Hunting CT yesterday evening. Bumped a deer as I got to my spot, not sure buck or doe. Set up with a few white oak acorns and lots of red's around. 6:20 I hear something behind me that sounds deer like but to much hemlock and laurel to see. about 10' later a small pine is waving back and forth... Ah ha - a buck is rubbing the tree. Then he comes in. He's at 10 steps, but shielded by the hemlock branch which I craftily thought would be great cover when I climbed the adjacent oak...
He hit my boot tracks, and apparently, I'm smelly, because he got nervous and started looking around, picked me off, and bounded a couple times. I draw...
He hooks and goes through a perfect spot at 20yds. But as I mouth bleat to stop him, he does what only deer can do - stops with his whole body wide open, except for his vitals which were shielded by a fluffy little baby white pine. After a stair down that felt like 20', I realized there was a softball sized hole where his lungs were. I can make that on paper every day and 2X Sunday... I line it up, squeeze it off....
Here is where you all would like the fun shot of my nice 8pt probably 3.5YO buck...
But instead you get that nice pic of my trophy oak branch. HA!
The combo of me apparently not aiming as well as I thought, and him being on alert, led to an epic drop at the shot, and the arrow sailed over his back into a blown down old oak.
He hoped away and stared at me from about 30yds in some laurels - just his head sticking out - for several minutes before nonchalantly heading off south looking for nuts.
No harm, no foul... Fun second sit of the year though.
On the way out I saw another, well, bumped it and saw it's flag as it ran off.
Fun sit.
On a more serious note, except for the end result it sounds like a great encounter. Nice way to get the blood pumping early in the season.
Bowandspear - that's a great thought - we could have a bowsite contest for biggest log :) (made of wood please :))
Bruce it was awesome. A really nice way to start the season.
Dean, Ill have to connect with you for scoring. :)
Badjuju... There were some jitters, but honestly, it was brain fart more than jitters as I consider things. Had he kept walking straight at first, I'd have had a wide open 10-15yd shot quartering away.
I was in full on assassin mode for that.
But, I was reminded that we must stay adaptable to be at our best.
When he caught me, and tried to evade, I drew. He circled round and gave me the shot I tried. In the heat of the moment, I was so focused on his nerves, that I didnt fully think through the shot. Had I, I would have remembered he was on alert and I really needed to aim for the heart - which I may not have done anyway given the little hole I had to shoot through. I also started to worry about how much longer I could hold confidently at full draw.. Focus needs to stay on 1.) what's possible, 2.) what you can do. I had, in the moment, let my focus drift to 'what might happen'... And that's a thought process which leads you into bad decisions.
Regardless, it was fun, and no harm to the deer or me so all good...
As for your dead wood... been there, done that, myself. There's a sapling on the Eastern Shore of Maryland that has two of my arrows sticking through it. Similar to you... thought I had an open shot... both shots at the same doe... both arrows went halfway through a small red oak side-by-side about 12 feet off the ground. The doe smartened up after the second shot and took off. That was 14 years ago... I imagine they're a bit higher up now.
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