First Trad Kill! 3 Firsts! And The Coolest Hunts!
Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2020 5:32 am
I've been blessed to have an incredible bow season so far. I tagged two really nice public land bucks, a mature 8 point, and a huge-bodied 7 point, and filled my public land doe tag, all on the ground!
So being done so early I decided to get a private land doe permit for my Dad's property to try and get one with my recurve. I wasn't planning on hunting with the recurve this year as I had made it my goal to try and harvest a big buck, and I figured that would take up my season. So I hadn't shot the recurve at all this year. Since I shoot instinctive I wanted at least a week to practice and regain my muscle memory. So I started shooting for the last week and to my surprise, I was shooting pretty darn good. Baseball sized groups at 20 yards. I told myself 15 and in and I would attempt the shot with confidence. So, Monday night for my first Trad hunt of the year, I was setup on a transition between some hot oaks and a foodplot I planted in august. I had pictures in the area of a big doe with a broken leg that I was hoping would show up, but any doe would be a trophy to me, so she would just be an extra bonus. The deer have been pounding the oaks before making it to the brassicas, and it was a gorgeous fall night, so I was as high on optimism as possible. It was gonna be a good night. About an hour & a half before dark the first doe appeared 50 yards out feeding down the strip of oaks parallel with me. During the next 25 minutes 5 more does appeared and continued to feed on the acorns within 60 yards of me. It was a great show. Just before 7 a mature doe stepped out & I noticed she had a severe limp, yes! She showed up! So I gave her a few grunts with my voice when she was positioned well, and she made a B-line right to me! Perfect! At 12 yards she turned broadside/slightly quartering away & at 15 yards I picked my spot, drew and released, the arrow dissaepeared EXACTLY where I'd aimed, bottom third right in the crease of the shoulder. I was so happy & satisfied with that! I knew right then she wasnt going far. But I waited till the rest of my family was done hunting so they could join me. My blood hound (a.k.a my 11 yr old brother Jonathan) made ridiculously short work of the trail and led me right to her! The arrow went through both lungs & the top of the heart and she only went 75 yards. Another cool thing that made it even more special to me is the arrow I shot her with I made with feathers from a turkey Id shot. It was a crazy fun night, super relaxing, and the most beautiful fall day this year! Couldn't have had any more fun or enjoyed it any more. Now I'm looking forward to the late season & a week long rut hunt in Virginia.
(Now for the next first! Jonathan one of my 9 siblings got a bow last month for his birthday (Sep. 26th) and has been shooting non-stop since. It's only set at 30 pounds so I told him only shots inside 10 yards. Well, he saw deer coming out about 50 yards from the stand I had him hunting the first week of season. So he said on the 3rd hunt, "I'm gonna move to where they all come out & try to shoot one on the ground like you did, tonight" my dad and I thought to ourselves no way is that gonna work but we said, go for it! So the little guy went out alone & setup all by himself in a deadfall for cover. When I got back to the trailer with my brother James that night, Jonathan was already waiting there. He says very calmly, "What did ya see?" We said, 2 does but not close enough for James to shoot them. So we asked, How bout' you? He comes back with, " I've only got one arrow left, I shot two! Both perfect shots At 8 yards!" Wait, what?! He went out and shot two does on the ground by himself! Wow! 5 does came through together and he shot one, 1 minute later they came back down the same trail and he drills a second one! So we gather the crew up and head out for some trailing. Both deer went less than 50 yards and bled everywhere! It was so cool!
Then my brother James got his first deer, a young doe at 7 yards this weekend! He made a perfect shot and she only went 25 yards! It's been an amazing year, and I can't wait to see how the rest of my family does on bucks as the rut approaches. 7 down in October so far! We've been eating well!
I'll post pictures of my recurve kill & James' doe as soon as I can figure out how to fix my phone. My phone has no storage and denies me every time I try to upload it. Too many hunting pictures, haha. But I'll get pictures soon! Thanks, beasts! And thanks for reading this long write! You guys are a huge reason to our success!
So being done so early I decided to get a private land doe permit for my Dad's property to try and get one with my recurve. I wasn't planning on hunting with the recurve this year as I had made it my goal to try and harvest a big buck, and I figured that would take up my season. So I hadn't shot the recurve at all this year. Since I shoot instinctive I wanted at least a week to practice and regain my muscle memory. So I started shooting for the last week and to my surprise, I was shooting pretty darn good. Baseball sized groups at 20 yards. I told myself 15 and in and I would attempt the shot with confidence. So, Monday night for my first Trad hunt of the year, I was setup on a transition between some hot oaks and a foodplot I planted in august. I had pictures in the area of a big doe with a broken leg that I was hoping would show up, but any doe would be a trophy to me, so she would just be an extra bonus. The deer have been pounding the oaks before making it to the brassicas, and it was a gorgeous fall night, so I was as high on optimism as possible. It was gonna be a good night. About an hour & a half before dark the first doe appeared 50 yards out feeding down the strip of oaks parallel with me. During the next 25 minutes 5 more does appeared and continued to feed on the acorns within 60 yards of me. It was a great show. Just before 7 a mature doe stepped out & I noticed she had a severe limp, yes! She showed up! So I gave her a few grunts with my voice when she was positioned well, and she made a B-line right to me! Perfect! At 12 yards she turned broadside/slightly quartering away & at 15 yards I picked my spot, drew and released, the arrow dissaepeared EXACTLY where I'd aimed, bottom third right in the crease of the shoulder. I was so happy & satisfied with that! I knew right then she wasnt going far. But I waited till the rest of my family was done hunting so they could join me. My blood hound (a.k.a my 11 yr old brother Jonathan) made ridiculously short work of the trail and led me right to her! The arrow went through both lungs & the top of the heart and she only went 75 yards. Another cool thing that made it even more special to me is the arrow I shot her with I made with feathers from a turkey Id shot. It was a crazy fun night, super relaxing, and the most beautiful fall day this year! Couldn't have had any more fun or enjoyed it any more. Now I'm looking forward to the late season & a week long rut hunt in Virginia.
(Now for the next first! Jonathan one of my 9 siblings got a bow last month for his birthday (Sep. 26th) and has been shooting non-stop since. It's only set at 30 pounds so I told him only shots inside 10 yards. Well, he saw deer coming out about 50 yards from the stand I had him hunting the first week of season. So he said on the 3rd hunt, "I'm gonna move to where they all come out & try to shoot one on the ground like you did, tonight" my dad and I thought to ourselves no way is that gonna work but we said, go for it! So the little guy went out alone & setup all by himself in a deadfall for cover. When I got back to the trailer with my brother James that night, Jonathan was already waiting there. He says very calmly, "What did ya see?" We said, 2 does but not close enough for James to shoot them. So we asked, How bout' you? He comes back with, " I've only got one arrow left, I shot two! Both perfect shots At 8 yards!" Wait, what?! He went out and shot two does on the ground by himself! Wow! 5 does came through together and he shot one, 1 minute later they came back down the same trail and he drills a second one! So we gather the crew up and head out for some trailing. Both deer went less than 50 yards and bled everywhere! It was so cool!
Then my brother James got his first deer, a young doe at 7 yards this weekend! He made a perfect shot and she only went 25 yards! It's been an amazing year, and I can't wait to see how the rest of my family does on bucks as the rut approaches. 7 down in October so far! We've been eating well!
I'll post pictures of my recurve kill & James' doe as soon as I can figure out how to fix my phone. My phone has no storage and denies me every time I try to upload it. Too many hunting pictures, haha. But I'll get pictures soon! Thanks, beasts! And thanks for reading this long write! You guys are a huge reason to our success!