I arrived at the Gus Engling Wildlife Management Area (GEWMA) at 10:00am and set up my tent. I went to orientation at 11:00am, there were 47 hunters. We can shoot any deer, but a buck's rack must be wider than his ears to be legal. They had a mixture of archery and crossbow hunters. Statistically they said crossbows had a 5% higher success rate then bows but it varies from state to state.
At the Hunter Check Station they had a board with all the compartments on it, with two columns - Hunting and Not-Hunting. In the morning we had to move a washer to a nail that said hunting and in the evening we had to move the washer to a nail in the Not-Hunting column. They said it is required because they are responsible for our safety. Which is funny because at orientation we signed a waiver saying they were not responsible for our safety. It is a annoying to have to drive to the station just to move a washer over to the proper column, but I give them the benefit of the doubt. Must get up earlier to do this and still get into position for sunrise.
After hunting one morning and not seeing anything I decided to walk down an unmaintained road and find the border of my compartment. The road went down into a ravine. I looked down towards the bottom and saw a buck. He was grazing, and coming towards me.
It was a windy day and the buck did not see or hear me. He was still coming towards me. I was squatted down and was judging his rack. I could not tell if he was legal or not. He would not cooperate and move his ears out, he kept them back or up. Why couldn't he just be a doe.
Then he presented a 30 yard broadside shot. Head down he was eating. I decided to take the shot and hope for the best. They told us in orientation that if we did shoot an illegal buck not to discard the animal or we could be fined big time. They said bring it in and at worst they would take the animal from us. So, I decided to shoot. I went and looked for my bolt (arrow). I found it. It was a miss, no blood, no hair.
I had mixed feelings. I was sad I missed but glad that I did not have to be the class clown bringing in an illegal buck, if it wasn't big enough. Just give me a doe next time.
At the Hunter Check Station they had a board with all the compartments on it, with two columns - Hunting and Not-Hunting. In the morning we had to move a washer to a nail that said hunting and in the evening we had to move the washer to a nail in the Not-Hunting column. They said it is required because they are responsible for our safety. Which is funny because at orientation we signed a waiver saying they were not responsible for our safety. It is a annoying to have to drive to the station just to move a washer over to the proper column, but I give them the benefit of the doubt. Must get up earlier to do this and still get into position for sunrise.
After hunting one morning and not seeing anything I decided to walk down an unmaintained road and find the border of my compartment. The road went down into a ravine. I looked down towards the bottom and saw a buck. He was grazing, and coming towards me.
It was a windy day and the buck did not see or hear me. He was still coming towards me. I was squatted down and was judging his rack. I could not tell if he was legal or not. He would not cooperate and move his ears out, he kept them back or up. Why couldn't he just be a doe.
Then he presented a 30 yard broadside shot. Head down he was eating. I decided to take the shot and hope for the best. They told us in orientation that if we did shoot an illegal buck not to discard the animal or we could be fined big time. They said bring it in and at worst they would take the animal from us. So, I decided to shoot. I went and looked for my bolt (arrow). I found it. It was a miss, no blood, no hair.
I had mixed feelings. I was sad I missed but glad that I did not have to be the class clown bringing in an illegal buck, if it wasn't big enough. Just give me a doe next time.