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    Most Memorable Trad Kill

    I saw this on Facebook and thought it might be a good idea for this forum! It doesn’t have to be your best buck or biggest animal but simply your most memorable for whatever reason!
    It just so happens that my most memorable is my best archery buck to date! It was a few years ago and I didn’t have a lease, just the same family friend’s property I’d always hunted since 1989. Well in 2015 my best friend had just bought some property by the LBJ Grasslands so that got me interested in hunting that public land near him.
    Between the previous drought and floods and hunting pressure on the family friend’s property it seemed all the animals had disappeared from his property so I decided to really put some effort into hunting the public land by my buddy’s property. I hunting the family friend’s property several times because it was closer to home but more often than not I saw absolutely nothing. I decided to build some brush blinds on the public land and saw a few deer at a distance so I decided to set up a tree stand. The trees in that area weren’t very tall and were really skinny but I found one I thought was in a good spot and set my stand only about 10-12’ high. I sat there a few times only to get busted by some does circling downwind.
    Mid November I went on a family cruise and all I could think about was that it was rut-time and I wasn’t hunting. However it was a pleasant break for me because I had barely seen any deer at all anyway.
    I finally got home from the cruise and had a few days left before going back to work. I decided to do a couple sits even though my expectations were really low due to the poor season I was having. This was the worst deer season I had ever had and didn’t have much confidence in seeing anything. I sat the evening of November 23 and saw a few does and caught a glimpse of a buck crossing at a distance. That was the most action I’d had up until this point of the season so I was fairly excited to get back after them. The next morning I sat an had 3 different spikes walk within 10 yards of me but couldn’t get a shot. Then after a couple bucks came by that weren’t legal I thought to myself “This is by far my best day all season”! However I was not happy about not getting a shot at any of the 3 spikes that were legal. Finally at about 11:00 I heard yet another deer walking up. I didn’t even bother standing up because I assumed it was going to take the same route as all the previous deer and not present a shot. When I looked up all I saw was antlers and got very excited. He walked in on a different path and gave me a perfect broadside shot at around 20 yards. All I remember is watching the arrow sail and hit him in the shoulder. When I found my arrow I had good blood but I waited 2 hours to track him just in case. He was dead within 20 yards of where I shot him and that was BY FAR the most memorable trad kill I’ve ever had!!!


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    #2
    Actually I got my year wrong. I believe this happened in 2014.

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      #3
      Stud of a public land buck! Great write-up. Unfortunately, no trad stories from me.

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        #4
        My most memorable trad. Kill was not a kill at all, it was a miss. I had been practicing for months getting confident enough to actually shoot at an animal. Finally the day came I would try. It was cool and misty, quickly became lightly raining. I sat until around 10 when I decided to get back to camp and dry off. As I was gathering my stuff I saw movement. Instantly noticing it was a buck my heart started pounding out of my chest like it had not done for years. It was an old 6 point, not huge but big enough and old enough. Sitting back down and knocking an arrow the rain picked up to a nearly moderat level. Rain dripping off my camo jungle hat and my feathers flat I could not resist the temptation to take a shot. Suddenly I had forgotten how to draw, where my anchor point was, how to release. Nearly a year of practice and it was just like I had never picked up a bow. I took several minutes to breath and collect myself. I drew back, found my anchor and released. The arrow flew 6 inches over his back and I experienced joy in the woods like I had not for many years. Still my most memorable shot and hunt

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          #5
          I've only got one kill with traditional equipment so it's not hard to narrow down mine! I missed more than I want to recall last year. Luckily all clean misses. I would practice a ton, even out the ground blinds and could punch a target all day long but when the time came I would shoot right over their back every time! Finally one day at full draw on a buck I aimed even lower than I had been and turned it loose! It nailed him right in the armpit and he snapped the arrow in half when he jumped and took off with blood pouring out! He made it about 60yds. Made me forget about all those misses! Pics my avitar! I guess it will be up there till the Bama game anyhow!

          Slew

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            #6
            I actually remember a lot of my trad kills. I guess primarily because I have only been trad hunting about 3 1/2 years. During that time, I've killed over a dozen medium/big game animals and about 3 dozen small game animals. But the one that is the most memorable and the one I probably reference the most was my first whitetail with a bow.



            Long story short... first season with my widow. Had hunted a few days... had already shot a doe in the backstrap (buddy killed her later in the year)... it was raining... actually it was storming... and it was opening day of gun and I still chose my bow (even though I had brought my rifle with me on the trip.)

            I still remember images from that sit even 3 years later. I remember most that I chose to be a trad hunter that day and was rewarded for it. I have never really ever looked back.

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              #7
              My most memorable trad kill was my first, in 2011. Throughout that season I had 8-10 deer standing broadside at compound range, but outside my self-imposed maximum of 12 yards. My first couple of attempts with a trad bow were clean misses. I blew a few more shot opportunities while clumsily learning to maneuver a bow that was almost twice as long as the wheel bow I was used to. Deer season ended with no tags used. A couple of months later I was hunting a friend’s property when a group of pigs came rumbling in to the feeder. One was a sow with an unusual color scheme, almost like a calico cat. I waited until she got broadside at 12 yards and took my shot. It was so thrilling to finally get it done over a year after buying my first trad bow. It is the pig in my avatar.

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                #8
                John, to this day, that pig is one of, if not THE, coolest looking pigs I have ever seen!!!!

                Bisch


                Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

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                  #9
                  Originally posted by Featherflinger View Post
                  I saw this on Facebook and thought it might be a good idea for this forum! It doesn’t have to be your best buck or biggest animal but simply your most memorable for whatever reason!
                  It just so happens that my most memorable is my best archery buck to date! It was a few years ago and I didn’t have a lease, just the same family friend’s property I’d always hunted since 1989. Well in 2015 my best friend had just bought some property by the LBJ Grasslands so that got me interested in hunting that public land near him.
                  Between the previous drought and floods and hunting pressure on the family friend’s property it seemed all the animals had disappeared from his property so I decided to really put some effort into hunting the public land by my buddy’s property. I hunting the family friend’s property several times because it was closer to home but more often than not I saw absolutely nothing. I decided to build some brush blinds on the public land and saw a few deer at a distance so I decided to set up a tree stand. The trees in that area weren’t very tall and were really skinny but I found one I thought was in a good spot and set my stand only about 10-12’ high. I sat there a few times only to get busted by some does circling downwind.
                  Mid November I went on a family cruise and all I could think about was that it was rut-time and I wasn’t hunting. However it was a pleasant break for me because I had barely seen any deer at all anyway.
                  I finally got home from the cruise and had a few days left before going back to work. I decided to do a couple sits even though my expectations were really low due to the poor season I was having. This was the worst deer season I had ever had and didn’t have much confidence in seeing anything. I sat the evening of November 23 and saw a few does and caught a glimpse of a buck crossing at a distance. That was the most action I’d had up until this point of the season so I was fairly excited to get back after them. The next morning I sat an had 3 different spikes walk within 10 yards of me but couldn’t get a shot. Then after a couple bucks came by that weren’t legal I thought to myself “This is by far my best day all season”! However I was not happy about not getting a shot at any of the 3 spikes that were legal. Finally at about 11:00 I heard yet another deer walking up. I didn’t even bother standing up because I assumed it was going to take the same route as all the previous deer and not present a shot. When I looked up all I saw was antlers and got very excited. He walked in on a different path and gave me a perfect broadside shot at around 20 yards. All I remember is watching the arrow sail and hit him in the shoulder. When I found my arrow I had good blood but I waited 2 hours to track him just in case. He was dead within 20 yards of where I shot him and that was BY FAR the most memorable trad kill I’ve ever had!!!


                  Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
                  That is a great buck and one heck of a way to get it done.

                  Gary

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                    #10
                    That is a great buck and an even better lesson in perseverance! Way to go!

                    Comment


                      #11
                      My first deer in 1961 with a Ben Pearson ( fiberglass no less ) bow. Still have it.

                      Sent from my LG-M150 using Tapatalk

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                        #12
                        I got a few that I'll never forget. But this one beats them all.
                        I still sometimes get chills by remembering the feeling.
                        When I was going to Africa, my oldest son Manuel, who was 5 back then, cried for days when he knew it was almost time for me to go.
                        I had never been away from my family for a long time and at the same time he has a passion for hunting, too. I wont lie, I choked many times.

                        One day as I gathered my stuff. I asked him which animal he would like the most. After going over a few. He wanted one of the bigger ones. He said he'd like me to get a Gemsbok. I told him to put his name on one of my arrows and I would bring him back a gemsbok shot with his arrow.

                        Time came around and two days before the hunt was over, I managed to get a gemsbok. I can still remember the release of the shot, the impact, the blood, and the feeling after recovering it within a few yards.

                        That one is going to be a hard one to beat.
                        Attached Files

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                          #13
                          Man this is a tough one. All of my trad kills really hold a special place in my memory... I’ve started, with one and stopped, then went with another and backed out to start again this go around....

                          This was the last animal I released an arrow towards and the hunt was actually just a bonus to a dream hunt. With all the hype and preparation for my buffalo hunt, I’d honestly thought little, if any, about any other animal in the months leading up to my hunt beside cape buffalo. A few weeks out when I got a message that a big bushpig was on bait, I still gave it little thought knowing it was a bushpig and how they act. Even up until the wee hours of the night when the hunt truly unfolded in the darkness, my bushpig hunt really didn’t have a lot of meaning behind it (other than countless hours spent in the dark with my mind playing tricks on me) until I realized what an unbelievably smart and ghost of an animal they truly are. The amount of emotion and ups and downs that dang pig put me through over the duration of the hunt is unexplainable and could maybe only be touched by my first deer I ever killed as a kid. Having an animal you want sooooo badly, right there in easy, open shooting distance but being able to do absolutely zero and having no control of the situation whatsoever because of the complete darkness surrounding him was about the most gut wrenching experience I’ve ever had. Once he came in, it felt like that dang pig had me in a torcher chamber for over an hour that he was there just teasing me with a ghost like view here and there. To finally get the chance to send an arrow at him and it be absolutely perfect was a feeling I don’t think could be replicated, even if I ever got a chance to shoot another bushpig.






                          I know some think I’m crazy in saying this, but I was happier that I was able to get that pig not for myself, but for my buddy Lammie and his crew who had put so much time, energy, and effort into this pig and knowing how they can be here every day for months, then gone in a flash never to be seen again if something goes wrong. The excitement on both ends was truly an awesome moment and an amazing experience that will be hard to top.

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                            #14
                            My most memorable trad hunt was in the Spring of 2006. What made it exceptionally memorable was that my son was hunting with me. He had just come home from his first tour in Iraq and 4ID had experienced a rough go of it. I was thrilled that he and I were both able to take bears with our recurves but more thrilled to have him home.

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                              #15
                              Originally posted by Ronnie View Post
                              My first deer in 1961 with a Ben Pearson ( fiberglass no less ) bow. Still have it.

                              Sent from my LG-M150 using Tapatalk


                              Dang, you’re old!!!! I was born in 1961!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣

                              Bisch


                              Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

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