Tacklebuster
Well-Known Member
It was my first time taking big game with a bow.
By far, the majority of my deer hunting success came on private property, from a tree stand, during rifle season on Manitoulin Island.
I can't overstate how much more difficult it is to hunt on the ground, with a bow, on public land.
This year's hunt started at the end of last year's.
We didn't get a deer last year, or the year prior, and only saw one. So I started to analyze every micro detail to figure out what could be improved and concluded that there was room for improvement just about everywhere.
This year started much better because we saw plenty of deer, but only had a buck tag. I must have had at least 10+ deer come to within 15' of me. Got blown off several times, and other times they didn't notice me at all. I must have had the same yearling within 10' of my blind at least four times.
The spot where I hunt is quite dense with brush and saplings and larger trees. I had to cut several shooting lanes, but of course, I didn't get so lucky to see the buck in one of them.
On Friday, I got to my spot by 615am. I walked in without using my headlamp because two previous times I pushed two does and possibly a buck.
It went perfectly, there was just enough moonlight for me to see. I got to my blind and all was quiet for the first 10 minutes, when for no apparent reason, presumably a doe started sounding the alarm. It was quite annoying, to say the least. But, based on previous times I've seen deer appear within 15-30 minutes of an alarmed doe. I continued to just sit quietly, and sure enough, it wasn't 15 minutes and a buck grunted. It was still before shooting hour so I continued staying as quiet and as still as possible.
Sunrise was at 755 am, so at 710 I started to make a few soft doe bleets, and by 730 included some lite rattling sequences.
I could hear turkeys and was thinking they could have shown up a week ago.
I just kept up with my calling and rattling sequence but nothing budged, not even the fawn that I had seen several times already. Then much to my dismay, by 9am I could hear the neighboring farmer start up is tractor to cut the remainder of his corn crop, and to top it off, a contractor started their logging operations. It was crazy and made me think it was hopeless. By 10am, with nothing moving at all, I decided to go change the batteries in my trail cam and head home to take care of my laundry list of todo's. When I turned the camera back on, it started an auto-update, which seemed to take forever and added to my impatience. As I was waiting, I turned around and saw this buck walking in my general direction. He was walking with a purpose, had his nose to the ground, but didn't see me about 40 yards away. It probably wasn't the best instinctive reaction, but I immediately sat my butt on the ground and got very lucky it didn't notice my movement. The problem was, I could no longer see him because of all the brush and stuff, and at ground level it was even worse. I waited a few moments, what seemed like an eternity, and no sight or sound of him. I've never been in a position to try it, but it works on YouTube, so I snort wheezed. To my astonishment, I could see him zig-zagging back toward me. The next problem was that I had no shooting lane at all, 15' in front of me was all brush, branches and trees. I tracked him in my scope, and found a very small gap that couldn't have been more than 3 inches and hoped he would walk into that hole in the brush. Fortunately, for me, he did walk into that spot and I immediately fired the bolt. Except for targets, I never shot anything with my crossbow. I heard the bow, and then a slap, and he took off. I thought I must have hit him, but I could have hit a tree, I really wasn't 100% sure. Then I couldn't stop shaking, for 10 minutes I just sat there and replayed everything. I took a pic from my exact position because I knew how much your perspective can change by simply standing up. He ran up a hill that had multiple small knolls and disappeared without a sound. After about 15 minutes, I figured I could look for signs of blood and find my bolt without causing him to run further. Concerns set in very quickly, I couldn't find anything. I waited another 10 minutes and crept up to the top of the knoll where I thought he ran and stood there because I could overlook the area. I quickly saw his antlers, about 40 yards from me, then watched as he tried to stand up, but he couldn't. Then I felt like there was a good chance I got him. But, I was still a bit concerned because I saw no blood, and wondered if I only got him in the shoulder. I watched him a bit longer, and he seemed to relax and just look around. Then I realized that I didn't bring a second bolt with me because my quiver was in my blind and I didn't bring it with me when I went to change the camera batteries. I didn't want to go back to my blind but I was quite sure he wasn't going to get up. So, I went back, grabbed my quiver and binoculars. In a couple of minutes, I was back on top of the knoll and couldn't see him. I'm thinking he might have died and was lying flat enough that I couldn't see him, or he got up and moved. I am somewhat in panic mode and walk where I thought he should be from a different approach, so I might have him broadside. When I got to where I thought he was, I didn't immediately see him, but then with a huge relief, I could see he was done. It must have taken me at least 15 minutes until I started calling everyone. It was such an incredible experience, I can see why people love bow hunting. I shot plenty of deer and moose with my rifle or shotgun, and it's always a feeling of jubilation, but this was different.
I am so impressed with the accuracy and power of crossbows, just amazing.
It turned out there was a blood trail. When I traced it back, it didn't start for about 20 yards from where I shot him. That surprised me because it was a double lung shot that went through. I couldn't find the bolt, it must be under all the leaves and probably went further than I Iooked.
The third pic was taken right after the shot, as I was still seated on my butt, and the dot was the spot.
By far, the majority of my deer hunting success came on private property, from a tree stand, during rifle season on Manitoulin Island.
I can't overstate how much more difficult it is to hunt on the ground, with a bow, on public land.
This year's hunt started at the end of last year's.
We didn't get a deer last year, or the year prior, and only saw one. So I started to analyze every micro detail to figure out what could be improved and concluded that there was room for improvement just about everywhere.
This year started much better because we saw plenty of deer, but only had a buck tag. I must have had at least 10+ deer come to within 15' of me. Got blown off several times, and other times they didn't notice me at all. I must have had the same yearling within 10' of my blind at least four times.
The spot where I hunt is quite dense with brush and saplings and larger trees. I had to cut several shooting lanes, but of course, I didn't get so lucky to see the buck in one of them.
On Friday, I got to my spot by 615am. I walked in without using my headlamp because two previous times I pushed two does and possibly a buck.
It went perfectly, there was just enough moonlight for me to see. I got to my blind and all was quiet for the first 10 minutes, when for no apparent reason, presumably a doe started sounding the alarm. It was quite annoying, to say the least. But, based on previous times I've seen deer appear within 15-30 minutes of an alarmed doe. I continued to just sit quietly, and sure enough, it wasn't 15 minutes and a buck grunted. It was still before shooting hour so I continued staying as quiet and as still as possible.
Sunrise was at 755 am, so at 710 I started to make a few soft doe bleets, and by 730 included some lite rattling sequences.
I could hear turkeys and was thinking they could have shown up a week ago.
I just kept up with my calling and rattling sequence but nothing budged, not even the fawn that I had seen several times already. Then much to my dismay, by 9am I could hear the neighboring farmer start up is tractor to cut the remainder of his corn crop, and to top it off, a contractor started their logging operations. It was crazy and made me think it was hopeless. By 10am, with nothing moving at all, I decided to go change the batteries in my trail cam and head home to take care of my laundry list of todo's. When I turned the camera back on, it started an auto-update, which seemed to take forever and added to my impatience. As I was waiting, I turned around and saw this buck walking in my general direction. He was walking with a purpose, had his nose to the ground, but didn't see me about 40 yards away. It probably wasn't the best instinctive reaction, but I immediately sat my butt on the ground and got very lucky it didn't notice my movement. The problem was, I could no longer see him because of all the brush and stuff, and at ground level it was even worse. I waited a few moments, what seemed like an eternity, and no sight or sound of him. I've never been in a position to try it, but it works on YouTube, so I snort wheezed. To my astonishment, I could see him zig-zagging back toward me. The next problem was that I had no shooting lane at all, 15' in front of me was all brush, branches and trees. I tracked him in my scope, and found a very small gap that couldn't have been more than 3 inches and hoped he would walk into that hole in the brush. Fortunately, for me, he did walk into that spot and I immediately fired the bolt. Except for targets, I never shot anything with my crossbow. I heard the bow, and then a slap, and he took off. I thought I must have hit him, but I could have hit a tree, I really wasn't 100% sure. Then I couldn't stop shaking, for 10 minutes I just sat there and replayed everything. I took a pic from my exact position because I knew how much your perspective can change by simply standing up. He ran up a hill that had multiple small knolls and disappeared without a sound. After about 15 minutes, I figured I could look for signs of blood and find my bolt without causing him to run further. Concerns set in very quickly, I couldn't find anything. I waited another 10 minutes and crept up to the top of the knoll where I thought he ran and stood there because I could overlook the area. I quickly saw his antlers, about 40 yards from me, then watched as he tried to stand up, but he couldn't. Then I felt like there was a good chance I got him. But, I was still a bit concerned because I saw no blood, and wondered if I only got him in the shoulder. I watched him a bit longer, and he seemed to relax and just look around. Then I realized that I didn't bring a second bolt with me because my quiver was in my blind and I didn't bring it with me when I went to change the camera batteries. I didn't want to go back to my blind but I was quite sure he wasn't going to get up. So, I went back, grabbed my quiver and binoculars. In a couple of minutes, I was back on top of the knoll and couldn't see him. I'm thinking he might have died and was lying flat enough that I couldn't see him, or he got up and moved. I am somewhat in panic mode and walk where I thought he should be from a different approach, so I might have him broadside. When I got to where I thought he was, I didn't immediately see him, but then with a huge relief, I could see he was done. It must have taken me at least 15 minutes until I started calling everyone. It was such an incredible experience, I can see why people love bow hunting. I shot plenty of deer and moose with my rifle or shotgun, and it's always a feeling of jubilation, but this was different.
I am so impressed with the accuracy and power of crossbows, just amazing.
It turned out there was a blood trail. When I traced it back, it didn't start for about 20 yards from where I shot him. That surprised me because it was a double lung shot that went through. I couldn't find the bolt, it must be under all the leaves and probably went further than I Iooked.
The third pic was taken right after the shot, as I was still seated on my butt, and the dot was the spot.
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