I was trying to remember how long I’d been bow-hunting - maybe eight or ten years. Regardless of how long, I had never killed a deer with a bow & arrow. Despite much success gun-hunting, I thought I was just destined to be deer-less with a bow.
This year I tried to do more things right than ever before. I continued to scout up through the day before opening day. I determined that my initial stand site was not in an area as heavily traveled as it used to be, so we put up two additional stands in better locations. I had gotten a new Parker bow and practiced until I felt confident in making a clean killing shot. I had listened to the wisdom and advice of more experienced (and successful) hunters.
So… I told you that to tell you this.
Opening day, Craig and I sat in the evening. We had doused ourselves with a “miracle” acorn scent product that he had picked up at a sport show. Craig sat up high on the ridge, and I sat in the valley on a stand overlooking a couple of heavily traveled trails and the first rub of the season. I hunted very hard that evening. I was remembering what I had been told. For one thing I stayed alert (I should note that sitting in tree stands acts as a sedative for me and I have a habit of falling asleep). Next, I was told to look through the woods instead of looking at the woods. This is how you see deer before they are right on top of you. Also, “hunt with your ears”. Assume any noise you hear is a deer until you can positively identify it as something else. The wind was just right for any deer coming along the trails I was hunting. I had (thankfully) prepared in advance by bringing my bug net, because as it turns out, my stand was the site of the national mosquito convention.
Unfortunately, the deer went by my other new stand that night, which was down-wind of me. They were not so impressed with that acorn scent and at least two of them that evening snorted and high-tailed it without me ever seeing them (I washed all of our hunting clothes that night with scent free soap and threw the bottle of scent away). As is customary, I never saw a deer that night and, also as usual, Craig saw a nice ten pointer, a bunch of does and another deer he thinks was a buck.
The next night, I hunted alone and decided to sit in the stand that the deer had been by the night before. I knew this was tempting all of Murphy’s laws, but decided to risk it anyway. Miraculously, the mosquitoes had disappeared and it was a calm cloudy evening. The air was drifting down the valley perfectly for my stand location and I was overlooking an apple tree at about 15 yards in a mowed clearing. Again, I was practicing my “best” hunting skills and although I was very comfortable in my stand was never truly relaxed. Several times I heard what I thought were deer noises, and I stood and got in position to shoot, but it turns out we have a heck of a squirrel population explosion on our farm. After several heart-pounding occasions, I found myself fearful that if I did see a deer, I would come totally unglued. I said a little prayer that that would not happen.
A little after 7:00 p.m., as I was peering through the foliage at the trail I expected the deer to travel, I saw the feet and nose of a deer come out of the brush in front of me stepping toward the apple tree. I quickly noted that it was a spike buck and knew I would shoot him (of course at this point I would shoot any deer offering me a shot). This all seemed a little unreal and amazingly I was calm and just seemed to go into auto-pilot. The buck passed around the other side of the tree giving me a perfect opportunity to stand and draw my bow. As he stepped around from behind the tree, I knew I would have to shoot quickly if he continued down the trail away from me. But he turned and came toward me!!!!! This just doesn’t happen to me. I focused my pin on him as he turned toward me with his head down, feeding on apples. He slowly walked, feeding around to my side of the tree – first head on – then quartering toward me – then I told him to turn a little more – and so he did. As if in a dream, I let the arrow go for a ten yard shot. As he bound out of the clearing I made note that the arrow had entered him higher than mid point on his ribs, but had not passed all the way through. This worried me a little, but I felt that it was a good release and a good shot. I mentally marked where he entered the woods and listened to him crash up the hill, changing directions as he went. I thought I heard him tumble at the end.
As calmly as I could I got down and ran back to the house to get my expert tracker, Craig. We found my arrow about ten yards into the woods – it had passed the rest of the way through. He had run about 60 yards up the hill and expired by a deadfall. The shot had pierced both lungs and he had died quickly. I just couldn’t believe it. I had finally taken a deer with a bow and arrow – and it all seemed so easy!
It is different than I thought it would be. It is that quiet bittersweet feeling of the hunt. I feel more lucky than skilled. Most of my pleasure is in remembering the whole hunt that night, and even the preparation that went before – not in the actual act of shooting. I am grateful that it all went so well. I am told that they all won’t be so easy, but I’ll deal with that later.
