Long read folks, so buckle up.
So, I've been pretty depressed lately, since I hadn't drawn blood all season....not even a dove! Today was my third deer hunt of the season, went to a friend's place in Cedar Park. We got there a little on the late side this morning because a couple of the guys overslept. We got to the ranch at about 0630 and rushed to our stands. I climbed into the ladder on the south side of the feeder, wind in my face (27*F by the way) and I was ready to kill. I sat in that stand for 3 hours, freezing and the feeder never went off! At about 1000, I decided nothing was going to happen so I climbed down and checked the feeder to find that it was jammed up and there was no corn on the plate. I gave it a shake, corn fell and the plate spun freely. Oh well, stuff happens. I then made the hike back to the house...the other 3 guys were also skunked. That made me feel a little better that I wasn't doing something wrong, but worried me that all four of us got skunked and the 5 people that were at the ranch the day before also had been skunked.
I was the only one who came back for the evening hunt, got to the ranch at 1430 and made my way to a hang on stand about 20 yards from a hanging feeder. As I approached, it occured to me that this stand was a left handed stand..."well, I'll make it work, I aint scared". Climb up and settle in at 1500, get everything ready and wait. Feeder goes off at 1520! First thought to run through my head was, here we go, showtime! Then it occured to me that the deer may have been nearby waiting for it to go off, saw me walk in and ran off, never to return. Well, I sat there until about 1745 without seeing or hearing any sign of life other than songbirds, but I was bound and determined to kill something, especially since my better half told me that if I came home again without meat for the freezer, I would have to sleep on the couch!
About 1750, from nowhere, two does appeared and milled around. I wasn't near ready, bow hanging on a limb, I'm sitting down...what to do? I waited until they turned away and slowly stood up, but my jacket brushed the tree and made noise...BOOM four eyes staring straight at me! I froze, knees bent almost 90 degrees for what seemed like an hour. Finally they decided that I wasn't a threat and went back to eating. This game of me trying to get ready and them catching me went on for about 5 minutes but I got there. I knew I was going to take the bigger one, but she wasn't cooperating. She went to the feeder, then came back in to my right, in a spot that I just couldn't get to full draw. Finally she came back across in front of me at about 10 yards, the started walking away from me, on a mission, but not running. She was in a lane that I could barely get the pins on her. I came to full draw, aimed and said, "Maaaak". She stopped and turned broadside and I let loose, right behind the shoulder....WRONG. As soon as I released I knew it was bad...I saw that luminok sailing too high, she ducked and turned and SMACK, FLOP! Unfortunately, I misjudged the range at 25yds when she was closer to 15-20, then with her duck/spin, I hit her neck!
Luckily it hit her spine and she dropped in her tracks, then flopped around until I could nock another arrow and finish her. The second arrow went right where I wanted, heart and both lungs and she was done.
I know you guys say if there's no pic, it didn't happen, so here it is:
So, I've been pretty depressed lately, since I hadn't drawn blood all season....not even a dove! Today was my third deer hunt of the season, went to a friend's place in Cedar Park. We got there a little on the late side this morning because a couple of the guys overslept. We got to the ranch at about 0630 and rushed to our stands. I climbed into the ladder on the south side of the feeder, wind in my face (27*F by the way) and I was ready to kill. I sat in that stand for 3 hours, freezing and the feeder never went off! At about 1000, I decided nothing was going to happen so I climbed down and checked the feeder to find that it was jammed up and there was no corn on the plate. I gave it a shake, corn fell and the plate spun freely. Oh well, stuff happens. I then made the hike back to the house...the other 3 guys were also skunked. That made me feel a little better that I wasn't doing something wrong, but worried me that all four of us got skunked and the 5 people that were at the ranch the day before also had been skunked.
I was the only one who came back for the evening hunt, got to the ranch at 1430 and made my way to a hang on stand about 20 yards from a hanging feeder. As I approached, it occured to me that this stand was a left handed stand..."well, I'll make it work, I aint scared". Climb up and settle in at 1500, get everything ready and wait. Feeder goes off at 1520! First thought to run through my head was, here we go, showtime! Then it occured to me that the deer may have been nearby waiting for it to go off, saw me walk in and ran off, never to return. Well, I sat there until about 1745 without seeing or hearing any sign of life other than songbirds, but I was bound and determined to kill something, especially since my better half told me that if I came home again without meat for the freezer, I would have to sleep on the couch!
About 1750, from nowhere, two does appeared and milled around. I wasn't near ready, bow hanging on a limb, I'm sitting down...what to do? I waited until they turned away and slowly stood up, but my jacket brushed the tree and made noise...BOOM four eyes staring straight at me! I froze, knees bent almost 90 degrees for what seemed like an hour. Finally they decided that I wasn't a threat and went back to eating. This game of me trying to get ready and them catching me went on for about 5 minutes but I got there. I knew I was going to take the bigger one, but she wasn't cooperating. She went to the feeder, then came back in to my right, in a spot that I just couldn't get to full draw. Finally she came back across in front of me at about 10 yards, the started walking away from me, on a mission, but not running. She was in a lane that I could barely get the pins on her. I came to full draw, aimed and said, "Maaaak". She stopped and turned broadside and I let loose, right behind the shoulder....WRONG. As soon as I released I knew it was bad...I saw that luminok sailing too high, she ducked and turned and SMACK, FLOP! Unfortunately, I misjudged the range at 25yds when she was closer to 15-20, then with her duck/spin, I hit her neck!
Luckily it hit her spine and she dropped in her tracks, then flopped around until I could nock another arrow and finish her. The second arrow went right where I wanted, heart and both lungs and she was done.I know you guys say if there's no pic, it didn't happen, so here it is:
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