ThumbsMcGee
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2018
- Messages
- 223
Oct 12 & 14 Hunt Analysis
I’m fortunate to hunt on a military installation here in Virginia. This installation has a healthy, mostly unpressured deer population. This being my first archery season has been meaningful to me, as it’s something I’ve always wanted to get into and finally found my entrance. Before we start, I know some will want to know my setup:
Tethrd Mantis
Lone Wolf Sticks (no mods)
Some Redhead backpack that does the job
Parker Poison 30, 64lbs
Deadmeat Broadheads 100gr
Saturday, October 12:
Each hunt day we draw numbers for which area we will hunt. I was able to choose an area which my friend spotted 2 bucks at the previous weekend. These areas are pretty large for one person to hunt, my guess would be 15-20 acres a plot. In the morning at 0500 I make it out to the preset stand they have set up. These stands are roughly 12ft off the ground and so large you could place a lazy-boy on them. I hunt out of that preset stand from my mantis until about 1030. At this time I remember what I heard from THP, which was something along the lines of “If you don’t like what you’re seeing, you need to change things up.”
I took that advice and I got down and scouted my area for the next two hours. At this time of the month there was a drought so I was initially focusing on water. I didn’t find any decent tracks in the watering holes available in my area, so I began focusing on food. This lead me to find a heavily used deer crossing up over a steep hill into an area which contained several white oaks. I saw the heavy hoof traffic and deer scat and I knew I was in a hot area. I set up on an tree that gave me a great vantage point, but I was admittedly exposed with not much cover. I had the wind to my face, with the wind being a NNW wind.
At about 3pm I had a doe and her yearling come in on me. Still looking for my first saddle deer, both deer were on the table for me to shoot. The doe knew there was something up, as she came roughly 17 yards away. She stopped with her nose up in the air behind some brush and stood there for an eternity. At times I thought she was looking up at me and into my soul, however she did not spot me. I was finally able to reach for my bow and bring it to my weak side, however by this time the deer were in heavier cover and I was in no place to shoot. About an hour later I see a larger body move through the woods. It followed the same path that the doe did, however this deer cut in front of my tree and came broadside at 20 yards and just stood there. It was a tall fork-horned, probably the largest four-point I’ve seen in person. I grabbed my bow and drew, then I heard a small “clack”. My cam hit the plastic bow rest on the tree. The deer perked up and trotted off. Didn’t see me, but he wasn’t taking any chances. Lesson learned. The rest of the evening was silent.
Lessons learned from 12 Oct:
- Extend the tether distance to allow for better clearance of bow hanger & shot opportunity
- Expect deer travel to be different from what you expect.
- Find trees with better cover so you’re not silhouetted
14 Oct (Columbus Day)
There was a very low turnout for hunters this day, and I was fortunate to be able to choose the same area. My plan was to go back to the tree I now call the “killing tree” and set up on it. I got there in the dark of morning and placed myself to face towards the east. This gave me a perfect shot opportunity to my left, where the deer were coming from. Upon daylight I notice a scrape right below a small tree, and I knew I was in the right spot. At roughly 0740, a 2 ½ y/o 6-point materialized below me at around 15 yards. He took a path that was obstructed my foliage of the tree in front of me. This deer didn’t have a clue I was there, and I spared no time. He was slightly quartering away to the right as I drew my bow and took my shot. I saw him immediately hunch up as if he were punched in the gut, and then he hobbled off as if he were sick; about 50 yards then I heard a “plod”. Any other day it probably would’ve been a crash, but the rain during the previous night softened the ground. I contemplated if I gut-shot the deer, but I was certain it was down for the count by the way it walked off.
Here is where the deer was shot and where it ran off, note the scrape at the bottom left corner:
I sent a text to my friend to notify him of the success. About 15 minutes later, I saw a very large shadow move through the woods ahead. At first I thought it was possibly my shot deer, but those thoughts disappeared as I heard a doe blow twice behind me. I had no clue the doe and her yearling from two days before were behind me. They spotted me and high-tailed it out of there. I then refocused my attention to where I saw the large body move through, and low and behold a mature, wide-framed buck came out of the woods ahead to check out what was going on. He came in on my righthand (weakside) however with my improved set up I was able to maneuver around and use the top of my lone wolf stick as an extension to my platform. I placed my 20 yard over his pumphouse and let my arrow fly. He ducked down hard and I seen my arrow hit and stay in him right above his shoulder as he ran off to the way he came in. My heart sank. The pic below depicts where I shot and where the arrow hit.
After about 20 minutes I climbed down and found my arrow of the first deer: It looked like a straight up liver shot, with dark & grainy blood. What perplexed me was the lack of a blood trail. I’ve tracked liver-shot deer before from firearms and there’s usually blood. I had nothing. Fortunately I knew where he went and I decided to let him stay there for a bit.
I knew the shot on deer #2 wasn’t lethal, however I went to see if there was blood. As suspected, there wasn’t. I followed the area he ran off to and about 50 yards away I found my arrow. It had the dark blood you get from straight up meat. I found one more drop of blood and that was it. To make the deer #2 story short, I spent 4 hours grid-searching for him and found nothing.
Back to deer number one. After finding the 2nd arrow I decided to go back and search for my first deer. It didn’t take long to find him laid out and dead. The entry and exit wounds below show I nailed him through the liver and out the lung. My guess is the grainy liver blood stopped up the exit wound. When I opened the cavity, it was pretty much soup. The deer bled out internally and probably died within minutes of laying down.
Lessons learned:
- You can practice a shot all you want, but once that arrow leaves your bow you are out of control.
- Hunt hot sign, and hunt it hard twice.
I’m fortunate to hunt on a military installation here in Virginia. This installation has a healthy, mostly unpressured deer population. This being my first archery season has been meaningful to me, as it’s something I’ve always wanted to get into and finally found my entrance. Before we start, I know some will want to know my setup:
Tethrd Mantis
Lone Wolf Sticks (no mods)
Some Redhead backpack that does the job
Parker Poison 30, 64lbs
Deadmeat Broadheads 100gr
Saturday, October 12:
Each hunt day we draw numbers for which area we will hunt. I was able to choose an area which my friend spotted 2 bucks at the previous weekend. These areas are pretty large for one person to hunt, my guess would be 15-20 acres a plot. In the morning at 0500 I make it out to the preset stand they have set up. These stands are roughly 12ft off the ground and so large you could place a lazy-boy on them. I hunt out of that preset stand from my mantis until about 1030. At this time I remember what I heard from THP, which was something along the lines of “If you don’t like what you’re seeing, you need to change things up.”
I took that advice and I got down and scouted my area for the next two hours. At this time of the month there was a drought so I was initially focusing on water. I didn’t find any decent tracks in the watering holes available in my area, so I began focusing on food. This lead me to find a heavily used deer crossing up over a steep hill into an area which contained several white oaks. I saw the heavy hoof traffic and deer scat and I knew I was in a hot area. I set up on an tree that gave me a great vantage point, but I was admittedly exposed with not much cover. I had the wind to my face, with the wind being a NNW wind.
At about 3pm I had a doe and her yearling come in on me. Still looking for my first saddle deer, both deer were on the table for me to shoot. The doe knew there was something up, as she came roughly 17 yards away. She stopped with her nose up in the air behind some brush and stood there for an eternity. At times I thought she was looking up at me and into my soul, however she did not spot me. I was finally able to reach for my bow and bring it to my weak side, however by this time the deer were in heavier cover and I was in no place to shoot. About an hour later I see a larger body move through the woods. It followed the same path that the doe did, however this deer cut in front of my tree and came broadside at 20 yards and just stood there. It was a tall fork-horned, probably the largest four-point I’ve seen in person. I grabbed my bow and drew, then I heard a small “clack”. My cam hit the plastic bow rest on the tree. The deer perked up and trotted off. Didn’t see me, but he wasn’t taking any chances. Lesson learned. The rest of the evening was silent.
Lessons learned from 12 Oct:
- Extend the tether distance to allow for better clearance of bow hanger & shot opportunity
- Expect deer travel to be different from what you expect.
- Find trees with better cover so you’re not silhouetted
14 Oct (Columbus Day)
There was a very low turnout for hunters this day, and I was fortunate to be able to choose the same area. My plan was to go back to the tree I now call the “killing tree” and set up on it. I got there in the dark of morning and placed myself to face towards the east. This gave me a perfect shot opportunity to my left, where the deer were coming from. Upon daylight I notice a scrape right below a small tree, and I knew I was in the right spot. At roughly 0740, a 2 ½ y/o 6-point materialized below me at around 15 yards. He took a path that was obstructed my foliage of the tree in front of me. This deer didn’t have a clue I was there, and I spared no time. He was slightly quartering away to the right as I drew my bow and took my shot. I saw him immediately hunch up as if he were punched in the gut, and then he hobbled off as if he were sick; about 50 yards then I heard a “plod”. Any other day it probably would’ve been a crash, but the rain during the previous night softened the ground. I contemplated if I gut-shot the deer, but I was certain it was down for the count by the way it walked off.
Here is where the deer was shot and where it ran off, note the scrape at the bottom left corner:
I sent a text to my friend to notify him of the success. About 15 minutes later, I saw a very large shadow move through the woods ahead. At first I thought it was possibly my shot deer, but those thoughts disappeared as I heard a doe blow twice behind me. I had no clue the doe and her yearling from two days before were behind me. They spotted me and high-tailed it out of there. I then refocused my attention to where I saw the large body move through, and low and behold a mature, wide-framed buck came out of the woods ahead to check out what was going on. He came in on my righthand (weakside) however with my improved set up I was able to maneuver around and use the top of my lone wolf stick as an extension to my platform. I placed my 20 yard over his pumphouse and let my arrow fly. He ducked down hard and I seen my arrow hit and stay in him right above his shoulder as he ran off to the way he came in. My heart sank. The pic below depicts where I shot and where the arrow hit.
After about 20 minutes I climbed down and found my arrow of the first deer: It looked like a straight up liver shot, with dark & grainy blood. What perplexed me was the lack of a blood trail. I’ve tracked liver-shot deer before from firearms and there’s usually blood. I had nothing. Fortunately I knew where he went and I decided to let him stay there for a bit.
I knew the shot on deer #2 wasn’t lethal, however I went to see if there was blood. As suspected, there wasn’t. I followed the area he ran off to and about 50 yards away I found my arrow. It had the dark blood you get from straight up meat. I found one more drop of blood and that was it. To make the deer #2 story short, I spent 4 hours grid-searching for him and found nothing.
Back to deer number one. After finding the 2nd arrow I decided to go back and search for my first deer. It didn’t take long to find him laid out and dead. The entry and exit wounds below show I nailed him through the liver and out the lung. My guess is the grainy liver blood stopped up the exit wound. When I opened the cavity, it was pretty much soup. The deer bled out internally and probably died within minutes of laying down.
Lessons learned:
- You can practice a shot all you want, but once that arrow leaves your bow you are out of control.
- Hunt hot sign, and hunt it hard twice.