting home and hanging up my deer, I ate lunch and relaxed for a little bit. On my way home, I had called Milo and told him how the morning played out. He congratulated me on becoming a killer and encouraged me to keep the confidence rolling. I had planned all along to sit in the woods behind mom and dad's over a corn field, and geared up to do so. I drove around the country block and was instantly pissed to see a truck and car sitting where I park to enter the woods. Seriously?!? This block of woods is only 13 acres, so I knew that someone was set up right over my stand, or worse, in my stand. Idiots.

I walked in through the corn, despite all that great advice I got about getting into this stand. I figured that I'd have to confront someone trespassing, and having already killed a deer, I was more mad about that than screwing up my chances. I bumbled my way into the woods and bumped deer at one point. I didn't care. I made it to my stand, and surprisingly, hadn't run into anyone, and my stand was empty. Really? Geesh. I climbed up and got ready, realizing that there were a thousand black birds swarming around the trees above my head. I couldn't even think they were so loud. I knew they'd fly away. My phone started vibrating, as it had quite often with people congratulating me, and Cottis was giving me flack about not telling him of my success that morning!

Thought only an evening stand, I had high hopes for this place. In front of me, a standing corn field. Directly to my bottom left, a low point on the woods' edge pools and holds water. Several quad trails through the woods intersect behind my stand. I moved this stand in July after seeing deer come down the paths, but being more interested in the water than the corn I had laid out. I had cut a few shooting lanes, and knew that coming in either direction I had a shot, but my dream shot, the one that had been keeping me up at night, was a 20 yard shot to the edge of the water on my right. A buck and does had come through there in January, with my stand 25 yards further back, I could only watch them. This move put me into a prime position, or so I had thought.

I heard something behind me. That rustle in the leaves that you know isn't a squirrel, but a hunter or a deer. I stood up, my phone still going off, and saw two deer headed my way. After causing a ruckus getting into my stand, I hadn't figured on seeing deer until last light. They split up, one going to my left and one to my right. The first I could see was a button, but the doe that was with him worked her way directly towards me on the path, vearing off through two shooting lanes, ending exactly where I had envisioned that shot so many times in the past months. Broadside, 20 yards, relaxed and drinking.

I couldn't pass it up! I drew back and the only thing I thought was, I'm not taking a shot unless I know it's perfect - no rushing. I was surprisingly dead calm and collected. I set the level on my bow and picked my spot. THUD! She fell right where she stood and would soon expire. I just smiled and shook my head, my body empty of adrenaline after the day's events. My first archery deer, and now two deer in a day!?!? Unbelievable. I texted Cottis back and said "Well, quit your whining, you can be the first to know, I just got another one!" I climbed down and called my dad and said "You're just not going to believe this..."

After many years of gun hunting, an unsuccessful season of bow hunting, I had harvested my first deer with a bow that morning, and quickly followed it with #2 that evening. Even moreso, when I woke up on Saturday, I had 2 kills in my career (doe, shotgun and button, muzzleloader). I doubled my success in a day! And, for the first time, though he started me hunting, my dad was able to come back and help me get her out of the woods - our first recovery together. It was very special.



Comparing these two deer would be apples to oranges. The first will always be my first, and a beautiful 2.5 year old doe. The second, though only a yearling, is just as special in my book. My first solo bow kill - I put it together and made a good shot. The rewards of doing it in a piece of woods that's very near to my heart and in a stand that had only my own strategy and sweat equity in only made it sweeter. A great deal of personal stress and frustration was relieved as I hit the woods this weekend and started my season. Truth be told, just sitting my stand would have been ok with me, but I had no idea that I would be blessed so much that day.

I think these stories represent that I have come full circle and come into being a full fledged bow hunter. There is still a ton that I have to learn and I will always be able to improve my skills with my bow. Jesse and I used to argue a lot in the old days, and last year he said "I think he's finally seen the light!" Saturday he said "Gun toting, bow bashing Huckleberry Finn is now a bow hunter - never though we could have seen it!"

Thanks for letting me share and memorize this day. It was incredible, and certainty a day I will never forget.

Huckleberry Finn's Hunting Log 2011/12
Hours Hunted: 8
Deer Seen: 14
Stands Hunted: 2
Deer Harvested: 2 (does, bow)

Thanks fellas. It's been a bit surreal. I keep saying to myself (and others) "I killed two deer. With my bow. Wow."

And it's energized me even more to keep shooting. I've got the week of Thanksgiving to hunt and late season. I'll be trying to horn hunt, but I won't turn down a big nanny doe either!