first deer i have shot w/ the bow in some 6 yrs..... with all the moving i have been doing, my heart hasn't been fully into bow hunting, this year is a conscious effort to get back into it.
we went to Platteville for the weekend to visit father in law in a nursing home. we stayed at my sister in law's place, they have a large farming operation in the hills. I had one evening for a hunt. i have hunted this property for turkeys, but never deer. Saturday morning the wife went to see her dad and i had the okay to look around for a place to set up. they have a lot of acres, but not a lot of cover, so i went on an exploration. found a likely trail dumping into a cover crop field, wind prediction was right for this field, other fields held promise but the wind was wrong so i set up a stick and hanging stand, went back to the farm house and helped tear out the carpet in the living room.....
evening sit was perfect, bout 510 pm i heard deer coming, i stood up, deer entered the field never blinking an eye, i let the two fawns pass and the doe presented me with a broadside shot, drew, settled in and touched the release, thwump...... she whirled and took off back where she came from.
i wasn't sure of the shot, it seemed a little far back and i never heard her go over, but she didn't trot off either. i sat in the tree for 15 minutes and climbed down to see my arrow. passed though, no gut and covered in blood.. good hit. marked the spot with the arrow, looked around for blood in the field, none so i walked back the truck shed a few layers and went back trail the deer.
I located her still sitting upright but very groggy, so i backed out and waited about an hour a half.
when i returned i walked up where she had laid before, found her expired. upon dressing her out i discovered clipped one lung, a small chunk of liver an passed through the diaphragm. good clean kill.
not a great story, it was an easy hunt, but for me a milestone, i had been having issues with hitting deer and losing them, so last winter i joined an archery league.
the enjoyment i found in the hunt was not with the harvest but with how i was able to keep my calm and the muscle memory of practicing took over, i have had problems with my peep, anchor point, etc for me this hunt was successful not because i shot a deer, but how i shot the deer. i recall adjusting my galsses so i could see out the peep, soothing i do when target shooting, i didn't have to think about it, i just did it.....
sorry but i didn't get any pics, i retrieved the deer in the dark and butchered her in first thing in the morning, had a lot on my plate and just never thought 'bout it until i had her skun out... i opted not to take that picture .
the conversion topic i keep having with myself since taking this deer..... "I'm back... "
