This journey started sometime earlier this year, when I began shooting a recurve, set a goal to kill a whitetail with it this season, and Clent (Farfromhome) told me that he wanted me to get it done at his and Judy’s ranch near Rock Springs, Whodathunkit. They had taken me on several “warm up” trips, in hopes that an aoudad would show up, but the only thing that ever cooperated was a hog. Last Friday found me in the passenger seat of Clent’s truck, dreaming of whitetail and aoudad once again.
We arrived at the ranch right before dark, in time to unload a round bale at the stand that Judy would be hunting. After we unloaded my gear (they have all their stuff there so it really seemed like I over packed when they only had one or two small bags), we got everything ready for Saturday morning’s hunt and then kicked back for a few cocktails. The stars in the clear hill country sky are so much nicer than the few stars we have in Richmond! At 12:30 and after half a bottle of Tito’s, we knew we had to turn in or we’d never make the morning hunt.
The 5:30 wake up call to the guest suite came way too soon and I scrambled to get to the barn and into my hunting clothes. I’d be hunting the stand they call Fugly, coined in honor of Wildman’s marvelous fabrication skills! Since I’m not totally confident with my recurve yet, I was packing it and my compound just in case the aoudad showed up. Clent is about two thirds monkey and when he says there’s plenty of room in this tree for all my stuff, I should have second guessed him. It took me about ten minutes to get up there and get settled in. The recurve that was strapped to my backpack got caught on every protruding limb between the ground and my perch twelve feet up this oak tree. I finally found a place to hang one of the two bows and stuffed my pack under my feet. As per my normal routine, I turn in the chair with my bow up to get a feel for the shooting lanes to make sure there won’t be any obstructions when it’s go time. Anything right of off center is going to be a little tough, but I think I can pull it off.
Just as I get everything situated, I see a dark figure eating my hand corn. It’s still too dark to tell what it is so I have to sit and wait. Situations like these seem to put the sunrise in low gear! Finally, the sun begins to illuminate my surroundings and the whitetail that had been feeding for fifteen minutes was joined by a handful of others. Deer are plentiful on this place so I wasn’t in a rush to pick up the recurve; I still had two hunts to go this weekend. After a short while, one doe started showing some attitude. She would slap the younger deer and for the most part was just being a pain in the butt. I decided at that point that if I could get the bows switched out and get a clear shot under 20 yards, this would be the first whitetail that I would sling a trad arrow at.
Ten minutes later, at about 7:10, the stars were aligned and my new tackle was in place. The doe had made several trips around the feeder and was head on at about 18 yards. I had plenty of time to get my nerves and breathing under control when she finally offered me the broadside shot I was hoping for. I drew the Tolke and for the first time I think my instinctive gears kicked in. In all my trad practice, I’d been gap shooting but today I couldn’t see the tip of my arrow, only the intended target … and on that target, only her shoulder. As soon as I was at full draw, the arrow was somehow on its way. I didn’t hear a thwack or the arrow hitting rocks, but the deer scattered. I watched the doe trot down hill about twenty yards and stop in a small mott of brush. Then she just stood there. I know I’m not the best shot with this recurve, but I was in total disbelief that I missed her completely. I looked back to where she was standing and my arrow was laying almost exactly where she was standing. Was I that low that I shot right under her into the rocks? I looked back at where she was standing, then back to the arrow, then back to her. This is about 15 seconds after the shot. Hold on … she’s swaying side to side! She’s going to fall right where she’s standing!!!! Then she goes down without a single kick! The last 30 seconds are probably the most exciting of my entire bow hunting career!
I sit for another hour and a half (which seemed like 20 minutes) before Clent and Judy show up from their hunts. I start handing my stuff down to Clent and he notices an arrow missing from my quiver just about the time Judy finds the bloody arrow right past the feeder and is on the verge of yelling “look at all this blood … what did you shoot?” Clent was laughing, Judy was following an incredible blood trail and I was smiling like a possum eating ****! It didn’t take Judy but a few seconds to find the end of the blood trail, even before Clent had got me out of the tree. Then Clent realized that I’d done it with my recurve which was the main purpose of this trip (for me). The feeling of excitement was indescribable. I don’t know who was happier, me or Clent!
We hadn’t moved the deer or the arrow yet and Judy asked if I minded if we went and got Cooter and let her trail this deer since she hadn’t had any practice in a while. We loaded up my stuff on the buggy and headed back to the house to get Cooter. When she saw the tracking lead, in the barn, she just about went nuts! We took her back, Judy put the lead on her and started her on the trail. The deer is laying at the end of the red arrow.
If you’ve never seen a dog like this work, you need to. Even though we knew where the deer was, it was so cool to watch Cooter take up the trail and find the deer.
I think she was as excited as the rest of us when she found her prize.
Since you’ve read all this … here’s the end result!
The shot wasn’t where I wanted it. I missed the heart and lungs completely and got a perfect shot on the liver. I don’t know if she knew if she was even hit, she sure didn’t act like it. Regardless of the not so perfect shot, she’s still died quick and fell in sight … an awesome feeling for my first trad whitetail!
Thanks again Clent and Judy for inviting me and sharing your piece of paradise.
Today, I’m getting out my bucket list and crossing off “kill a whitetail with traditional tackle”!
One last picture. Judy was snapping away and got some pretty cool LDPs. I wasn't even looking toward the camera when she snapped this one, but for some reason I really like it.
We arrived at the ranch right before dark, in time to unload a round bale at the stand that Judy would be hunting. After we unloaded my gear (they have all their stuff there so it really seemed like I over packed when they only had one or two small bags), we got everything ready for Saturday morning’s hunt and then kicked back for a few cocktails. The stars in the clear hill country sky are so much nicer than the few stars we have in Richmond! At 12:30 and after half a bottle of Tito’s, we knew we had to turn in or we’d never make the morning hunt.
The 5:30 wake up call to the guest suite came way too soon and I scrambled to get to the barn and into my hunting clothes. I’d be hunting the stand they call Fugly, coined in honor of Wildman’s marvelous fabrication skills! Since I’m not totally confident with my recurve yet, I was packing it and my compound just in case the aoudad showed up. Clent is about two thirds monkey and when he says there’s plenty of room in this tree for all my stuff, I should have second guessed him. It took me about ten minutes to get up there and get settled in. The recurve that was strapped to my backpack got caught on every protruding limb between the ground and my perch twelve feet up this oak tree. I finally found a place to hang one of the two bows and stuffed my pack under my feet. As per my normal routine, I turn in the chair with my bow up to get a feel for the shooting lanes to make sure there won’t be any obstructions when it’s go time. Anything right of off center is going to be a little tough, but I think I can pull it off.
Just as I get everything situated, I see a dark figure eating my hand corn. It’s still too dark to tell what it is so I have to sit and wait. Situations like these seem to put the sunrise in low gear! Finally, the sun begins to illuminate my surroundings and the whitetail that had been feeding for fifteen minutes was joined by a handful of others. Deer are plentiful on this place so I wasn’t in a rush to pick up the recurve; I still had two hunts to go this weekend. After a short while, one doe started showing some attitude. She would slap the younger deer and for the most part was just being a pain in the butt. I decided at that point that if I could get the bows switched out and get a clear shot under 20 yards, this would be the first whitetail that I would sling a trad arrow at.
Ten minutes later, at about 7:10, the stars were aligned and my new tackle was in place. The doe had made several trips around the feeder and was head on at about 18 yards. I had plenty of time to get my nerves and breathing under control when she finally offered me the broadside shot I was hoping for. I drew the Tolke and for the first time I think my instinctive gears kicked in. In all my trad practice, I’d been gap shooting but today I couldn’t see the tip of my arrow, only the intended target … and on that target, only her shoulder. As soon as I was at full draw, the arrow was somehow on its way. I didn’t hear a thwack or the arrow hitting rocks, but the deer scattered. I watched the doe trot down hill about twenty yards and stop in a small mott of brush. Then she just stood there. I know I’m not the best shot with this recurve, but I was in total disbelief that I missed her completely. I looked back to where she was standing and my arrow was laying almost exactly where she was standing. Was I that low that I shot right under her into the rocks? I looked back at where she was standing, then back to the arrow, then back to her. This is about 15 seconds after the shot. Hold on … she’s swaying side to side! She’s going to fall right where she’s standing!!!! Then she goes down without a single kick! The last 30 seconds are probably the most exciting of my entire bow hunting career!
I sit for another hour and a half (which seemed like 20 minutes) before Clent and Judy show up from their hunts. I start handing my stuff down to Clent and he notices an arrow missing from my quiver just about the time Judy finds the bloody arrow right past the feeder and is on the verge of yelling “look at all this blood … what did you shoot?” Clent was laughing, Judy was following an incredible blood trail and I was smiling like a possum eating ****! It didn’t take Judy but a few seconds to find the end of the blood trail, even before Clent had got me out of the tree. Then Clent realized that I’d done it with my recurve which was the main purpose of this trip (for me). The feeling of excitement was indescribable. I don’t know who was happier, me or Clent!
We hadn’t moved the deer or the arrow yet and Judy asked if I minded if we went and got Cooter and let her trail this deer since she hadn’t had any practice in a while. We loaded up my stuff on the buggy and headed back to the house to get Cooter. When she saw the tracking lead, in the barn, she just about went nuts! We took her back, Judy put the lead on her and started her on the trail. The deer is laying at the end of the red arrow.
If you’ve never seen a dog like this work, you need to. Even though we knew where the deer was, it was so cool to watch Cooter take up the trail and find the deer.
I think she was as excited as the rest of us when she found her prize.
Since you’ve read all this … here’s the end result!
The shot wasn’t where I wanted it. I missed the heart and lungs completely and got a perfect shot on the liver. I don’t know if she knew if she was even hit, she sure didn’t act like it. Regardless of the not so perfect shot, she’s still died quick and fell in sight … an awesome feeling for my first trad whitetail!
Thanks again Clent and Judy for inviting me and sharing your piece of paradise.
Today, I’m getting out my bucket list and crossing off “kill a whitetail with traditional tackle”!
One last picture. Judy was snapping away and got some pretty cool LDPs. I wasn't even looking toward the camera when she snapped this one, but for some reason I really like it.
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