Twanger
Well-Known Member
Had a fun hunt Saturday, thought I'd share.
Dragged out of bed at 4am. Ugh.
Morning hunts are great; getting up is not!
Started climbing up the tree at 5:30am. As I was climbing, turned to locate the feeder to make sure the stand was pointed in the right direction. There was a doe standing under it watching me climb. Ghads.
Pull up the Tac15 crossbow, and finally get settled at 5:50. Doe is gone. Snooze a little in the stand.
Shooting light about 6:40. No deer in sight.
At 7:05 suddenly 5 deer walk right by the truck (70 yards away) and down towards the feeder. Three, a big doe and two smaller deer break-off and go stand near the camera - range 22 yards. Two hang out behind the feeder 5 yards from them. No shots.
Safety off and finger off the trigger a waiting game starts. Deer are all facing me and I'm switching back and forth between the two groups, looking for a shot, but really wanting the big doe near the camera.
Finally the deer start peeling off one by one towards the feeder. First the two smaller ones, and then the big one looks in their direction... just a matter of time now... she takes a step, another steps, broadside, wait till she stops, and WHACK the Rocket Steelhead XL broadhead opens with a light crack as it catches her behind the shoulder. She bolts and takes all of the deer with her towards a thicket about 40 yards away and she crashes to the ground as she goes in - like a running back diving for the endzone. Splash one!
None of them exit the thicket. Just a matter of time... maybe there will be another shot!
So I turn away and reload as quietly as possible and turn back to the thicket. Soon deer are popping in and out. Ranging them and trying to get on them is impossible. It's like a frustrating game of whack-a-mole.
Then a doe saunters out, walking directly towards me. The crosshairs go on her and she walks in to 30 yards, 25, 20, 15 and then turns beside a downed tree and behind brush. She stares intently to my right. What? I peek up and see a young fox standing on the end of the tree looking at her. There is a Mexican stand off for a minute or two. Then the doe drops her head a few times, and then stomps her feet at the fox.
Fox thinks the better of it and trots off.
Two more steps and it's another slam-dunk, safety is off, there's one step, and then... what the heck! She suddenly turns straight towards me and starts walking directly to my tree. The crossbow is pointed steeper, and steeper, and steeper until she's 3 yards away and I'm leaning way over. At 4X her head fills almost the entire scope. I ponder putting one through the top of her head, but it's very nimble and moving a lot. I don't feel comfortable with this. She takes two more steps and now is maybe 1.5 yards from the base of the tree, facing the tree trunk. I let the crosshairs settle in the middle of her back and squeeze the trigger. WHACK! She drops forward like a sack of corn and I can see the arrow sticking in the ground at her hocks; and blood is pumping from the hole at the bottom of her chest. She doesn't move a muscle. Wow. Never did that before. I don't know if I was lucky or good, but the result was spectacular.
Later I find that the broadhead went in just beside the spine, down through the arteries at the top of her heart, and before exiting her chest it left a 3-sided "Y" shape in the bottom center of her heart. The arrow stuck 10 inches in the ground and luckily didn't get broken. it's already cleaned off and back in the quiver.
Here's a pic from the stand...
And a picture after climbing down...
And finally, after dragging each one a hundred yards to the driveway.
Dragged out of bed at 4am. Ugh.
Morning hunts are great; getting up is not!
Started climbing up the tree at 5:30am. As I was climbing, turned to locate the feeder to make sure the stand was pointed in the right direction. There was a doe standing under it watching me climb. Ghads.
Pull up the Tac15 crossbow, and finally get settled at 5:50. Doe is gone. Snooze a little in the stand.
Shooting light about 6:40. No deer in sight.
At 7:05 suddenly 5 deer walk right by the truck (70 yards away) and down towards the feeder. Three, a big doe and two smaller deer break-off and go stand near the camera - range 22 yards. Two hang out behind the feeder 5 yards from them. No shots.
Safety off and finger off the trigger a waiting game starts. Deer are all facing me and I'm switching back and forth between the two groups, looking for a shot, but really wanting the big doe near the camera.
Finally the deer start peeling off one by one towards the feeder. First the two smaller ones, and then the big one looks in their direction... just a matter of time now... she takes a step, another steps, broadside, wait till she stops, and WHACK the Rocket Steelhead XL broadhead opens with a light crack as it catches her behind the shoulder. She bolts and takes all of the deer with her towards a thicket about 40 yards away and she crashes to the ground as she goes in - like a running back diving for the endzone. Splash one!
None of them exit the thicket. Just a matter of time... maybe there will be another shot!
So I turn away and reload as quietly as possible and turn back to the thicket. Soon deer are popping in and out. Ranging them and trying to get on them is impossible. It's like a frustrating game of whack-a-mole.
Then a doe saunters out, walking directly towards me. The crosshairs go on her and she walks in to 30 yards, 25, 20, 15 and then turns beside a downed tree and behind brush. She stares intently to my right. What? I peek up and see a young fox standing on the end of the tree looking at her. There is a Mexican stand off for a minute or two. Then the doe drops her head a few times, and then stomps her feet at the fox.
Two more steps and it's another slam-dunk, safety is off, there's one step, and then... what the heck! She suddenly turns straight towards me and starts walking directly to my tree. The crossbow is pointed steeper, and steeper, and steeper until she's 3 yards away and I'm leaning way over. At 4X her head fills almost the entire scope. I ponder putting one through the top of her head, but it's very nimble and moving a lot. I don't feel comfortable with this. She takes two more steps and now is maybe 1.5 yards from the base of the tree, facing the tree trunk. I let the crosshairs settle in the middle of her back and squeeze the trigger. WHACK! She drops forward like a sack of corn and I can see the arrow sticking in the ground at her hocks; and blood is pumping from the hole at the bottom of her chest. She doesn't move a muscle. Wow. Never did that before. I don't know if I was lucky or good, but the result was spectacular.
Here's a pic from the stand...
And a picture after climbing down...
And finally, after dragging each one a hundred yards to the driveway.
