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My 2016 Doe Kill

rsmith

Member
1,835
52
Most people don't do write ups on does, usually large bucks that mean something special to them, but this doe is very special for me. Hunting season last year was not easy for me by any means, I didn't have any good bucks coming in, only had 1 fawn coming in, and it just seemed like everything that could go wrong did and it was so frustrating. The year before that was the same situation as well. It's been 3 years since I have killed a deer and you would have sworn this doe was a 200inch buck by the way I reacted. Here is how the story goes.

It all started with me getting ready to go out when my brother came up to me with my package from usps that said "sorry deliever to wrong address", written in a black sharpie on the front. It was my blades for QAD Exodus broadheads. I said well I don't have time to put it together now so I will just take them to the blind with me and I will put them together out there. So I put my boots on and headed out. Walking to the blind I felt a feeling of calmness, happiness, excitment, and humble. I thank God each day for blessing me for everything I have and for him to have given me every opportunity I have in life and for me to be able to do the things that I love to do with little to no restrictions.
I get to the blind and I pull the covers off the 2 verticle windows, keeping the mesh over the as I use them as spotting windows and not shooting windows, then I reveal the front window.



I get all situated and range how far it is from the blind to the feeder, it reads 22 yards. I dial my bow to 22 and hang it up with a arrow nocked. I then open the package of blades and take a arrows from the quiver and starting replacing blades, all while not looking up once to see if there are any deer in the plot. I finally get all the blades swapped out on all 3 arrows and as I put everything away and look back up I see 2 small bucks, one spike and one small 6 point looking directly at the blind. My heart start to race with excitement. I get situated in my chair and sit back to enjoy the show. The spike meanders around the plot I have planted, eating bits of clover, wheat, and oats and I start to think to myself " I did this, I cleared out this 1 acre spot, I cut and burned brush and tilled the land, I planted all the clover, wheat and oats seeds, I planted the Apple trees, all to help better the deer population". And to see them eating the food I have planted made me feel so happy as I felt my hard work has paid off. The spike and 6 point start to push each other back and forth with there small racks and the 6 tried to poke the spike in the eye and the spike starts to stab the 6 in the neck. The spike start to meander away from the feeder now and the 6 point starts to feed. I manage to grab my phone and get a quick picture of the 6 before they both wonder off to path leading out to the SE.



Shortly after the leave I feel the need to grab my bow off the hanger and rest the cam on the ground beside me and hold the bow as I feel something might happen here soon. Sure enough a lone doe wonders in and my first reaction is oh no she is hurt bad. I notice as she is walking in she is limping very badly and I knew at that moment I was going to shoot her. I grab by bow and hook my release up. As I do this 3 crows show up and land directly above me and start making all kind of noise. The doe is on high alert now continuously looking my direction the putting her head down to feed at the feeder for a quick second. My heart is pounding so hard I can feel my hearbeat through my whole body and I feel like the doe can hear it too. I take a couple slow, deep breaths and start to slow down my heart rate as I prepare to draw back. I lean behind the window to my left and draw as I know she can't see through the mesh. I then lean foward and settle my pin right where it needs to be. My heart rate slows down now, I visualize where my pin needs to be at, everything is going in slow motion at this point, I remember to myself I have shot hour after hour, day after day, week after week for years to prepair for this very moment. I think to myself what I do before every shot I release, which is these simple words, "X's is all I can shoot" as I say these to myself I contact my back muscles and the shot breaks, I watch as my arrows flies through the air in slow motion and hits her right where I wanted it to go. She takes off to the East, through the path leading out of the plot and turns to the south and disappears behind the tall BlackBerry bushes. Then I hear it, a crash, no rustling, no thrashing, just a solid thud. I instantly grab my phone and call my girlfriends dad to tell him the story. He says he is going to be on his way over. I then call my dad and tell him what happened as well because they are not home they are in Virginia beach. He tells me he is so proud of me for helping put her out her out of her suffering.

15 minutes has passed now and I start to get my stuff together and I go out to the plot to see if I can find my arrow or some blood. I couldn't find the arrow but I see blood all over the clover and I knew at that point she didn't go far. I walk the same way she went out and I turn and I see her laying there. She didn't run more than 35 yards. Then it hits me, tears of joy run down my face and I go to her and hit my knees and just pray saying thank you so much lord for letting me take this beautiful animal you put on this Earth. Thank you for letting her die quick and painless and thank you for letting me put a perfect shot on her so she didn't suffer. My girlfriend calls me and I am just telling her what happened but it's hard for me to talk with all the emotions that are going through me so I tell her I love her and I will call her back shortly I just need a minute to myself. I sit there and look at this doe and just think to myself about all days I have hunted over the past 2 years, the pouring rain, the blistering cold, the white outs of snow, and all the days of feeling disapointed, coming up empty handed day after day and not understanding why. Knowing I put in the work, shooting my bow religiously, doing everything right but not having anything to show for it. And for me to now he able to have something to show for all my hard work made it worth all the hard days worth it.

My girlfriends dad shows up and we get the ATV and we find the arrows and I show him the deer and he shakes my hand and tells me he is very proud of me.

This doe means the world to me and even as I type this I have some tears in my eyes just thinking about the experience. It will be a hunt I will never forget as it was one of the most humbling moments I have had in a very long time.


 
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