Just to bring this full circle and to put an exclamation point on the shit show of a season I had, let me share this bit of embarrassment.
I always try to hunt the first and last day for tradition's sake. With Sunday being my wife's birthday and the Super Bowl, I opted to close out the season on Saturday. I left the house at 2:30 expecting the worst for my new ground blind. Sure enough despite having a support pole in the middle, it had collapsed under the weight of ice and broke 3 poles. So after alerting 4 counties to my presence while breaking it down, I grabbed a chair and headed off for an overgrown field to try things from the ground. I found a patch of brush and settled in around 3:30 with lanes crossing right to left at 15, 25, 30, and 40 yards. The wind was perfect and the view was great for the final showdown of the season.
At 5 I was putting my book back in my bag when I caught movement out in front of me at 70 yards. A doe had popped out of the thicket and had also caught movement. The stare down was on... She eventually relaxed and started closing the distance. After glassing her momentarily I recognized her as the same doe I missed on opening day. The dark patch of fur high on her shoulder is a dead give away. I didn't plan on shooting a doe, but I was going to finish what I started!
She closed the distance to 35 yards and disappeared behind some brush, so I came to full draw. Like mature deer are apt to do, she froze as she sensed something was up. I held and held and held until I was about to let down. Just as I was relaxing, she started moving again. She stopped facing me and the stare down was on again! I held and held and held some more. A full 2 minutes passed, which was an eternity for a guy who hasn't shot in 2 months outside of a couple practice arrows before I left. The neighbor decided to let loose on his AR and it was enough for her to get antsy enough to turn to leave. She froze broadside at 23 steps and I settled the pin. As soon as the arrow cleared the string, she looked like a wrestler dodging a take down attempt! She resembled a flying squirrel on the side of a tree: SPRAWLED! In slow motion I watched my Nocturnal burning towards her heart when at the last second the arrow bounced clean off her back. I turned around like "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?" as if someone else was there to witness her amazing display of arrow dodging. It didn't take long to confirm I simply gave her a hair cut.
So after not missing a deer with a bow in 14 years, I missed the very same deer on opening day and on the second to the last day of the season some 125 days later. Talk about a humbling kick in the Johnson! I'm not the archer I used to be and it hurts the old pride. She better hope she doesn't give me a chance this fall because I'll be back to old form and it will be game on!
I always try to hunt the first and last day for tradition's sake. With Sunday being my wife's birthday and the Super Bowl, I opted to close out the season on Saturday. I left the house at 2:30 expecting the worst for my new ground blind. Sure enough despite having a support pole in the middle, it had collapsed under the weight of ice and broke 3 poles. So after alerting 4 counties to my presence while breaking it down, I grabbed a chair and headed off for an overgrown field to try things from the ground. I found a patch of brush and settled in around 3:30 with lanes crossing right to left at 15, 25, 30, and 40 yards. The wind was perfect and the view was great for the final showdown of the season.
At 5 I was putting my book back in my bag when I caught movement out in front of me at 70 yards. A doe had popped out of the thicket and had also caught movement. The stare down was on... She eventually relaxed and started closing the distance. After glassing her momentarily I recognized her as the same doe I missed on opening day. The dark patch of fur high on her shoulder is a dead give away. I didn't plan on shooting a doe, but I was going to finish what I started!
She closed the distance to 35 yards and disappeared behind some brush, so I came to full draw. Like mature deer are apt to do, she froze as she sensed something was up. I held and held and held until I was about to let down. Just as I was relaxing, she started moving again. She stopped facing me and the stare down was on again! I held and held and held some more. A full 2 minutes passed, which was an eternity for a guy who hasn't shot in 2 months outside of a couple practice arrows before I left. The neighbor decided to let loose on his AR and it was enough for her to get antsy enough to turn to leave. She froze broadside at 23 steps and I settled the pin. As soon as the arrow cleared the string, she looked like a wrestler dodging a take down attempt! She resembled a flying squirrel on the side of a tree: SPRAWLED! In slow motion I watched my Nocturnal burning towards her heart when at the last second the arrow bounced clean off her back. I turned around like "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?" as if someone else was there to witness her amazing display of arrow dodging. It didn't take long to confirm I simply gave her a hair cut.
So after not missing a deer with a bow in 14 years, I missed the very same deer on opening day and on the second to the last day of the season some 125 days later. Talk about a humbling kick in the Johnson! I'm not the archer I used to be and it hurts the old pride. She better hope she doesn't give me a chance this fall because I'll be back to old form and it will be game on!
