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It was a long, long, long time ago....the year was 2004 and in February, I decided to get into bow hunting. I had been rifle hunting for deer since I was young but had not hunted since my Dad passed away in 01. Signed up here and other forums/clubs to research and soak up all the info I could. I learned all I could and then decided on a bow. Picked one up on EBAY and got it all set up in July. Having posting here and on TBH for months asking questions and even getting into a few scrapes with some idiots, I got an email from Timm Getts asking me if I wanted to go on a doe hunt with him. Of course I jumped at the chance.
I met Timm, Bob Wright and others at my first 3D shoot in August at the CCBA. That was fun.
Fast forward to October, second weekend, and Timm has me in Coleman county with some friends he knows that allow Timm to bring in guests for a 2 doe and turkey harvest weekend. First night and I see tons of turkey way out of bow range. No deer. Next morning in another stand....no deer seen. That evening I decided to sit in the same stand as it looked promising. Had a very nice and tall 6 point come in and feed off the hand thrown corn. Since a buck was going to cost me about $1500 bucks, I decided he wasn't THAT good. Pretty soon he takes off and Timm comes rolling up in the Ranger. He has a doe down and needs help tracking her. So away we went and after about an hour in near pitch black darkness, we found her laid up under a mesquite bush.
Sunday. D-day. We are supposed to head home at noon and I have not seen anything I could shoot. Getting very depressed. Timm took pity on me and put me in the same stand he had shot his doe the night before. He was going to hunt out of a blind he put up behind the cabin that morning anyway. He warns me that there is a buck with 1 inch spikes running around that stand that he almost shot twice. No problem! I can tell a buck from a doe! (now don't get ahead of me!)
So here I am sitting in the stand and its dark as heck. I hear game all around me and as the light just begins to burn off the darkness and reveal a layer of fog, I see a doe off to my left, a nice 8 point in front of me and more movement in between that I can't see because of the huge branch blocking my view in between the two shooting lanes. The doe to my left would not move into the open for me to get a shot. I thought my heart was beating so loudly that she was going to run off! After about 30 minutes she started to move to the lane in front of me. It was still in that early morning twilight, that 30 minutes before sunrise that is legal to hunt. I know because I was checking my watch every 2 seconds! The fog was not hindering my ability to see up to 30 yards and I had ranged the corn in front of me to be 18 yards. That very nice 8 point still having an uninterrupted breakfast there.
For two days Timm has told me to be sure to shoot a doe! I got to hear over and over about another guy that shot a 6 point out of this very stand, then tried to hide it and now was no longer welcome to hunt there.
I am praying to the Great Spirit and my ancestors to just give me a shot and hold my aim true as I watch this doe tease me off to my left. Never showing herself enough or long enough to allow me to draw. Then she makes a move to the right. I can see her disappear behind this large branch and foliage. I hear her taking deliberate steps towards the buck in front of me. I sense she is going to step into that shooting lane in front of me and if she continues on the same path, I will have a clear shot both in front and in back of her. I begin my draw. Lesson one: practice your draw from every possible position.
I had a small panic attack, fearing that after all this, I was not going to be able to draw back my bow.
After what seemed like the most agonizing minutes of my life, I broke it over and began to anchor. At the same instance I am looking for the doe to place my pin on the target. I am in a zone now. All I see is my top pin and my target. It was like I was looking down a tunnel and I knew I could not miss. I touched my release and heard, more than saw that it had found its mark! Deer scattered everywhere! I had no idea I had that many around me.
I sat there and closed my eyes and listened for the doe to fall. I had seen her run around behind the cactus and off to me left. I heard the last breath go out of her and I was ecstatic! I am physically shaking to the point I believe the leaves in the tree were shaking too. It wasn't long and I see the deer begin to return. Off to my right I see a doe, to my left I see the nice 8 point. Both look up at me and blow out of the area. I am so pumped and can no longer stand it! I know she is down so I climb down and go look for her.
I can't describe to you how it felt that you would understand. It was like I was guided to where she lay. Like I knew exactly where the doe was going to be without worrying about a blood trail. I was walking, but seemingly above the ground, not on top of it. I then recalled the night before when I was helping Timm in pitch black to recover his doe. When I found her it was like I knew where she went. I have sense recovered other deer the same way and have recovered every animal I have taken down.
As I come around a mesquite bush, I see the doe lying right where I knew she would be! I am pumped up like you would not believe, arms in the air, hoisting my bow above my head! I thank the Great Spirit for holding me true! Celebration!
Then I step closer. I see two 1 inch spikes on the deers head. Oh oh. Surely I didn't just kill that buck Timm warned me about. This had to be one of those freak doe with horns! I checked between the legs....oh crap! Now what do I do? This mistake just cost me $1500 that I don't have to spare. Have you ever had a balloon filled with air and then prick it with a pin, but instead of popping it slowly deflates? That is exactly how I felt at that moment. All the air went out of my lungs and I just plopped down on my butt and cried. I called my wife on my cell and what should have been a celebration was avery sad conversation as to what I had done and was now going to have to face Timm and his buddies that trusted him.
I laid my bow on the deer and began the long lonely walk back to camp to find Timm. As I am walking past the camp to see if Timm is still in his blind, I see him coming up the trail with 2 turkeys over his shoulder. He looks at me and says "What did you do?"
So after I replayed everything to him, we hopped in the Ranger and retrieved my deer. Not sure who was more scared o Gary, the ranch foreman, me or Timm. When he drove up as we were beginning to skin and quarter, I explained to him what I had done and that I was willing to pay what ever fine he believed to be fair. I really thought he was going to say
, but he was very understanding. He gave me lesson 2: be 100% sure of your target. He did not fine me, but instead thanked me for being open and honest. No fine was going to bring back that buck anyway, he told me. Then he shocked me even more by telling me and Timm that I was welcome to come back anytime! I was doing the "happy naked pagan dance"!
Fast forward to today. I have harvested 7 deer, 1 buffalo, 1 Gold Medal Catalina ram and a gobbler turkey with my bow! Which brings me to lesson 3: always encourage other bow hunters to move on and learn from their mistakes. Thanks Timm for the great hunt and thanks to Gary for understanding!
Roger