Well after being a member of this great website for going on 6 years I can finally call myself a true bow hunter today.I first came across this site while going to college at SHSU and looking for information about hunting the Sam Houston national forest. What started with looking for information on hunting the Sam turned into a pretty much every day addiction on following and learning about hunting.
I have been a rifle hunter all of my life and literally nobody in my family bowhunts. While going to school at Sam Houston I bought a crossbow with hopes of being able to deer hunt a month early. I got on my first ever deer lease right outside of Huntsville and shot a doe that year and really enjoyed the challenge of getting close. East Texas hunting taught me a lot and I killed my deer over handcorn on a trail. This was back in 2012.
After college I got on a hill country lease and kept saying I was gonna buy a compound bow but never did. I again took the crossbow out and shot another doe on my new lease in Llano. It wasn’t until a few more years I’d finally commit to the compound bow.
Fast forward to this year. This year I bought a Hoyt power max and began practicing a lot. I really enjoyed shooting my bow and felt very confident out to 30 yds.
After several months of practice, I decided to go hunting and test my skills this weekend. I arrived at the lease Sunday morning by 630am to sit in the stand to only be swarmed by mosquitoes. I did not see a single animal. I’m sure it didn’t help that the feeder battery was dead.
Now on to the evening hunt. I chose a different stand that always has a good number of animals show up. After checking cards I had multiple deer, hogs and turkey showing up regularly. After getting set up I had multiple deer show up and was having a blast. To be honest I only wanted to shoot a doe this trip unless I saw a buck bigger than I have on my wall. I wound up seeing 6 bucks total and was gonna shoot a small spike but it spooked as I kicked the thermacel that was underneath my feet on my tripod. At this point it was nearly dark when a big hog showed up and I was able to take a shot. The shot looked good and I saw the hog run off with my arrow burrried deep. I was so excited and felt accomplished that I successfully hit my first animal with a bow. Long story short I trailed the blood of that hog and got several hundred yards trailing and ended up empty in my recovery. I was kinda disappointed as I trailed the blood for almost two hours through the darkness and the blood trail just stopped.
Now for today’s story. I woke up early this morning and hunted the same stand as I hunted the night previous. With the rains coming near I told myself I was gonna shoot the first doe or spike that showed up. Right at first light a young 10pt came to the feeder accompanied by a young 8pt. Then after about 20 mins a small 3pt came down the same trail the previous two deer came in.
I grabbed my binoculars to make sure that it was definitely an unbranched anterlered buck and after studying him I knew he was a buck I could take if I wanted too.
After the young 3pt milled around eating corn for at least 10–15 mins he finally presented a quartering away shot at 15 yards. I drew back my bow and let the Rage extreme broadhead do it’s job. I watched him run away with my arrow and go about 50 yards. I saw him do the death wobble and crash in some bushes just down the hill from my stand. I was so excited and felt very accomplished. I quickly got on the blood trail and located my first real bowkill.
Thanks for reading and I look forward to many more hunts with my bow. Here’s a few pics from the hunt.
I have been a rifle hunter all of my life and literally nobody in my family bowhunts. While going to school at Sam Houston I bought a crossbow with hopes of being able to deer hunt a month early. I got on my first ever deer lease right outside of Huntsville and shot a doe that year and really enjoyed the challenge of getting close. East Texas hunting taught me a lot and I killed my deer over handcorn on a trail. This was back in 2012.
After college I got on a hill country lease and kept saying I was gonna buy a compound bow but never did. I again took the crossbow out and shot another doe on my new lease in Llano. It wasn’t until a few more years I’d finally commit to the compound bow.
Fast forward to this year. This year I bought a Hoyt power max and began practicing a lot. I really enjoyed shooting my bow and felt very confident out to 30 yds.
After several months of practice, I decided to go hunting and test my skills this weekend. I arrived at the lease Sunday morning by 630am to sit in the stand to only be swarmed by mosquitoes. I did not see a single animal. I’m sure it didn’t help that the feeder battery was dead.
Now on to the evening hunt. I chose a different stand that always has a good number of animals show up. After checking cards I had multiple deer, hogs and turkey showing up regularly. After getting set up I had multiple deer show up and was having a blast. To be honest I only wanted to shoot a doe this trip unless I saw a buck bigger than I have on my wall. I wound up seeing 6 bucks total and was gonna shoot a small spike but it spooked as I kicked the thermacel that was underneath my feet on my tripod. At this point it was nearly dark when a big hog showed up and I was able to take a shot. The shot looked good and I saw the hog run off with my arrow burrried deep. I was so excited and felt accomplished that I successfully hit my first animal with a bow. Long story short I trailed the blood of that hog and got several hundred yards trailing and ended up empty in my recovery. I was kinda disappointed as I trailed the blood for almost two hours through the darkness and the blood trail just stopped.
Now for today’s story. I woke up early this morning and hunted the same stand as I hunted the night previous. With the rains coming near I told myself I was gonna shoot the first doe or spike that showed up. Right at first light a young 10pt came to the feeder accompanied by a young 8pt. Then after about 20 mins a small 3pt came down the same trail the previous two deer came in.
I grabbed my binoculars to make sure that it was definitely an unbranched anterlered buck and after studying him I knew he was a buck I could take if I wanted too.
After the young 3pt milled around eating corn for at least 10–15 mins he finally presented a quartering away shot at 15 yards. I drew back my bow and let the Rage extreme broadhead do it’s job. I watched him run away with my arrow and go about 50 yards. I saw him do the death wobble and crash in some bushes just down the hill from my stand. I was so excited and felt very accomplished. I quickly got on the blood trail and located my first real bowkill.
Thanks for reading and I look forward to many more hunts with my bow. Here’s a few pics from the hunt.
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