Yesterday was our opener for the archery season here in Ohio. My little guy had a soccer game in the morning so I planned on getting to my stand by 4pm that afternoon. As 4 o'clock came and passed, it was still raining heavily with a nice lightning display. Around 5pm my wife reminded me it was sunny and blue sky, I should give it a shot. :wink:
I grab my gear and am in my stand in about 30 minutes. Time passes and things are uneventful, but it is really nice to be back in the woods! Water is dropping from the leaves and acorns are falling all around. Two small rubs and my small food plot are visible from my stand.
About 7pm, it is rapidly getting dark in the woods and I can hear the rumble of a storm approaching. It starts to sprinkle and it soon is raining HARD! Not wanting to get caught in an electrical storm, I gather my gear and climb down. Once on the ground, I grab my bow and put my arrow back into the quiver I'm holding in my other hand and start heading out of the woods. As I cross the downed fence and into the bean field I am nose to nose with a small doe and 3 others in tow.. Darn it!! They are coming in the trail right to my stand and it is raining HARD. I quickly drop to my knees and nock an arrow, my hands are shaking pretty good and it seems like FOREVER to get my release on the loop. The lead doe was maybe 10 yards from me but she and the others had walked off to the right of me while I was scrambling. As I watched them leave, I spotted a NICE buck on the top of a hill, he was about 125 yds away.. I could tell he was nice. Then I spot movement to the left of me, about 10 deer are looking at me, 3 are bucks. They are all out of range, seems we are at a standoff. A few mintues pass and I can see blue sky behind the storm cell above us. I pass a few minutes ranging various deer. Most are 50+ and nothing worth such a shot. Moments later, the large buck I saw on top of the hill has crested the hill in front of me. He is at 29 yards and quartering towards me. It seemed like forever, he kept looking in my direction for what seemed to be an eternity. I figure he was winding my drag line and it seemed like he was positioning himself to get a good smell when he presented me with a perfect broadside shot, maybe 30-35yds. I took careful aim, and as I released the arrow I saw a ploom of water shoot of his back! He jumbs straight up then takes 3 bounds and just stands there. I have either hit him with a solid shot or bounced it off the top of his back.
Now, he is at 75 yards and not moving. I watch him for about 20 minutes, all the other deer ran off after he jumped. He just stands in the same spot for about 20 minutes..
It's getting late, the first storm cell has passed, but a bigger one is coming up behind me. It is nearly dark ( except for the lighting ) and I GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE.. Lightning and rain start falling again... that darn buck hasnt moved!! (I was just hoping he would fall over and he would be a nice addition to my office wall! ) I am getting worried about the weather and gotta get to shelter. I break from my spot along the woods line and head for the road.. The buck finally sees me and I see one or two bounds and he is gone. I can't tell if he is hurt or not.
This morning, I hit my stand bright and early, hunted the first few hours of daylight then headed down to see if I could find my arrow or deer. I spent a good couple hours looking and JD stopped by for a helping hand. We searched high and low no arrow and no deer. I must have shot a tad high!
Still, it was a wonderful opening day! For only a few hours in the woods, I saw 12-15 deer and had a great chance at a NICE buck. I think I am going to really like bowhunting!!
I grab my gear and am in my stand in about 30 minutes. Time passes and things are uneventful, but it is really nice to be back in the woods! Water is dropping from the leaves and acorns are falling all around. Two small rubs and my small food plot are visible from my stand.
About 7pm, it is rapidly getting dark in the woods and I can hear the rumble of a storm approaching. It starts to sprinkle and it soon is raining HARD! Not wanting to get caught in an electrical storm, I gather my gear and climb down. Once on the ground, I grab my bow and put my arrow back into the quiver I'm holding in my other hand and start heading out of the woods. As I cross the downed fence and into the bean field I am nose to nose with a small doe and 3 others in tow.. Darn it!! They are coming in the trail right to my stand and it is raining HARD. I quickly drop to my knees and nock an arrow, my hands are shaking pretty good and it seems like FOREVER to get my release on the loop. The lead doe was maybe 10 yards from me but she and the others had walked off to the right of me while I was scrambling. As I watched them leave, I spotted a NICE buck on the top of a hill, he was about 125 yds away.. I could tell he was nice. Then I spot movement to the left of me, about 10 deer are looking at me, 3 are bucks. They are all out of range, seems we are at a standoff. A few mintues pass and I can see blue sky behind the storm cell above us. I pass a few minutes ranging various deer. Most are 50+ and nothing worth such a shot. Moments later, the large buck I saw on top of the hill has crested the hill in front of me. He is at 29 yards and quartering towards me.
It seemed like forever, he kept looking in my direction for what seemed to be an eternity. I figure he was winding my drag line and it seemed like he was positioning himself to get a good smell when he presented me with a perfect broadside shot, maybe 30-35yds. I took careful aim, and as I released the arrow I saw a ploom of water shoot of his back! He jumbs straight up then takes 3 bounds and just stands there. I have either hit him with a solid shot or bounced it off the top of his back. Now, he is at 75 yards and not moving. I watch him for about 20 minutes, all the other deer ran off after he jumped. He just stands in the same spot for about 20 minutes..
It's getting late, the first storm cell has passed, but a bigger one is coming up behind me. It is nearly dark ( except for the lighting ) and I GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE.. Lightning and rain start falling again... that darn buck hasnt moved!! (I was just hoping he would fall over and he would be a nice addition to my office wall! ) I am getting worried about the weather and gotta get to shelter. I break from my spot along the woods line and head for the road.. The buck finally sees me and I see one or two bounds and he is gone. I can't tell if he is hurt or not.
This morning, I hit my stand bright and early, hunted the first few hours of daylight then headed down to see if I could find my arrow or deer. I spent a good couple hours looking and JD stopped by for a helping hand. We searched high and low no arrow and no deer. I must have shot a tad high!
Still, it was a wonderful opening day! For only a few hours in the woods, I saw 12-15 deer and had a great chance at a NICE buck. I think I am going to really like bowhunting!!
