The First Bow Hunt

Well, with names like "Once Was a Man" and "Woman Runs Him", hunting deer with a bow was a necessity! With the encouragement and the gift of two compound bows, Chip and I practiced and prepared for our first bow hunt this season. No better place to hunt than the "Farm" that has been in the family since homesteaded by our Great Grandparents in the 1800's. With successful rifle hunts, the challenge of a bow hunt was exciting.





Our bow hunting mentor, Doug, met us out there and showed us how it was done by shooting a big 4 by 5 buck that was standing under his tree blind!

I was lucky and shot my doe after she danced and played around and under my stand for several minutes. But how about the big buck? Is there a story there? Of course....


Let's start with Wayne....Once was a Man...did he have his Buck? Well it went down like this...


It is in the dead of the rut. Doug was in his "lollipop" stand. Brint was in the tri-pod. Wayne was in the newly built blind with the "bow hunter deck" installed and ready. Yes, a stand with a deck built just for the bow hunters. Now Carl was the great stand builder...he and Brint had built the "Hilton" just a couple of years before. Carl named this new stand the "Howard Johnsons"! Upgraded...sounder foundation...great sliding window...shingled roof! Inside was the heater, front opening measured perfectly for the rifle to lay on for a great shot. Carl was pleased...but Wayne begged for a deck on which bow hunters could sit, surrounded by camo, and able to shoot the bow at a moments notice. Using Vick's old tent blind platform...Carl attached it to the new blind and the deck was set. Carl really only did this because he could use this deck for turkey hunting! It goes against his nature to aide bow hunters!






From this perch, Once Was a Man watched as bucks chased does all over the place. Behind him they went. Around him they ran.....surely.....a shot would take place. What a sight...Brint and our hero watched as the bucks got closer and closer. Then, looking to the west, our hero saw two beautiful bucks...trophies each...chasing a doe. The bigger of the two moved in chasing the other buck back. Wow...witnessing this love triangle was like watching friday night late TV! The buck had the doe where he wanted her. He came up from behind....she...a look of innocence in her eyes but her body told a different story. She was arching her back....a look over her shoulder said she knew what was to come...but there was the feeling still that it was her first time. And oh what experiece was shown by this older male deer. No quick thing for him...he was cherishing this moment as he put his tongue and tasted her. Gosh...what was happening! My heart was pounding! What do I do? Do I end this before they fall even deeper in the process of this love making? Do I not give this big male a chance to win the prize...no doubt hard fought for during this rutting season? No...I thought. I was not fooled by that innocent look in her eyes! She had drew many into her web of deceit only to run off and bare her young with the big guy not ever knowing if it was his or not. I had to stop this here and now before this guy got attached to this vixen of a doe! So I drew back my bow for I could see an opening in the branches that crossed between them and me...yes...I had a shot and I should take it soon. I looked through the peep hole and laid the sights on the place just behind the front leg and half way up the body...the sweet spot...just where I had been practicing for weeks. My wounded trigger finger (another story) pointed uselessy forward as I took my middle finger and placed it on the string release lever. I pulled gently and watched my arrow fly...straight toward it's target who was still in the act of foreplay with this harlot. And just as it reached the opening in the branches, the arrow took an immediate turn downward, cutting off a small branch with its razor sharp blade, the arrow went to the ground at the bucks feet. No one noticed, but the doe I think sensed something happened out of the ordinary and took a few steps and moved into the Briar Patch with the buck following "tongue in cheek" so to speak.


I stood there in shock....the trophy was gone...the x-rated scene was gone...my chance for the "best buck of the season" was gone. I however still had high hopes that another chance would appear...but I was wrong for I waited and waited for another big buck and passed on so many others that the bow season left me without a buck...(my wife had put me on an allowence)...and without a big male deer as well!


But how did Woman Runs Him fare this bow hunting season? Stay tuned! But for now...the sun sets on the Farm with the view of the lake as we leave the evening hunt and return to the Deer Camp!