Post by jdmiller on Nov 2, 2005 1:19:43 GMT -5
Guys .....I'd like to share a new experience for me .
To start off .....I havent had much time to hunt this year and decided to take a few days off from work and get some serious hunting in before our modern gun season comes in ...in which I would spend the majority of the season hunting with my 13 year old daughter .
My hunting began on Sunday afternoon on our place in Christian Co. ...I got in the stand about 1:30 and within a hour the deer activity soon picked up . Apparently the rut is kicking in high gear on our place . Bucks were chasing does everywhere . My stand is located about 20 yds. inside the woods from our foodplot but I have a fairly good view of most of the field . By nightfall I had seen 25 deer ....seven of those were bucks ... I did get a glimpse of a decent buck chasing a doe in the middle of our foodplot . The smaller bucks were either chasing does or wandering alone appearing to be scent checking trails for a hot doe . None of the deer including the larger buck never gave me a shot . I stayed in the stand until very dark and slipped back to our cabin and pondered my plans for the next day . I had the feeling of success even though I never got a shot ....I'm sure some can relate to this. I decide to hunt the same stand in the morning .....too much activity to try somerwhere else.
Monday morning ....I was in the stand by 5:00am and just settled in when I heard a buck chasing a doe on the ridge behind my stand . They were really ripping and running all over the place.....they even came by the stand but it was too dark to tell anything about those deer . At 5:45 it was getting light enough to shoot but the deer I had heard chasing were suddenly quiet. I then noticed a lone doe feeding in our foodplot...I decided to make a few soft grunts followed by a estrous doe bleat from my can. Immediately I heard a deer walking toward my stand from behind . He came to my left but stayed in the brush but he was heading for a opening at the edge of the field. At the angle he was coming he probably had scented the doe . When he got in the clearing he made the mistake of stopping . His head was behind a red oak but I had glimpsed some polished points and decided he was a shooter . I figured him to be between 25-30 yds and settled my dot behind his front shoulder and triggered the shot. Even though the crossbow is somewhat loud ...I heard that familiar "thud" and he was in a dead run across the field . My last view was of his tail "cork-screwing" which made me feel confident of a good hit .
I waited about 15 minutes in the stand and decided to get down and check for blood. When I got to where he was standing I found no blood and I started second guessing myself. I was down on my hands and knees when I noticed a skid mark in the grass from my bolt/arrow ....i dug around ...found it ....feathers covered in bright red blood.
I sat by the red oak for another 15 minutes and decided to start looking for blood in the direction he traveled . He ran across our foodplot which is at the crest of a slight hill . The ground had been disked and resowed in late September and if there was blood to be found I should pick the trail up there. As I walked across the food plot I was so focused on finding blood when I finally looked up ......there he was.... a decent racked 10 pt. ....he fell just out of my view from the stand and ground where my recovery began. He only went about 80 yds from the shot.
This deer in no way measures up to the deer Woody killed but I'm very proud of him no less .....my first crossbow buck . The rewarding feeling I have with this deer is similar to my first bow kill years ago . I might add that a problem with my draw arm let me persue the appropriate methods exemptions to use a crossbow and keep me in woods this archery season . I really wish everyone could enjoy the option of using a crossbow during archery season in all states ....instead of having to jump through hoops for a medical permit ...maybe this will happen someday.
For everyones information I was using a Parker crossbow ....Simmons single red dot scope...Super Carbon Magnum bolts and Wasp Hammer SST -125 gr . broadheads . Total arrow/broadhead weight of 425gr. and had a complete pass-through with both lungs punched ....blood apparently was spraying out both sides and he bolted so quick I had gotten off course a little . Blood was about 15 ft from where I was looking . Again....a very rewarding experience .
I'm behind on technology a little and cant post pictures .When I get my film developed I see if someone can scan and post for me . The bucks rack was decent but had some rather unique palemation(sp.) ...very unusual looking to say the least .
I'm slow about doing this but I have posted a pic of my first crossbow buck. I'm new to posting pics and had to have woody help me out... but I'm learning. Picture quality is not that great . All I had with me was a disposable camera .
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img.photobucket.com/albums/v474/Woowoo1/Jamie20Deer.jpg![]()
To start off .....I havent had much time to hunt this year and decided to take a few days off from work and get some serious hunting in before our modern gun season comes in ...in which I would spend the majority of the season hunting with my 13 year old daughter .
My hunting began on Sunday afternoon on our place in Christian Co. ...I got in the stand about 1:30 and within a hour the deer activity soon picked up . Apparently the rut is kicking in high gear on our place . Bucks were chasing does everywhere . My stand is located about 20 yds. inside the woods from our foodplot but I have a fairly good view of most of the field . By nightfall I had seen 25 deer ....seven of those were bucks ... I did get a glimpse of a decent buck chasing a doe in the middle of our foodplot . The smaller bucks were either chasing does or wandering alone appearing to be scent checking trails for a hot doe . None of the deer including the larger buck never gave me a shot . I stayed in the stand until very dark and slipped back to our cabin and pondered my plans for the next day . I had the feeling of success even though I never got a shot ....I'm sure some can relate to this. I decide to hunt the same stand in the morning .....too much activity to try somerwhere else.
Monday morning ....I was in the stand by 5:00am and just settled in when I heard a buck chasing a doe on the ridge behind my stand . They were really ripping and running all over the place.....they even came by the stand but it was too dark to tell anything about those deer . At 5:45 it was getting light enough to shoot but the deer I had heard chasing were suddenly quiet. I then noticed a lone doe feeding in our foodplot...I decided to make a few soft grunts followed by a estrous doe bleat from my can. Immediately I heard a deer walking toward my stand from behind . He came to my left but stayed in the brush but he was heading for a opening at the edge of the field. At the angle he was coming he probably had scented the doe . When he got in the clearing he made the mistake of stopping . His head was behind a red oak but I had glimpsed some polished points and decided he was a shooter . I figured him to be between 25-30 yds and settled my dot behind his front shoulder and triggered the shot. Even though the crossbow is somewhat loud ...I heard that familiar "thud" and he was in a dead run across the field . My last view was of his tail "cork-screwing" which made me feel confident of a good hit .
I waited about 15 minutes in the stand and decided to get down and check for blood. When I got to where he was standing I found no blood and I started second guessing myself. I was down on my hands and knees when I noticed a skid mark in the grass from my bolt/arrow ....i dug around ...found it ....feathers covered in bright red blood.
I sat by the red oak for another 15 minutes and decided to start looking for blood in the direction he traveled . He ran across our foodplot which is at the crest of a slight hill . The ground had been disked and resowed in late September and if there was blood to be found I should pick the trail up there. As I walked across the food plot I was so focused on finding blood when I finally looked up ......there he was.... a decent racked 10 pt. ....he fell just out of my view from the stand and ground where my recovery began. He only went about 80 yds from the shot.
This deer in no way measures up to the deer Woody killed but I'm very proud of him no less .....my first crossbow buck . The rewarding feeling I have with this deer is similar to my first bow kill years ago . I might add that a problem with my draw arm let me persue the appropriate methods exemptions to use a crossbow and keep me in woods this archery season . I really wish everyone could enjoy the option of using a crossbow during archery season in all states ....instead of having to jump through hoops for a medical permit ...maybe this will happen someday.
For everyones information I was using a Parker crossbow ....Simmons single red dot scope...Super Carbon Magnum bolts and Wasp Hammer SST -125 gr . broadheads . Total arrow/broadhead weight of 425gr. and had a complete pass-through with both lungs punched ....blood apparently was spraying out both sides and he bolted so quick I had gotten off course a little . Blood was about 15 ft from where I was looking . Again....a very rewarding experience .
I'm behind on technology a little and cant post pictures .When I get my film developed I see if someone can scan and post for me . The bucks rack was decent but had some rather unique palemation(sp.) ...very unusual looking to say the least .
I'm slow about doing this but I have posted a pic of my first crossbow buck. I'm new to posting pics and had to have woody help me out... but I'm learning. Picture quality is not that great . All I had with me was a disposable camera .
