On December 31, 2011 i hunted the final 45 minutes of legal shooting time. Not expectng to see anything, i sat in a brush grounblind and didn't bring my camcorder. The view from the blind is limited so i couldnt see or hear much, if anything. The final 10 minutes came, i had 6 or 7 deer within 30 yards of me. They never offered a good shot so i didnt shoot. I hunted the next evening and dumped corn. Nothing. I hunted this morning(the next day) without any success. Today being the last day of my winter break, i had to hunt. I sat in my stand, i also dumped 4 lbs of corn to get any deer to stop in front of my stand. I prayed to God, asking Him if a deer came in, either i miss completely or have a clean kill.
Before i knew it, there was 15 minutes left.. I did my usual ritual. Turn the camera on and start recording the bait, and stand up ready to shoot. I looked to where i expected a deer, and sure enough there's a big fat ole doe. 75 yds out. Then another, then another one, another, until there were a total of 6 or 7 deer. The wind was perfect, in my face, blowing towards the south, keeping the deer upwind. There were 2 big does and 4 yearlings. They all headed East about 5o yards away. The yearlings quickly worked their way west right to my bait. The big does headed south then west to get Downwind of me. 3 of the 4 yearlings stayed behind a tree and bush, the 2 big does were behind a small pine thicket due southeast of me.
The one yearling headed 10 more yards west, standing exactly 15 yards quartering slightly away on my bait in front of me. I calmed myself down, picked a spot and slowly pulled back my Samick Sage Recurve(50#). i let the arrow fly. From what i saw, it looked like a good shot. But, by now i had literally shot in the last minute of legal time. So it was pretty dark.
I called up my buddy Zak W. and told him what happend. He was stoked, grabbed his headlamp and met me back up at my house. I told my dad. We screwed around at the house for a bit and by the time we were back in the woods to track, it had been 45 minutes- an hour. I hadnt checked for blood or anything when i first climbed down from my stand. We looked over the bait and where i thought she ran. No blood. No guts. No arrow. No anything. There are still a few other places she could have gone, but i have to wait until after school tomorow to go look again. I know for a fact i made conact with her and it looked good. But from reviewing the footage, it looks like i hit high and a bit back.
I'll try to make a map of the property etc. so you can see the layout.. Please let me know what you think of the situation. Where do youthink i hit her? Thanks for any help!!
Before i knew it, there was 15 minutes left.. I did my usual ritual. Turn the camera on and start recording the bait, and stand up ready to shoot. I looked to where i expected a deer, and sure enough there's a big fat ole doe. 75 yds out. Then another, then another one, another, until there were a total of 6 or 7 deer. The wind was perfect, in my face, blowing towards the south, keeping the deer upwind. There were 2 big does and 4 yearlings. They all headed East about 5o yards away. The yearlings quickly worked their way west right to my bait. The big does headed south then west to get Downwind of me. 3 of the 4 yearlings stayed behind a tree and bush, the 2 big does were behind a small pine thicket due southeast of me.
The one yearling headed 10 more yards west, standing exactly 15 yards quartering slightly away on my bait in front of me. I calmed myself down, picked a spot and slowly pulled back my Samick Sage Recurve(50#). i let the arrow fly. From what i saw, it looked like a good shot. But, by now i had literally shot in the last minute of legal time. So it was pretty dark.
I called up my buddy Zak W. and told him what happend. He was stoked, grabbed his headlamp and met me back up at my house. I told my dad. We screwed around at the house for a bit and by the time we were back in the woods to track, it had been 45 minutes- an hour. I hadnt checked for blood or anything when i first climbed down from my stand. We looked over the bait and where i thought she ran. No blood. No guts. No arrow. No anything. There are still a few other places she could have gone, but i have to wait until after school tomorow to go look again. I know for a fact i made conact with her and it looked good. But from reviewing the footage, it looks like i hit high and a bit back.
I'll try to make a map of the property etc. so you can see the layout.. Please let me know what you think of the situation. Where do youthink i hit her? Thanks for any help!!