MNFarmHunter
Well-Known Member
My property is about 20 acres with woods and ringed by slue and farm fields. Being a gun hunter, I only ever hunted the south line of the woods because there was no need to go anywhere else.
The winds last night were SSE which forced me to the north end of the woods with me near the NW corner. Off map and the the NW, the neighbor has a food plot so my thinking was they’d come from the slue to the south and head north to the plot.
I had previously scouted the area and new there was a well established trail where I sat. I hated everything else about the setup. There were alot of lower saplings all around with a few gnarly oaks and ash mixed in. The only tree that would work for SRT was a leaning oak next to the trail but tucked into the saplings.
There was one crotch I could throw my line through but it took several tries and had to cut a sapling down in the process. Once the rope was up, I had to do a base anchor. The tree leaned to the NW (the side I was hanging from) and about 24” in diameter which made the platform and gear strap setup a pain. It also only allowed for 2 close distance but otherwise narrow lanes.
Once finally setup, a large flock of grackle flew in and raised holy hell for about 30 minutes. Then the squirrels moved in making a racket along with a chipmunk but otherwise no movement anywhere.
I honestly expected this to just be a scouting sit for a better location tomorrow (today). About 30 minutes until sunset, I heard a different noise directly behind me. Turning around, there were two does coming off the powerlines the exact opposite direction from what I was expecting.
Being as tucked in as I was, they never saw me move to get my bow. Within minutes, she was at most 5 yards from the tree quartering away with me about 18 feet high. With the lighted nock, I knew I hit her right behind the right front leg high but at the angle I knew I hit lungs. The odd thing is I didn’t get a passthrough and watched her run off with the arrow sticking out of her back. She ran 50 yards and dropped.
The arrow had sheared cleanly mid shaft like it was cut. The broadhead did come out her lower opposite chest but never found the other half of the arrow. It wasn’t on the trail and not inside her. Best guess is I double lunged her and cut major vessels since it completely missed her heart but her chest was completely full. Though I could see her, the blood trail was big enough that you could’ve run along it and not lose it.
Very long-winded story but being my first saddle, archery and elevated kill, I’m still stoked and ready for the next one. I hung and caped her last night, processed her this morning, having backstrap medallions for dinner tonight and will finish butchering tomorrow.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The winds last night were SSE which forced me to the north end of the woods with me near the NW corner. Off map and the the NW, the neighbor has a food plot so my thinking was they’d come from the slue to the south and head north to the plot.
I had previously scouted the area and new there was a well established trail where I sat. I hated everything else about the setup. There were alot of lower saplings all around with a few gnarly oaks and ash mixed in. The only tree that would work for SRT was a leaning oak next to the trail but tucked into the saplings.
There was one crotch I could throw my line through but it took several tries and had to cut a sapling down in the process. Once the rope was up, I had to do a base anchor. The tree leaned to the NW (the side I was hanging from) and about 24” in diameter which made the platform and gear strap setup a pain. It also only allowed for 2 close distance but otherwise narrow lanes.
Once finally setup, a large flock of grackle flew in and raised holy hell for about 30 minutes. Then the squirrels moved in making a racket along with a chipmunk but otherwise no movement anywhere.
I honestly expected this to just be a scouting sit for a better location tomorrow (today). About 30 minutes until sunset, I heard a different noise directly behind me. Turning around, there were two does coming off the powerlines the exact opposite direction from what I was expecting.
Being as tucked in as I was, they never saw me move to get my bow. Within minutes, she was at most 5 yards from the tree quartering away with me about 18 feet high. With the lighted nock, I knew I hit her right behind the right front leg high but at the angle I knew I hit lungs. The odd thing is I didn’t get a passthrough and watched her run off with the arrow sticking out of her back. She ran 50 yards and dropped.
The arrow had sheared cleanly mid shaft like it was cut. The broadhead did come out her lower opposite chest but never found the other half of the arrow. It wasn’t on the trail and not inside her. Best guess is I double lunged her and cut major vessels since it completely missed her heart but her chest was completely full. Though I could see her, the blood trail was big enough that you could’ve run along it and not lose it.
Very long-winded story but being my first saddle, archery and elevated kill, I’m still stoked and ready for the next one. I hung and caped her last night, processed her this morning, having backstrap medallions for dinner tonight and will finish butchering tomorrow.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk