Decided to spend some time with the string and stick this fall for the first time in eight years. Picked up a Mathews Z3, got her tuned and went out to a public land area I used to hunt in college. It's an awesome feeling to see that absolutely nothing has changed and that it's still excellent habitat for a variety of game.
This guy showed up an hour after I sat down. Not a monster, but certainly a respectable deer to hang an archery tag on. He actually fed to within 10 yards of my stand, but with no concealment between us I had to sit til he gave me a quartering away shot I estimated at 32 yards. This was correct. Tracked him with a truly insane blood trail for 700 yards, until he backtracked and tucked himself under a downed tree fallen over a creek... I did concentric circles for two hours at the end of the blood trail and was getting pretty desperate with ten minutes of light left when I decided to check the way he came. Truly an awesome feeling of relief knowing you get to use an animal in its prime condition. God bless this time of year.
This guy showed up an hour after I sat down. Not a monster, but certainly a respectable deer to hang an archery tag on. He actually fed to within 10 yards of my stand, but with no concealment between us I had to sit til he gave me a quartering away shot I estimated at 32 yards. This was correct. Tracked him with a truly insane blood trail for 700 yards, until he backtracked and tucked himself under a downed tree fallen over a creek... I did concentric circles for two hours at the end of the blood trail and was getting pretty desperate with ten minutes of light left when I decided to check the way he came. Truly an awesome feeling of relief knowing you get to use an animal in its prime condition. God bless this time of year.
