Guess who just killed their First “State land” deer
- Thread starter CJD3
- Start date
No one has put in the hours that Dan has down there and to see it pay off, that was the best part of the weekend for me! Well deserved brother!
Congrats again, Danno! Well deserved! I'm not sure who was more excited. You or the mob that overtook the truck bed!? 
CountryProud
Member
Congrats on a great first Danno! Happy to say I was part of the tracking party, and Robert and Audrey thank you for the freezer meat.
Congrats again.
Congrats again.
Thanks for all the congratulations and well-wishes! Needless to say, I'm pretty stoked. Here's the short recap:
For those of you who are newer to the forum and maybe never attended this fall outing, the background is that I've been going to the Strouds event since it started. Each year I've hunted relentlessly, morning and night, sometimes all-day sits, and never brought a deer back to camp. The year when there was an early muzzy season, I had a shot at a doe up the ravine behind the rifle range - pulled the trigger and the primer went off but the powder didn't ignite. Learned a lesson there. So many hunts, so many lessons. But last year I found a good spot, this year figured out how to hunt it. Yeah, I got a deer on Saturday, but what I'm more pleased about is that I saw deer all six days I went out.
I shot this deer at about 20 yards at 7:45am. I heard it hit and was disappointed - instead of hearing that wonderful "thwock" sound of hitting the ribcage, I heard a dull "thud" sound (kinda like when you kick a big cardboard box). Got the pass thru. Looking at the arrow, it had good blood, but no air bubbles and no gut or stink either. So I figured I hit it in the liver, so I went back to camp to cook breakfast, and figured I'd come back to track and recover in about 4 hours. We had a hard time finding blood, and I thought the deer had hooked around and gone downhill, so that's where we searched. Thank goodness my buddy JohnR stayed on the blood, searching patiently, and indicated that the deer crossed the gully and headed uphill, which caused me to search back up in that direction. I was walking back in the direction of the stand, stopped to check where I was on onX Hunt, then turned around and there he was, 10 yards away.
I might soon write up a longer, detailed recount of the week-long hunt and pass along the lessons I learned, but honestly I'm physically and mentally whipped. But suffice it to say I appreciate the guys who enthusiastically volunteered to help track and recover my deer. (it was a long, long pull back to the truck) I will say the following things now so as not to forget:
1) If you don't shoot lighted nocks, you should really consider it. I'll not archery hunt without them again.
2) A game cart is a game-changer. Well worth the investment.
3) Stay at it.
For those of you who are newer to the forum and maybe never attended this fall outing, the background is that I've been going to the Strouds event since it started. Each year I've hunted relentlessly, morning and night, sometimes all-day sits, and never brought a deer back to camp. The year when there was an early muzzy season, I had a shot at a doe up the ravine behind the rifle range - pulled the trigger and the primer went off but the powder didn't ignite. Learned a lesson there. So many hunts, so many lessons. But last year I found a good spot, this year figured out how to hunt it. Yeah, I got a deer on Saturday, but what I'm more pleased about is that I saw deer all six days I went out.
I shot this deer at about 20 yards at 7:45am. I heard it hit and was disappointed - instead of hearing that wonderful "thwock" sound of hitting the ribcage, I heard a dull "thud" sound (kinda like when you kick a big cardboard box). Got the pass thru. Looking at the arrow, it had good blood, but no air bubbles and no gut or stink either. So I figured I hit it in the liver, so I went back to camp to cook breakfast, and figured I'd come back to track and recover in about 4 hours. We had a hard time finding blood, and I thought the deer had hooked around and gone downhill, so that's where we searched. Thank goodness my buddy JohnR stayed on the blood, searching patiently, and indicated that the deer crossed the gully and headed uphill, which caused me to search back up in that direction. I was walking back in the direction of the stand, stopped to check where I was on onX Hunt, then turned around and there he was, 10 yards away.
I might soon write up a longer, detailed recount of the week-long hunt and pass along the lessons I learned, but honestly I'm physically and mentally whipped. But suffice it to say I appreciate the guys who enthusiastically volunteered to help track and recover my deer. (it was a long, long pull back to the truck) I will say the following things now so as not to forget:
1) If you don't shoot lighted nocks, you should really consider it. I'll not archery hunt without them again.
2) A game cart is a game-changer. Well worth the investment.
3) Stay at it.
Big_Holla
Senior Member
Very well earned trophy right there Dan! You worked your ass off this weekend, both for the deer and on the griddle! You showed us all how it's done!! Congratulations!!
Fullbore
Senior Member
Congrats Dan on your well deserved archery buck!
What an awesome weekend to enjoy time with our TOO brethren. The weather was finally on our side!
What an awesome weekend to enjoy time with our TOO brethren. The weather was finally on our side!
Some things are worth earning. You earned it! Thats for damn sure. Was it worth it? Sounds like it from here.
Sgt Fury
Sgt. Spellchecker
Nice write up Dan! Congrats again on a well earned buck. Hope to make the next outing at paint creek to sample some of the breakfasts you make on the griddle..sure looks tasty from the photos I’ve seen!
Congratulations again Dan!!!! So glad I was able to be a small part of your VERY SPECIAL day!!!! Just plain AWESOME JOB BUDDY!
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I agree on the cart Dan. I've never pulled one until I latched onto yours.Even my out of shape hungover ass was able to pull it quite a way with some help from @JOHNROHIO getting over logs and that last hill.