I no sooner get to the trees, look over my shoulder and what do I see, a doe and 2 fawns not 25 yards from me and coming closer!!! I decide that she is not bothered by me and as cooly as I can I meander to the tree to see if I can pick up the bow and take her. She and kids were behind that big, I mean huge pecan tree that Arron helped me put up a 2 person ladder stand. no more than 12 feet up. I like room!!!!
Well, she and fawns decide it might not be such a good idea so they go back up into the woods. I climb up in the stand, hoist my bow on this beautiful, breezy and swirling windy afternoon that Jeff Murray (May he RIP) says is an excellent day to hunt, especially afternoon dusk time. The moon directly overhead. And he was right!!!! It was 5:30 when she and twins came back out (not even 5 minutes from seeing her before). Here she is:
She is about 30 yards to my left and back from where I was sitting. She stops around there, turns about face, and walks behind anoter huge pecan. I stand, draw and hold for about 3 minutes. She continues to the feeder. Stops between 2 large hanging, fully loaded branches. I steady the pin on the boiler room, and let it fly (30 yards). She steps forward. Ughhhhh!!!!! I hit her in high in the right hind quarter!!!! And the arrow is straight thru, but still in her. Fletching on right side and I can see the broadhead out the left (only for a second or 2 ). She tries to run, but the right rear leg is not helping her much, she's dragging it more than stepping with it.
Of course the fawns hightail it back in the woods. I nock another arrow, scoot down to see if she's in the field and I need to finish the job. I don't see her but I know where she went. And I beleive she wanted to get to the fawns. So I climb back up and wait for what I'm thinking should be more deer coming out as they pile out at this spot. None come closer than 200+ yards, so I get down at 7, to have a little light to help. Find the shot spot with blood and a trail. Go get my car and by then it is dark.
I pick up the blood but can't see it as well in this freshly hayed field. So with that I go with instincts. Did I ever tell you I have great instincts???? I knew the direction she went, the direction the fawns went and figured they would try to meet around 80 yards directly to my left. She tried, she was 60 yards from the shot and as I suspected when she ran, severed the femoral artery!!!!! Massive hemmorrhage in the belly, I missed any gut or poopshoot, she fell in stride as he head was turned to her left and nearly broke her neck when she dropped on her left side pushing the arrow back out. So when I found her, she had that beautiful pink Victory Force (For the Cure) arrow completely covered in blood including the fletching, sticking straight up!!!!!!I tell you hot pink arrows really show the blood!!!!! She died within 1 min or less of the shot.
I took a few pics, and attached the hog Hauler (my friend Mark- Greywolf in Hawaii made me for the hog I took there) and brought her out to the edge of the field, turned on my headlights and proceeded to clean, quarter and get the backstraps. The belly was too full of blood, I gave up the tenderloins as I did not want to take the risk of puncturing the wrong spot or cutting myself. Had her in the cooler before 9PM. I didn'y cut myself at all til I was cutting a bag of ice and nicked a finger!!!!! I have a custom made antler handled knife that was made by Rapid River Knifeworks in Michgan I won in a contest a couple years ago. This was only the 2nd time I got to use it. the first was the spike I took last fall, which was also the first buck I have ever taken.
The property I have limits me to does and spikes only and I am perfectly happy about that. I am a little bit (ok, alot) proud of mysself as this is the 1st time I have hunted, killed, drug and cleaned a deer by myself.
The yotes had a good meal last night with little work on their part. Oh, and the crows started squawking within a minute or 2 of the hit. I knew she was down!!!!!
Where the shot ended up hitting her, is NOT a shot I would purposefully take, but it was the way it was and I knew she was a dead deer, without doubt. I know deer anatomy, and was 99% sure I hit the femoral artery. And it proved to be right!!!! She was stiffening up when I found her.
Not easy to take a pic in the dark by yourself!!!!!!
Back at it this afternoon!!!!!!
