elhoward622
Senior Member
I had my first shot opportunity at a buck with my trad bow and boy was it fun! All except for the missing part?. I decided to slip hunt through a new to me section of public land mid morning before the rain rolled in.
I put on a painfully slow stalk into the wind along a deer trail in between some thickets and hardwoods. A nice sized doe slipped across the trial just across a small rise in front of me. I couldn’t get a shot on her, so I parked myself there and watched her back trail. A few minutes later I heard some movement coming from the thicket below me and finally a nice young 8 point popped into view. He was pretty far out and I contemplated slipping up a little closer to where the doe crossed, but I opted to stay still and hang tight. He hit the trail at what I thought was about 30 yards. I drew back, hit my anchor, picked out a dark tuft of hair in the shoulder crease, focused in and let off a smooth release. The arrow launched, arched up smoothly on a perfect path for his vital and in what felt like slow motion, dropped pitifully just under his ribs and into the dirt.
I had grossly misjudged the distance between us thanks to lack of experience and a subtle dip in the rise separating us. I was incredibly bummed out but thankful it was a clean miss and thankful for the opportunity to stock up on such a fine animal. That was my first shot on a deer with my recurve and although it was a mess I felt really good about my shot sequence, my release, and the fact that I didn’t pee my pants when the moment of truth came?. I have really struggled to set up on deer correctly this year but I am determined to harvest one with my train bow. Anyway it was fun as **** and I can’t wait to get back out after them.
I put on a painfully slow stalk into the wind along a deer trail in between some thickets and hardwoods. A nice sized doe slipped across the trial just across a small rise in front of me. I couldn’t get a shot on her, so I parked myself there and watched her back trail. A few minutes later I heard some movement coming from the thicket below me and finally a nice young 8 point popped into view. He was pretty far out and I contemplated slipping up a little closer to where the doe crossed, but I opted to stay still and hang tight. He hit the trail at what I thought was about 30 yards. I drew back, hit my anchor, picked out a dark tuft of hair in the shoulder crease, focused in and let off a smooth release. The arrow launched, arched up smoothly on a perfect path for his vital and in what felt like slow motion, dropped pitifully just under his ribs and into the dirt.
I had grossly misjudged the distance between us thanks to lack of experience and a subtle dip in the rise separating us. I was incredibly bummed out but thankful it was a clean miss and thankful for the opportunity to stock up on such a fine animal. That was my first shot on a deer with my recurve and although it was a mess I felt really good about my shot sequence, my release, and the fact that I didn’t pee my pants when the moment of truth came?. I have really struggled to set up on deer correctly this year but I am determined to harvest one with my train bow. Anyway it was fun as **** and I can’t wait to get back out after them.
30 yards is a very long poke with any trad bow. Trad bow hunting critters, especially deer, is a game of CLOSE and it's a good idea to remember that. Play according to the rules which are determined by yardages you are very confident in. Even if your effective range is 15 yards and a deer passes outside of that range just chalk it up to "The deer won that game." Even if you make what would otherwise be a perfect shot on a deer at 20+ yards it can do a lot of things between the time you release an arrow and when it gets there. Just some thoughts to ponder and I wish uyou the best of luck in your trad hunting adventures!!
