October 19, 1984. shot a yearling doe with a 55# Darton SL50 (or something like that) and 2018 XX75 with a 2 blade Zwickey Delta on bidness end. only deer I ever shot with a wheelie bow.
only deer I ever shot with an aluminum arrow. took me three years of trying. missed one my first season in '81, missed a small buck in '83.
as proud as I was to get that first deer, with my bow no less, the one that means the most to me personally was the first deer I got with a bow that I made. December 5, 1997, the last day of gun season I killed a button buck with a 64# hickory backed osage bow on a terrible day with snow and 20-30mph wind. in retrospect, that was a lousy excuse for a bow, but it was the best I could do at the time and it shot ok for a 70" wooden bow. I made up my mind that I was gonna kill a deer with it or die trying. was a trying season, mostly. couldn't manage a chance at a doe in early season. hit a giant 4x1 in the shoulder blade at 10 yards in early November. that buck started chasing the doe he was with not 2 minutes after the arrow fell out. unreal. just about pussed out by going back to my trusty glass longbow, but decided to stick it out with my home made bow. I sacrificed Thanksgiving with family to hunt. I missed a dandy 4x4 in fading light that day. just a few inches low and a complete miss. picked myself up again and kept trying until gun season started. after 5 days of sitting home, I couldn't take it any longer. had to get back out. I remember pulling up to my hunting place on public ground, getting out of the truck and realizing just how miserable it was going to be hunting that morning. had nearly a mile walk with climbing stand, wind howling, spitting snow. I got back in the truck and put key in the ignition, but somehow stopped myself from leaving and went hunting. after a couple hours on stand I was getting pretty cold and thinking, "what the hell am I doing here". I warmed up fast when I spotted a 5x5 in the 140-150" range coming my way. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, but he was coming so I got ready. at 35 yards he just took a small turn and never came any closer. had a shot right them, but it was much too far for me with my battered confidence, half froze. I watched him for a good while as he walked out of my sight for good. no sooner than he disappeared, a pair of skinheads appeared and were following the bucks path. but as they approached they missed the turn and came right to me. I put a hickory arrow loaded with a 160gr Ribtek through the boiler room at 15 steps. he made it 40 yards and fell over. I don't think I have laughed and cried at the same time before or since. I really came unglued. alone, in a big woods a looong way from the truck. I'll never forget how I felt as I knelt down to give my thanks next to the deer that had unwittingly given his life to make a dream come true. surreal is the only word I can think to describe that day, that moment, and it changed my life. dreams do come true.
