First hunt of the year

davidlt89 · September 28, 2007, 03:34:21 AM

Our bow season opened up yesterday. I had to be at the church last night so I opted to wait for tonight. Going to head out about 4:00 and see what happens. My uncle has been seeing deer in the food plot so that is good. There is a doe and two little ones that frequent the food quite often. Should be interesting. Anxious to hear about everyone else.

davidlt89 · September 28, 2007, 06:46:06 PM

Hit the blind at about 3:30. pulled out the good book and did some reading, put it away around 5:00. lot of cloud cover so I figured it would be getting dark early. around 6:00 I heard some sticks crack right behind the blind. looked out my left window and behind me but could not see anything. Don't know why I would bother since there is a ton of bushes there. few minutes later, heard some more cracking looked back again, almost had my head out of the window. when I turned back around there was a deer about 10 yards off to my left. Closest I have ever been to a deer hunting. Somehow she was facing directly at me. I had the corner of the blind to hide me while I moved around. I scrunged down and moved to the far right side of the blind so I could take a shot out the front window. I was on my knees forever waiting for her to give me a shot. finaly I had a shot and went to pull back and the release came off right away. this never happens to me at the house, go figure. at that point she is staring directly at me. I got the release on again and waited some more. blood had stopped going to my feet, but I remained in postion. finally she looked the other way and I pulled back. my arm was so tired from holding the bow waiting to pull back that I barely got it back. I went to aim and she was looking right at me so I had to hold full draw for again what seemed forever. finally I got the pin on her and let it fly. I got new muzzy mx-4s this year and they don't make nearly as much noise as expandables. She doubled up and put the big kick backwards with both feet and headed off into the woods. I heard some thrashing, then about 5-6 blows and all noise ceased. I got out and could not for the life of me find blood. I called in a couple buddies and we ened up finding some good blood but could just not seem to find her. I will go back in the morning and see if the daylight helps. God Bless.

3DSkeeter · September 28, 2007, 08:31:42 PM

Good luck David! Let us know how it turns out. Sure hope you find her.

bowhunter 51 · September 29, 2007, 02:18:19 PM

Yep, Good luck Davidt89.....Been there myself......Hope you find her.....
Let us know how it turns out...................................................BH51.............

davidlt89 · September 30, 2007, 04:20:32 AM

well, with extensive searching, no dice. I lost her somehow. I have replayed it in my head a few times and cannot figure it out. Found a drop of blood and the spots were getting bigger and bigger until they just stopped. Oh well, will try again monday. that is certainly part of hunting. God Bless.

Antler3 · October 02, 2007, 12:10:24 PM

Sorry you didn't find her that has happened to me before too. But Loved the story I could feel the exitement in the words as I read them. That's pretty close. It gets me all pumped when they are so close. All you can do is your best when comes to tracking them after the shot. Each year I always go read and brush up on my tracking skills after I lost mine. There is alot of good information out there on the subject. Sometimes it's gonna happen and like you said is sad but a part of it. Good luck to ya the remaining season hope you get one !

davidlt89 · October 02, 2007, 03:42:12 PM

thanks antler3, I have been studying on it (isn't it funny that we don't make any effort on this subject until we lose a deer). I have looked in to the illuminating spray. even talked to a few guys that have used it and say it works great. I am gonna get a bottle and have it handy just in case. I am sure if we could of got a direction out of the blood trail we would of been all set. My uncle said there were about a hundred crows flying over on sunday. there were headed in the opposite direction I thought she had gone. Oh well, we did a great search the next day, can't say we did not try. every time I go out in the garage I can see her hanging there. I did go again monday but they would not come close enough for a shot. going tommorrow night and taking my four year old. He told me he is old enough to go and he can be real quiet because he is four. well, he is going to get his chance. we will be in the blind about an hour and a half, should be interesting. God be with the rest of you also. and please post some stories. I know we have people bow hunting out there. I at least expected to see a picture of Glenns deer by now (lol). God Bless.

RatherBHuntin · October 02, 2007, 04:43:42 PM

The only deer Glenn has seen in the wild saw him first, and it was still o'dark thirty in the middle of a large field....apparently I should have walked around the edge instead of across the middle. Gonna try again this weekend.

Make sure you let em lie at least an hour after a hit with an arrow.

Antler3 · October 02, 2007, 05:40:25 PM

I been after them also. Yesterday evening I set up in between a green field and a grown up field. Not much of a place to hide as I'm hunting from the ground. I picked what I thought was the best place and right as the sun went down I hear stomp stomp I knew it was onto me. I sat perfectly still. She came on out about ten yards to my right and when she went behind an old metal feeder I got my bow positioned but didn't have time to draw. She hopped right out in front of me and stopped looking right at me well needless to say she bolted and the little one with her. I didn't have a chance. This is new territory for me and I don't know their habits in this area yet. This evening wind was opposite and silly me sat up in same place only facing the direction she came from last night. Well when got too dark I thought I'd ease on out of there, well there they were in the middle of the green field I have to cross. I eased to the edge of the woods and grunted on the tube and they ran to the far side. I just walked on out and across and discovered there was three of them bounding across the field. I've seen two big bucks in this area and am thinking the one hanging out at the end must have been one of them. Takes me awhile to figure things out in a new area and I usually end up bumping them a few times. May be next year before I can do any good with these. I have been having a really good time hunting them though. Who knows I may get lucky. My stand is up on the mountain, I have a feeder and mineral lick there. Hunted there for awhile this morning and didn't see anything. I have tracks around the mineral lick so they have started to come in to it. I just noticed these bucks where I hunted this evening in this field while riding the grandkids on the four wheeler before season and thought I'd see what I could do. I didn't have time to scout it out and so am kinda hunting them blind sided. Good luck to you all hope you get a biggun' !!

davidlt89 · October 03, 2007, 04:08:37 AM

Antler3,
good story. wish I could put a mineral lick out, but the law up here says thats a no no. there is also no feeding. But it is legal for me to have my food plot. I hope you get one, I am anxious to see some pictures from somebody. And yes it is exciting to have deer really close to you, but to be honest, I think I would be better off with 30 yards. I have never shook so much on a deer in my life as I did on that doe, go figure.

Glenn,
I think that is one of my problems. I am ready to cut and package after I take the shot. I am in way to much of a hurry. If I would of found blood right off I may have left her alone. I did look for blood right off but did not hear anything in the woods, thats not to say I did not push her. I honestly did not think she would live to long with the shot I took. Oh well, got my boy with me tonight. He was sitting on the couch this morning all drab when I walked out. I stopped and looked at him and reminded him we were going hunting tonight and he perked up and got his clothes on, brushed his teeth, combed his hair, he was just happy. Hunting is good medicine. He was showing me how he is going to point if he see's a deer. Not quite sure if I am gonna allow that pointing method in my blind, I told him he can't go sticking his hands out the window. I just hope we see some deer so he can get a look. God bless.

Antler3 · October 03, 2007, 04:45:04 AM

Good luck to you and your son. In the beginning they'll want to talk and move, my advice would be to be gentle with them and each trip they go they'll catch on to what they need to do. I read a story about taking youngsters out for the first times and it really explained the ins and outs of it. Can't remember where I read it though. They were talking about not being to hard on them and making it a fun experience while teaching them. I hope he gets to see some. Let us know how it goes.

davidlt89 · October 03, 2007, 05:50:06 AM

My wife has already warned me not to yell. I told her it would not be like that. I just want him to see a deer. I really don't expect us to get one. It is all about the time with him and being in the outdoors. God Bless.

RatherBHuntin · October 03, 2007, 02:13:39 PM

Get him comfortable and bring a picture book of some sort. My boy has a small book that fits in the pocket of an old field jacket all my kids have worn hunting (fits them like a parka, hangs past their knees). The book has descriptions, pictures and tracks of American game animals and must be 50 years old. He carries it in his fannie pack now and still reads it when he's bored.

davidlt89 · October 04, 2007, 04:18:11 AM

Well, I will admit, the boy did a great job. He asked alot of questions but he was really quiet. He also stayed pretty still for a four year old boy. We did not see any deer but he definately wants to go back. He said he was planning on eating deer for supper, but it was ok, he would eat something else. we will try again, I just can't wait until he is the one with the bow, that is going to be a good time. God Bless.

RatherBHuntin · October 04, 2007, 03:11:31 PM

You can't blame him for asking questions, and it's a great time to teach him about the woods, as long as he knows how to whisper. Were you in the pop-up? My little one likes to sit with my brother...says he always sees deer when he goes with his uncle. Glad ya'll had a good time.