Well, my first deer taken is not the best story, but we can start there. It was my second year of big game/bow hunting. I believe I was thirty at the time. Up to that time I was a die hard bird hunter, as deer were scarce in my neck of the "wheat fields" in western Oklahoma. When I moved to Texas, I could count the deer I had seen on one hand.
I became a bowhunter on my first hunt with a bow, and through out that first year and the start of the second, I had been lucky enough to have a few chances and made many stupid mistakes...mostly due to inexperience. I had also had some unbelieveably bad luck when the moment of truth arrived.
So, I find myself in a tri-pod near a feeder on a day hunt at South Hills Ranch at Sabinal, in the middle of my second season. It is a perfect night...still, warm, with that golden glow of late afternoon and although I desprately want to get something with my new PSE compound (Carrol Intruder)...I am happy just being there.
I am shooting the best bow (opinion) out and it is really fast at 250 fps. I have one sight pin, no peep, and I shoot with fingers. I don't have a quiver yet, so I carry my 2 extra arrows in my hand. I used to just carry one extra...but that is another story. The arrows are full length aluminum and I am using thunderhead broadheads, as I have had a bad experience with Walmart cheapies.
A lone deer comes to the feeder and begins to eat. I can see no antlers of any kind and it is not huge, but it is a deer and it is in the right spot. I draw, go through my little mental check list....at anchor, front hand relaxed, deep breath, pick a tiny spot, and smooth release......and the arrow is away! IT HITS THE DEER! I can not believe it, after so many failures and close calls. The shot looks a little far back, but it is angleing forward.
I fear a gut shot and anguish over the possiblility of tracking all night and still not having my first deer. I am so worried about it that I don't get down to look around even though I am dying to do so. When my buddy comes to get me I tell him the story. He says let's have a look and he finds my deer 30 yards from the feeder. The shot was fine and I was worried for nothing. I am amazed at how close the deer was. If I had been watching like I should have I may have seen it fall.
Now it turns out that the deer is a little buck. The skin is not broken on his head and you could not possible tell it was a buck. You could tell it was a yearling if you weren't new to deer hunting or had some referance like an adult deer. I was both extactic that I had gotten one and sorry that it was a buck.
Back at the camp house I hung my deer in the skinning area. Guys came over to see it. One guy said that it still had spots, another one said to wipe the milk off it's lips, and eveyone laughed. I am sure you know the routine. The truth was if you looked really closely in the right light, you could see where the spots had been. They were just cutting up and having fun in camp, but it still hurt a little. One guy, that I work with, came over to me, put his hand on my shoulder and told me congrats on a great first deer and what a good shot I had made. I will never forget that gesture, bowhunting was important to me even then, and it was a big deal to me.
I don't have bad feelings for the other guys, they couldn't know. We all joke and tease each other all the time, and I am probably the worst. If it had been any deer but my first, I would have been the first one to make the joke, and most of those guys didn't know it was my first one.
Anyway, that is the story of my first deer...but the screw ups that got me to that point are much more entertaining, perhaps we can do another thread on those.
I liked the stories above, thanks to those who took the time to write them.
Mark
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