Report Your Archery Kill - 2006

[harvey lee]

Congrats to swampbuck and tripper on your bow kills.

[BLACKJACK]

Shot a small doe last night!!! Had two does and a small spike buck out in front of my stand for about 20 minutes, finally one of the does presented a good shot and I took it. Watched the two does run into the woods about 70 yards away, all the time hoping the shot one would fall over. Got down and retrieved my arrow - it smelled and wasn't bloody - gut shot!!! Don't know what happened, it was right below my stand, too steep an angle? Hit a twig?

Walked home, contemplating my options, they say to wait 6 hours on a gut shot, thought about coming back in the morning, but they were predicting snow and rain... Decided to give it two hours, came back and found the blood trail leading into the woods. Right away it went down a steep bank and I lost the trail, did it go left or right? Looked over the likely paths thru the brush, followed a couple different paths, backtracked, and found more blood! I tracked it for about 80 yards, losing the trail several times, at times the blood trail was great, other times nil, finally I was about 10 feet from coming out of the woods and lost it again. Walked to the edge of the woods, contemplating what direction it might have went and believe it or not, I smelled 'dead deer', the kind of smell you get when you stick your knife in to gut the deer and all the gases escape. I started shining my flashlight around and about 15 feet away was my deer!!!!

By the time I was done gutting, the rain was coming down steady, my blood trail would have been gone this morning. I also was only about 30 yards from where I shot it. I've noticed that in the past, deer will most times go back to where they came from when shot.

Lessons learned: Need more practice from elevated stands; my new LED headlamp worked great, it gives off a nice white light; and stop when you're blood trailing and look over the direction and trails and lay of the land, most times when I lost and refound the trail it was by following the easist path. I also used marking tape on every blood spot, that enabled me to look back for direction of travel, and when I did lose the trail, I could go back to the last spot and start again.

It was actually kind of fun trailing, part of the whole process. Now onto the next part tonight - butchering my deer tonight. I've never done it before but I'm looking forward to it!

[Mark Christianson]

Great story Blackjack!

Contgrats!

[chucker34]

Ditto. Great work BlackJack! Sounds like a great evening.

[harvey lee]

Congrats on the deer.I had almost a similar story last weekend only I went a lookin and pushed the deer,went back to the house and returned a little while later and found it.I had shot it in the liver as I didnt have a heart lung shot as a tree was in the way.It all turned out well,but just maybe I should not have taken that shot.

I have been burned a few times as I always think I can make any shot and those arrows just dont curve around trees.

[bigbucks]

Nice job Blackjack, stuck my first critter of the season last night, a fox squirrel... Did finally see a buck, a 6 pointer I think. It was right at dark. I passed on him at 20, then again at 8, & again at 17-18. Saw somewhere between 4 & 6 deer. They were in the corn, so couldn't tell if some came & went or what. Great night to be in the woods. I haven't talked to anybody that hunted last night that didn't see multiple deer.

[Mark Christianson]

Rodd

Don't say things like, "I haven't talked to anybody that hunted last night that didn't see multiple deer. "

ARGH!!!

I was going to go out yesterday evening, but I opted to help the neighbor spray insulation!!!!!!!

You know who you are neighbor!!!

[Eyehawk]

Thats great that you found that doe blackjack, and always new lessons to be learned while in the woods. I was going to say that it has been slow for me as well, but I have only been out a half a dozen times since opener, and it doesn't help that the fall fishing has been outstanding for me. Classes and work get in the way too, so I am limited to just night hunts. With this cold front and snow it should get deer moving more and easier to track.

[bigbucks]

Mark

Sorry man with the stormy weather moving in, you had to know it was going to be a prime night. What stunk is I couldn't hunt the other side of the cornfield I was on (different landowner). I knew that's where they were most likely to come from.

Imagine a 2-3 acre cornfield 1/2 mile+ from a road with woods on 3 sides, two of the three woods being pastured. Where do you think the deer are going to come from, knowing the 3rd wooded side is thick & swampy? There was a good trail coming into my corner 20 yards away, that's where the little buck came too, just no shooter deer.

[BLACKJACK]

Quote:

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I haven't talked to anybody that hunted last night that didn't see multiple deer.

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Its ALWAYS good to be out in the woods when a weather front is moving in!!!!

[doser]

Last night was the first night I didn't see deer. I had a good feeling last night was the night , but it ended up be the slowest of the yr. so far.

[Mark Christianson]

Thats what I like to hear Doser!!!

PS - kidding if you hadnt seen my previous post and the jabs old bigbucks and Blackjack threw at me... LOL

[SartellMN]

Good and bad story

I finally got a doe tonight! I have been bow hunting on and off for 6 years and it finally worked out.

I was in my stand and it was quite windy. The deer started to come out at 6:00PM, which is earlier than normal. It must have been the cold snap. Well, the wind was changing directions constantly. The deer all were wary and constantly looking over in my direction. At some point they spooked and ran into the woods. I thought they winded me.

After 15 minutes they came back out and fed on the opposite side of the clearing for a while. They started to go into the corn field, so I grunted a few times. Finally, the big doe heads straight for my stand looking for the noise. She gets about 15 yards away and goes broadside. I shot, and hit high! I could not believe it. Either she jumped the string, or I can't seem to figure my bow out. I keep shooting high when the time comes. Anyway, she was hit in the spine and dropped. I shot two more arrows trying to put her out of her missery, without a good opportunity. I finally got down and cut her neck. It was horible to watch. I am so dissapointed in my shot and what I had to do afterword. She was bleeding bad, so it would have only been a matter of time before she bled out. I just hate to see the suffering.

In any event, she is huge for a doe. I cannot wait to weigh her tomorrow. I did all that I could, given the situation, but it really bothers me that my shot was off. It was not pretty, but I will take it.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Congrats on the kill sartell.... 2 questions to maybe help your high hits.. Do you practice from an elevated stand? And do you wear the same clothes while practice? Both could easily result in a high hit.

[bigbucks]

Congrats anyway, it's great to get that first one under your belt. Maybe the next time you go on an evening hunt, go real early if you can, so you're all setup the way you hunt & take your target with, a 3D if you have one. Set it up where you expect the deer to come & shoot out of your stand. I've done that several times, from several different stands. If you're doing something wrong you can fix it, if not, it should give you the shot of confidence you may need. I've done that sitting several times & found that some shots are actually much easier sitting. I've taken I think 3 deer that way now & in certain situations it's actually my preferred shot now, very steady.

That first one is by far the toughest, at least it was for me, things just seemed to fall into place for the most part after that.

Congrats again

[Eyehawk]

Sartell don't feel bad about how you handled the situation because I was in that very same ordeal last bow season, when I spined a doe. I handled the situation differently than you, and I really don't regret what I did, because it had to be done. I usually stand and shoot from my stand but in this instance I didn't have time to stand up and I had to shoot sitting, which I think made me shoot high.

[nitroant]

Nobody ever wants to have a misplaced shot, but it happens sometimes. Take comfort in the fact that you recovered the animal.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Well said Nitro!

[sportfish]

Last week me and 3 other guys were out in the black hills SD. What a great time!! Lots of deer, we had 8 doe tags for the 4 of us, we came back with 4 mule deer and 4 whitetails,What a great time!!! So for the year I shot two at home and two in SD. 4 deer for the year, I think I sould start wait for the big boy,I have to much meat,to shoot a nother doe,plus next week is camp riple hunt. Good shooting everyone!!

[BLACKJACK]

Congrats Sartell, the first one is always the toughest!!! And look at the bright side, you had the deer right there, its not like you had gut shot it and had a long tracking job and then lost it. Now thats bad!!!

Nothing like a bad shot to drive you back to the archery butt!!!! Do the practice from an elevated stand, maybe even your deck or the roof of your garage!

One time gun hunting my partner spined a small buck and I can remember it bleating... Not for the faint of heart. I've told my wife when she gets her first deer she will have some remorse, they are beautiful animals - but such a fun challenge to hunt!!!

I think if it would have been me, I would have got out of my stand and shot her at point blank range, I want nothing to do with trying to cut their throat, too easy to get hit with her hooves or head.

Congrats again, you just did something that most deer hunters will never do, and thats shoot a deer with a bow!

[BLACKJACK]

We didn't mention that little one you shot last year, did we? You know the one that almost fit in the game bag of your vest???

[96trigger]

Sartell, I've got a horror story about finishing off a deer during the shotgun. However, I'm not going to tell it, I've put far back in my mind. It made me want to hang everything up and quit. I didn't, I love to hunt too much, just know that it does happen sometimes, it goes with the territory. Even the strongest of stomachs doesn't like to see something that beautiful suffer for any amount of time. Congrats on your first deer, its still a rush.

[SartellMN]

Don't get me wrong, I am not at all dissapointed in getting the deer. It certainly will not put me off of hunting more this year. It is just very dissapointing to practice with the bow all the time and at the moment of truth mess it up.

Thanks for the support.

[chucker34]

Sartell, Congrats on the deer! I had a similar situation last year on my second deer with a bow ever - also a doe. I misjudged the yardage and didn't realize the doe was closer than I thought.

I spined her and like BlackJack's story, she made an awful bleating sound. Worse yet, she crumpled to the ground presenting me with nothing more than another spine shot. So I had to quietly approach her, bow drawn the whole time while she continued to bleat, and swing around the front for a heart shot at near point blanc range. I was so traumatized for lack of a better word at the time that I knew I just had to focus on the vital area and not anything else. Once I had it targeted, I closed my eyes at the same time I hit the trigger.

I felt awful for a few minutes sitting next to her but regained my composure and was reassured by one of my hunting buddies that deer usually die a far crueler death from starvation, car accidents, or predators. And I went back to practicing right away, even though my tags were filled. You'll figure it out. Just keep working on it. A visit to the local pro shop to have them watch your form and look at your bow inside and out will probably help too.

[bigbucks]

I've heard a few beller just as they were dying & they died quick. It's a little erie I suppose, but just part of the process.

[fishermn]

Yep, just kinda drives home the fact that you are taking an animals life. Not something to be taken lightly...

I spined the first one I ever shot with a bow as well. Excitement got the better of me, and I probably aimed higher than I should and misjudged the distance to be further than she was. I nocked another arrow, and did the humane thing by making the second shot exactly where the first should have been. You're right though, it definitely sticks with you. Something to think about anytime you are considering a shot that might be outside your comfort zone. As hunters its our responsibility to make it a quick clean harvest.

[862]

Quote:

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Had 6 Does under and around me for about 25 min last night, a true testiment to scentloc and scent sheild, also had 2 huge coons come walk under me, they saw me trying to change out arrows and ran half way up a tree in front of me, one of them made the mistake of peeking aroung the tree, WHACK dead coon

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I have seen people shooting coons a few times on posts here. I think if you read the regs. Coon season is still closed.

[Mark Christianson]

Yikes. Good catch 862..........

[Young Gun]

Got my first deer this season tonight. Second with a bow.

I saw the doe 200 yards away in a bean field. I grunted and she started walking towards me. I had put Doe Pee on my boots and walked out into the field earlier. She smelled that and ran right to me. The shot was 20 yards quartering away.

She bled a blood trail Ray charles could have found. Found her about 60 yards from where my arrow passed through.

Those Montec G5 cut on contacts really are a nice broadhead.

[true]

nice deer congrats