[skeeter]

I started bowhunting late in life. I was 33 years old the first time I shot a compound bow. As a kid, I always went hunting and fishing with my dad. We as kids had the old green fiberglass recurves with the white rubber grip. You know, the one that could be bought at Gemco! We shot arrows straight into the air and would run, never knowing where our wood arrow would come down! But, when it came to hunting, I was a die hard rifle hunter that vowed to never shoot a bow. Why shoot a bow when a rifle was available?

Fast forward 20 years...

when my daughter started elementary school, she met a girl in her class named Sarah. Sarah lived just down the street from us. Sarah's dad, Terry, just so happened to be a hunter. We hit it off pretty well. We traded huntin stories often. Well, come to find out, Terry was a bow hunter. I guess you could say he was a fair weather bow hunter. the only reason he bow hunted was to get an extra month of hunting in. Which, that was cool. Terry talked me into shootin his bow one day. It was an old Darton. The bow was heavy, awkward and didnt fit. But I did hit the target a few times. I thought it was pretty cool.

After several shoots with Terry, I decided to get me a PSE Nova. The whole package was $188. Bow, sights, rest, release, arrows and target. I didnt want to spend a lot of money or time on a bow if I wasnt sure if I was gonna like it or even get good enough to hunt with it. I practiced for 4 months everyday before bow season. When bow season arrived, I didnt feel I was ready to shoot an animal, even though I was shootin 1" groups at 20 yds. When Thanksgiving rolled around, I felt I was ready. After gettin busted several times and missing one deer, I finally got my first bow kill! A big ol fat doe! I was hooked!

There is nothing more exciting and rewarding to me than becoming invisible to an animal. Having deer 3 or 4 steps away from you and they never know you are there. Being able to smell their breath. Hearing noises that I never knew deer made. Being able to see flies crawling on a deers back. Being close enough to reach out and grab em! What a rush!

Bow hunting created a whole new aspect or level of hunting for me. I've shot a few deer with my rifle since I started bow hunting, but to me, it feels like I'm cheatin when I take a rifle to the stand. There is no excitement, no thrill. Just deer, bang, done. What fun is that?

I just wish I would have started bow hunting 20 years ago!