Thursday the wife and kids left to go celebrate my mother in laws birthday... which means I spent every moment in the woods I could, making for a good weekend...
Friday night I was on a property I just got access to a year ago. It was my second time here and I had picked a new tree to shoot from. The night before I had cleared shooting lanes of all the saplings and Friday after work I went right to it with my climber and saw, slowly making my way up and taking off limbs (and the skin on my knuckles) on the way up. I had picked a nice beech tree, the kind you carve yours and you girlfriend initials on... lots of limbs to trim and some awfully smooth bark to take a climbing stand up by the way! But none the less, I got up high enough, about 20-25ft or so and got comfortable.
Pretty soon I had convinced myself I was stupid for hunting that spot and was wasting my time. However, with a half hour left of shooting light I saw some deer on the edge of the field... I grunted at them and they slowly made their way into the woods in my direction. To my surprise, they never looked up at me, wondering what it was up in the tree. Instead a nice doe finally made her way to my shooting lane and turned quarter to me.
I was excited, but under control. I had good form, with my trigger elbow tucked up behind my ear. I didn't jerk the trigger and my sights were just right. I sqeeeezed the trigger...
Naturally when you shoot a bow all the deer jump and scamper off, it's to be expected. I didn't expect them to all come back, but they did. Being in Hancock Co. I can take two deer... so I lined up my sights on another. I speculated that I missed the first by aiming too low, so I compensated on this one. Same as before, good form, heart rate was excited buy steady, sqeeeeeze the trigger...
Again, all the deer jumped and ran a little ways... but slowly came back. There were at least 6 or 8 of them... at one point a doe and her fawn made their way down the path I walked to get to my stand. I assume they were trying to figure out what that new scent was. There was even another doe that lined up for another perfect shot, but as it was Hancock Co. where I can only take two deer... well I figured I might have shot two already so I can't try for a third. Sure wish I had known then what I know now!
Once they all made their way off into the blackness, I got down, walked to my truck and drove in to where I thought I might have two deer waiting for me. I fired up my coleman lantern and found my first arrow...
Crap! No blood... well at least I didn't just wound it. Next arrow... "Come and get em, free haircuts!" No blood, a little meat and a few hairs... that was strange. I followed where I thought it went and found a blood trail... I followed the blood trail about 30 yds, and found where it looked like it laid down or stopped for a little bit. Beyond that, nothing but leaves and trees. I looked for another half hour but couldn't see any blood, tracks or trail.
I went home and shot my bow out of my bedroom window at the dimly lit target in the backyard... maybe 2-3 inches high at that angle... well at least my sights weren't off that much and I had a good group!
The next morning I went to another property and busted some more knuckles taking off limbs. A little before true sunrise I saw a few deer out in the field... again I called them in with a grunt and took aim at one, only 20yds out or so. Good posture, excited but controlled heart rhythm, sqeezed the trigger... I think for some reason I tried to compensate and aim higher... which made for 3 broad-heads that need new blades and nothing to show for it. I could have sworn I saw the arrow go into that deer... but I was wrong.
I went home again and shot at my target with the practice broadheads and a few now-dull real ones... still dead on...
Last night I had a 4pt come in... I drew on it and started thinking abut it... it was Sunday night, I had work in the morning... it was only a 4pt...
I'll be kicking myself all season long if I never get another shot at buck...
I have never seen so many deer in a weekend... nor have I ever missed so many in a weekend...
I had a good bad weekend. (Hopefully it wasn't too long... I didn't even talk about Saturday night!)