SmokeyJones
Well-Known Member
I have only taken 1 deer with my bow in the three seasons I have been hunting so I do still qualify as a rookie, and yesterdays hunting proves it.
I had sat on a stand facing the wind, overlooking a good stretch of power lines and had seen a buck working two different does and also two more does traveling alone. They were all 50-150 yards upwind and never came my way.
Mid morning I got tired of the wind beating me in the face and decided to move into the woods about 100 yards to a hanging stand I have over a water hole where about 5 different trails come together.
5 minutes after sitting down, a nice sized doe walks up from behind and stand 11 yards to my left. An absolute perfect shot. I didn't want to risk spooking her so I decided to shoot while seated instead of standing. As I drew back, I was just about to the let-off point when she turned her head my way. She didn't see me, but was looking my direction at ground level. I knew that when I hit the let-off point that my arm would make that little jerk movement and I was worried that she would see it. So, I tried to pull through the let-off as slowly as possible. Here comes mistake number two. I already had my finger in front of the trigger and didn't realize it. :blush:
Needless to say, when my arm jerked back on the let-off, I hit the trigger and fired the arrow over her back.
Amazingly, she jumped about 10 feet away and then stopped. So I loaded up another arrow and came to full draw for another shot. The only problem was she was facing away and all I had was a butt shot. She slowly walked away and never gave me another side on shot. The good thing is she didn't know what had happened and didn't see me in the stand so the area is still 'good' I'm sure.
One thing I do know, I learned a very valuable lesson yesterday.
I had sat on a stand facing the wind, overlooking a good stretch of power lines and had seen a buck working two different does and also two more does traveling alone. They were all 50-150 yards upwind and never came my way.
Mid morning I got tired of the wind beating me in the face and decided to move into the woods about 100 yards to a hanging stand I have over a water hole where about 5 different trails come together.
5 minutes after sitting down, a nice sized doe walks up from behind and stand 11 yards to my left. An absolute perfect shot. I didn't want to risk spooking her so I decided to shoot while seated instead of standing. As I drew back, I was just about to the let-off point when she turned her head my way. She didn't see me, but was looking my direction at ground level. I knew that when I hit the let-off point that my arm would make that little jerk movement and I was worried that she would see it. So, I tried to pull through the let-off as slowly as possible. Here comes mistake number two. I already had my finger in front of the trigger and didn't realize it. :blush:
Needless to say, when my arm jerked back on the let-off, I hit the trigger and fired the arrow over her back.
Amazingly, she jumped about 10 feet away and then stopped. So I loaded up another arrow and came to full draw for another shot. The only problem was she was facing away and all I had was a butt shot. She slowly walked away and never gave me another side on shot. The good thing is she didn't know what had happened and didn't see me in the stand so the area is still 'good' I'm sure.
One thing I do know, I learned a very valuable lesson yesterday.
