Let me start off by saying that the best thing about this weekend was getting to spend some time with Paul. We spent Saturday night enjoying zombies, nachos, and beer.
The next morning (Saturday, October 8, 2013) we were in the woods before sunrise. We set up a screen blind in a spot where I was fairly sure he would see some does. Then I headed out for my tree stand. My stand had been ready for three weeks and I was looking forward to my first deer hunt in it.
I had been in the stand for a little over an hour when Paul texted me, "I think i got one." (These are the actual texts copied from my cell phone.)
"I'm not sure if it hit or went low. Have you seen anything?"
"Great not a thing how long ago"
"7:29"
"Need help tracking"
"I'll start checking at 8"
"Let me go check my arrow first to make sure it worth it"
"Okay"
"My arrow is bloody!"
"You go guy! What type of blood?"
"Hard to tell. It buried itself."
"Thru and thru, hey?"
"Yup"
"SWEET!"
"Are you headed this way?"
"I can be"
"I'll wait in the blind"
"Coming down now."
"Ok. All my arrows are quivered except the bloody one i left in place as a marker"
I came out of my stand and made my way to Paul. He was already tracking the deer. It did not take us long to find the deer. She had only gone about 70 yards before she piled up.
We drug her back to the house and processed her.
We hung out around the house until the afternoon. Then it was back into the woods. We decided to both sit in the same blind that Paul had sat in the morning.
We had been there when two deer came along the edge of the meadow right in front of us. They headed for the same opening that Paul's deer had used. I waited for them to come out in the opening where I could take a shot.
Soon I saw a head appear, stretched out like it was smelling something. It walked out a little further. It was turned slightly towards me so I waited till it turned.
It did that and gave me a broadside shot. I already was at full draw, so I let loose.
The arrow hit with a loud crack and the deer took off running. We could see that the arrow was in the deer. But it was a little forward of where I had aimed. I told Paul that I had made a bad shot. He tried to reassure me that it was a shoulder shot (hence the loud crack) and we would recover it soon. I was not as convinced and kept worrying that we had a wounded deer on our hands. I think that I spent the longest half hour in my life.
A curious thing that happened while we were waiting, was that the other deer kept running around us snorting the warning sign.
When it was time to start the tracking, we found a good blood sign. It was about a foot from where Paul found his first sign. It was a good blood sign. We found another one right off and it had even more blood. At the third one I saw my deer. It piled up about 30 yards from where it was hit.
Now here comes the spectacular part. I did miss my shot. But I hit it in the head. The arrow went in just below and behind the left ear. The point was protruding out about an inch right below the right eye. No wonder that it did not go far.
The other revelation was that it was a yearling buck. It was small. It must have been the other deer's fawn. That is why it kept running around us.
So the bottom line is that I got my first deer with a bow. I made a terrible shot but a spectacular hit. It was a buck but a small one. I am good with that.
Paul got Bambi's mom. I got Bambi. Now I want to get Bambi's father.
