This is my second year bowhunting. Last year I shot at 3 doe and missed all three. Long story short, I had to work on many factors. This year has more or less drove me crazy: I have seen tons of deer, only to ineffectively harvest three does. It almost came to the point where I was going to give up the sport because 1) time and money wasted (Chicago to Milford) and 2) I hated myself for not not being a responsible enough hunter. I decided to try one more weekend to test my luck. Here's my story...
I have a stand set in-between a creek (to my right) and the bottom of a ridge (to my left). The pros are it blocks the wind and deer naturally follow the water source; the cons are it is difficult to enter from the top of the hill quietly and there is only one good tree to place a stand, which forces me to set it ONLY TEN FEET HIGH. I have sat in my stand 2 hours before sunrise simply because I always spook deer walking in. Last Sunday morning, my hopes were dwindling...4 raccoon, 5 squirrels, 0 deer. About 9 a.m. I see a tiny doe and buck, followed by their mother, a nice fat doe. The babies weren't in spots, so I was going to take the mom. Unfortunately, they started to browse about 5 yards to my right, and with my stand height only being 10 feet high, I was literally a statue for 12 minutes. Finally, the mom came within 2 yards of my stand, and the second her head moved in front of a tree, I drew my bow. Unfortunately, she spotted me, and for about 20 seconds she kept staring at me, trying to figure out what I was. I tried to be as still as possible and hope she would miraculously lose interest, but she ended up bolting with her young. Not only that, she warned another doe behind my stand that was 15 yards away.
By now, I was in a funk. It was about 10:15 a.m. and I started to wonder why I am sitting in a tree and freezing my tail off when nine turkey start walking towards me from behind. I figured taking one with a bow would lighten my spirits. I watched them for a good ten minutes and decided to turn and draw my bow. The second I was going to stand up I hear footsteps to my north. I VERY SLOWLY turn my head to see this buck walking southwest towards me from about 20 yards. Now I don't get buck fever, I get deer fever, so when I saw this buck, I literally almost passed out from hyperventilating. He decided to stop and rub his antlers on a branch above his head while standing directly in front of me. From this point on, I never even acknowledged the rack on his head because I knew it would not help me take this deer down. Any small move I make and he's gone. After licking the bottom branch, he slowly starts taking the trail that is to the left of my stand (15 yards)...then he stops and stares my way. By now I figure the game is up: I am seated in my stand with this buck basically looking at me and I have no shot. Fortunately, he loses interest and continues to walk. At this point, I have but one chance to draw back and prepare for the shot. I wait until this buck's head moves behind the last tree in my lane, and in that split second I position myself and am at full draw. By some miracle he did not see me move, and the minute he walked in my lane, I took the shot.
The shot could have been better: a little high, right after the ribs but before the gut. When I hit him, his hind legs jerked and he ran straight to the ditch that separates the ridge from the bottom. Now the last doe I shot jumped over the ditch; this buck ran down and up it. It was this maneuver that got me excited. The next maneuver almost broke my heart: once over the ditch and about 20 yards away, he stopped and looked behind. This was the same behavior my doe made before she ran off, never to be harvested. I was about ready to lose my mind and envisioned him simply running off, his white tail raised in the air, warning every other deer in the area. That is when the deer took one step further and toppled over to his side.
Bowhunting is by far one of the most difficult challenges I have endured in my life. With that said, it is one of the most enjoyable activities I have experienced in my life. I must say I am now completely hooked on bowhunting and found my lifelong hobby...and obsession. This was an 8 point buck that weighed 200+ lbs. field dressed.
