Result of First Trad Shot at Large Game

[Grand Passage]

Saw this topic/question posed somewhere else and thought it would be interesting to discuss.

My first release resulted in a high arrow that barely nicked the backstrap of a spike.

I'm 3 for 5 overall, with two seasons of dedicated Traditional under my belt. All 3 kills have gone down within 20 yards of the shot. The other 2 were hit, and both survived for at least another hunting season as verified by trail cam pics.


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[SwampRabbit]

My first shot on a large game with a trad bow was a shot that hit the neck of a hog. A very good buddy of mine told me hogs didn't have a neck... but my arrow found it. That hog sprayed blood for a good distance.

I am something for something on medium-large game. I have lost count of both the wins and losses. I think I just finished my 4th season shooting trad and 3.5 years of hunting with one. While I've had my ups and downs, I have only really had one bad stretch and that was this past WT season.

[CRM_95]

My first "big" animal was a fallow doe at Big Oak. Not a great shot but not horrible either. She went about 30 yards and layed down and I was able to shoot her again and finish her off.

[jerp]

My first shot an an animal with a trad bow ended with a "Thwack" - but not the kind I was hoping for. I was hunting from a blind I built during my compound days. It didn't have sufficient headroom for a 62" longbow so I practiced canting at about 2:00 for clearance. A nice doe came in, settled down and stood broadside at 12 yards. Brain fog set in - and you guessed it - I forgot to cant the bow. Upon release my top limb smacked the ceiling and the arrow kinda flopped out the window and landed on the ground between the deer's legs. My first trad kill was from that same stand the next weekend - the pig in my avatar.

[Phillip Fields]

As near as I can recall, it was 1996. I was in a free overlooking a field at my father-in-law's farm in NC, shooting a longbow built for me by a friend. A doe walked out and I shot just over her back. Lots of critters fallen to my longbow since then.

[Bisch]

I had just started shooting trad bows and was on a group hunt. I had my compound to hunt with, but took my trad bow to paly with while we were around camp. We were practicing, and the other guys kept telling me I was good enough to go kill a pig with my trad bow. I may have shot well enough to get it done up close, but in my mind I knew that I was not ready yet, and when a guy lacks confidence, he is not likely to be real successful with trad gear. I let them talk me into it. I went out and made a bad shot, and wounded and lost the pig. Although that really sucked rotten eggs, it gave me the drive to really get better and I never looked back!!!

Bisch

[tex4k]

My first shot was cool/not cool at the same time, spike buck was eating corn and seemed oblivious, as soon as I released the arrow he turned into the matrix deer, dropped low enough for the snuffer broad head to shave a broad head wide patch of hair off his back. I walked out there and collected ever bit of hair I could pick up and carried my trophy back to camp in my shirt pocket. I have since learned them matrix deer are not uncommon at all.

[DRT]

Clean miss.

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[RS3]

Gut shot a doe

[Hunter Todd]

My first shot at a deer was from a brush blind. The spike was broadside at 10 yards and completely unaware of me. My heartrate was at a dangerous level and I barely cut hair on his back. (I did'nt pick a spot. Heck, I barely picked the deer) He trotted 10 yards then walked off. Very insulting of him to do that.

[SwampRabbit]

In hindsight, I am glad my first shot on a critter with a trad bow was NOT a whitetailed deer.

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[Featherflinger]

My first ever was on a small doe. I bought a Bear Grizzly in the springtime of 09 and decided I had played/practiced enough to hunt with it by November. I had no idea at the time but I had no business hunting yet with my untuned Walmart arrows. I was hunting the corps land at Lake Whitney and just sat in the brush by a trail. A spike chased the little doe right by me and she stopped around 20 yards perfectly broadside and I let it fly! I heard it hit but didn’t see it because I was so excited I probably closed my eyes. Had a great blood trail and tracked her about 50 yards to realize I shot her in the throat. I only missed my spot by like 2 feet but it worked out. I put in a lot more practice after that and didn’t even try to kill another animal for about a year afterwards.

[KenWood]

Somehow I managed a perfect shot on a thirty pound porker at eighteen yards. Twenty yard track job. Stinger hole right through the center of the heart. I’m here to tell you, I had zero business in the woods with that bow at that time! Most times now I wouldn’t take that shot even though I’m perfectly capable of making it. I’ve since learned trad bow hunting ain’t a game of how far you can shoot, it’s how close you can get.

[spidermonkey]

My first was a doe I shot over in Oct of ‘08. Like a lot have already mentioned, I prob was not “quite ready” to be going after critters yet with my LB. Had actually been huntin with just traditional since the start of the ‘07 season, so it took a little while to get that first shot... and then I flubbed it. Bout the only plus out of that experience, was I didn’t wound her. But, I also knew it was all MY FAULT! I didn’t pick a spot, heck, I don’t even know if I shot at the deer! I found out in the ‘09 season, that if I did MY PART, my equipment won’t fail me! Killed a boar javelina, a doe, and several hogs that year, and ain’t looked back! Still have my moments that I’ll stink it up, but have managed to kill a few critters along the way. Good Huntin, and God Bless, Rusty

[Briar Friar]

Im blessed to be 2 (shots) for 2 (kills) on my first med/large game (deer)...nevermind the first one was illegal.