Trad hunting story



 
I have written up a long version of this for Tradutonal Bowhunter Magazine and just never got around to submitting it. But here is the abridged version.

My wife and i often hunt with our trad bows together, in fact she got me into traditional archery. Years ago we were hunting Mule Deer in a unit that we both love. She is from Nebraska and prefers to ambush animals while I prefer spot and stalk. That year I had built her a blind on a spring that we had hunted before and on the third morning of the hunt I dropped her off in the dark for the long walk into the spring and I headed off to my glassing spot.

I found a group of bucks that morning so I watched them longer than planned, until they bedded down around 10am. Once they did, I hurried back to the rendezvous spot to pick up my wife and I could tell as I approached she was missing and arrow in her quiver. She had shot a muley buck right at first light and had been waiting for me for several hours to help with packing the meat.

We got the deer taken of and we're back to camp around noon or so. We had planned to be there for 7 days, and I was worried about keeping the meat cool so I insisted that she drive back home, spend a night with the kids, get the deer in the fridge and I would just keep hunting until she returned the next morning. For some strange reason she did not want to leave. She was positive I would kill a deer while she was gone. I assured her that those odds were low and she finally caved in and left with the truck.

That afternoon I was on cloud nine, happy that she had gotten a buck, so I decided that I would not be greedy and just hike into her spring and relax with a book. Up until this point I had never sat water in my life for deer. I figured it would be a nice way to wind down after a successful morning.

For some reason I went into the blind way earlier than we normally would and I ended up crawling into the blind around 2:45. Deer normally do not begin moving in this area until closer to 5pm.

I got my gear all out and settled in with my book around 3:00. I was about halfway through my first page when I caught movement out the blind window. A 170 class muley was standing perfectly broadside at 10 yards. I could not believe my eyes. He walked down to the waters edge at 20 yards quartering away, I slowly grabbed my bow and sent an arrow clear through bothe lungs. I watched him go down within sight!

To say it was the best day ever is an understatement!
 
I have written up a long version of this for Tradutonal Bowhunter Magazine and just never got around to submitting it. But here is the abridged version.

My wife and i often hunt with our trad bows together, in fact she got me into traditional archery. Years ago we were hunting Mule Deer in a unit that we both love. She is from Nebraska and prefers to ambush animals while I prefer spot and stalk. That year I had built her a blind on a spring that we had hunted before and on the third morning of the hunt I dropped her off in the dark for the long walk into the spring and I headed off to my glassing spot.

I found a group of bucks that morning so I watched them longer than planned, until they bedded down around 10am. Once they did, I hurried back to the rendezvous spot to pick up my wife and I could tell as I approached she was missing and arrow in her quiver. She had shot a muley buck right at first light and had been waiting for me for several hours to help with packing the meat.

We got the deer taken of and we're back to camp around noon or so. We had planned to be there for 7 days, and I was worried about keeping the meat cool so I insisted that she drive back home, spend a night with the kids, get the deer in the fridge and I would just keep hunting until she returned the next morning. For some strange reason she did not want to leave. She was positive I would kill a deer while she was gone. I assured her that those odds were low and she finally caved in and left with the truck.

That afternoon I was on cloud nine, happy that she had gotten a buck, so I decided that I would not be greedy and just hike into her spring and relax with a book. Up until this point I had never sat water in my life for deer. I figured it would be a nice way to wind down after a successful morning.

For some reason I went into the blind way earlier than we normally would and I ended up crawling into the blind around 2:45. Deer normally do not begin moving in this area until closer to 5pm.

I got my gear all out and settled in with my book around 3:00. I was about halfway through my first page when I caught movement out the blind window. A 170 class muley was standing perfectly broadside at 10 yards. I could not believe my eyes. He walked down to the waters edge at 20 yards quartering away, I slowly grabbed my bow and sent an arrow clear through bothe lungs. I watched him go down within sight!

To say it was the best day ever is an understatement!
Great story. Can’t wait to be chasing Muleys next year with my stick bow.
 
Montana wolf with my longbow......

 
Montana wolf with my longbow......

What a great story. Congrats on a beautiful wolf.
 
Not much of a story but a good lesson in patients. I bought a recurve to do a traditional only hunt. Shot all summer and became very proficient out to 40 yard. I scouted the day before the opener and found a nice buck. Opening morning I found the buck again and put on a good stalk. The buck I was after had a small buck laying between him and I can another just to the right, if you look closely at the picture you can see them.
I waited until they were bedded for a bit and got into my socks and started the stalk. I crawled to within about 10 yards and the deer had no idea I was there, there was just enough of a knob I crawled right up on them until I could see antler tips.
I shoot a clicker and thought to myself if I draw back with a canted bow that when the clicker pops the deer will stand and I’ll get a shot. I considered just waiting them out but my excitement got the best of me. I got onto my knees and the deer didn’t move, I slowly drew back and “click”. The deer all three stood up like planned only the big buck ducked behind the tree and the 3 point stood up right between us and stared at me at full draw at 10 yards. I considered shooting him but with the big buck just past him I decided to pass and let down. The bucks trotted about 50 yards away and started feeding, I crawled up into their beds and watched them for another couple hours just outside of bow range until they bedded again.
I blew a couple more stalks that day on the buck and had a family emergency the next morning and had to leave the hunt early. I’m going back this year for a full week and hopefully that buck is still alive. Hopefully this time I can be a little more patient and let a shot come to fruition instead of forcing the shot.

The buck
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The blown opportunity spot.
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Montana wolf with my longbow......

This is freaking awesome! I bet you are one of the few in the last half a century to accomplish this. Well done!
 
That's awesome!
I know of five killed w Trad gear in Alberta. Three over bear bait, one from a deer stand, and another called in. On my bucket list.
 
Mine just happened last weekend. Friday evening I drove around a bit and ended up roosting a couple birds on the south end of some public. From past years I knew they often would cross the thin strip of private south of them onto another public piece, so that’s where I headed Saturday morning with my 11 year old, who has his first turkey tag this year and is bowhunting.

It was miserable, cold and rainy, and by the time we got close to where I wanted to set up my son was a little disgruntled, but then we heard gobbles, not from way across but close, basically right where I planned to set up. It was a little hard to tell where they were and I wanted to make sure we were close enough both to the gobbling and to the birds I roosted to get a chance at seeing something.

Right then, as we’re rounding the outside corner of a small wood lot I see a bird about 150 yds away, who spots me and scuttles off. I was pretty bummed because my son didn’t even see the bird before it took off, but we decided to set up right there so as not to further spook whatever birds might be over there.

As soon as we were set up my son decided he needed a nap so he spend the next hour curled up in a sorta waterproof picnic blanket I brought along for that very purpose. He woke up cold so I let him wear my puffy while he read a book and I looked for birds, calling every 30-45 minutes.

We had agreed that if we didn’t see anything by 9:30 we’d go get some breakfast so you can imagine how jacked I was at 9 when two Toms suddenly popped up over the hill we were facing, coming from pretty much where I’d expect the birds I roosted to come from, at maybe 125 yards or so!

They gobbled hard when I called so I called softly one more time just so my son could hear some more gobbles and then shut up.

They worked their way in somewhat cautiously until they saw the Jake and hen, which I’d had to prop up between scrub oaks because I apparently left the stakes at the last place we hunted. I need to go back and find those still. Anyway once they spotted decoys they came in quick. My son was supposed to be the shooter but his hands were freezing and he told me to take the shot so I obliged. Shot was about 15 yards and snapped the wing bone clean in half so that the wing was hanging by a little bit of skin and tissue. I had to run out and put him down for fear he would run away, although he didn’t seem to be trying to run, just flopping around on the ground.

The really crazy thing is after dispatching him I ran back to the blind and started calling again. By this time adrenaline had warmed up my son’s hands and he was ready. I called the second bird back in to about 15 and if the blind had a window in a different spot or he’d taken another couple steps we’d have brought him home too.

All in all it was a great day and my son was a trooper helping carry gear out that I’d carried in so that I could carry my bird, but I’m still a little bummed he didn’t get to shoot instead of me.

That said this was my first tag filled with the ASL, first tag filled with my son along, as well as my redemption for the bird I missed the very first time I took my son turkey hunting several years ago, so it was a big milestone for me personally.

The bird weighed in at 21lbs soaking wet with 1” spurs and a thick 10” beard.

Bow is a St Patrick Lake Pacific stick, 50# @29”. Arrows are full length 2016s, 2” 4 fletch, standard insert and zwickey delta with a 100gr adapter so about 630gr total.
 

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