TooBigToFit
Well-Known Member
(The title kinda makes it sound like I made a bad shot. Rest assured, no critters were maimed with sharp pointy things)
So I've been working. A lot. Skipping vacation days that I had set aside to hunt, working 12 hour days, all that stuff. Not fun, and it's been affecting me mentally and physically, but I figured it's all a part of being an adult sometimes. Work hard, play hard.
As a result, it's been about a month since I've had any meaningful hangtime. I only hunted about a total of 8 hours up until today (see above). During the summer through about late September, early October, I had practiced at least once a week, if not twice a week (I'd have done it more frequently, but I have to drive to my club to practice, since I live in an apartment). During that, I tried to practice everything. On the ground, at height, at various distances, wearing a leafy jacket, wearing a mask, all 4 shot types in a saddle on both 3D and block targets. General shooting too - archery is a new thing to me and I had gotten my bow only earlier this year.
So I said that I would hunt today. Most of PA is done with archery season, but WMU 2B is open up until firearms opens next Saturday. Man has it gotten cold! Packed a jacket and a thick mask sorta deal into my gear. Hadn't hunted with it before, but figured it'd be similar to the leafy jacket and mask I tried earlier in the year. Somehow only had 1 glove with my gear, even though I generally keep all my hunting gear in a tote in my truck. Bummer, but I'll suck it up.
Got to my spot, checked the wind, and set up in a tree just above some low lying branches for some nice concealment. Only about 12 feet up, given my 4 Heliums, lack of aiders, and short limbs, but I figured that would be all I needed. It was getting light just as I got onto my platform, and I was feeling good. Turkeys were making all sorts of a commotion about 50 yards away, squirrels running about. I pulled out my backband and took a nap. I figured light sleeping is better than me being fully awake and stirring around needlessly.
Around 8:00, a light rustling awakened me, coming at around the 10:00 position. It wasn't even as loud as a squirrel, but I figured I'd check. Ah, a pair of antlers floating in the brush, the bits of white. It was an 8 point buck, maybe not the nicest I've seen on my camera, but bird in hand worth 2 in the bush and all. Pulled my hands out of my pocket, slid my back band down, grabbed my bow, and clipped on my release. At this point, he's less than 15 yards away, walking towards my tree and starting to turn to his left (my right). I knew that he would soon be broadside, traveling towards the 2:00 position. I decided to draw, and that's when everything went awry.
The bow string hit my bridge. I was very confused, I practiced this a crap ton, I didn't think I changed anything with my setup, why is this happening? The buck seemed to be oblivious to all of this, and that's when I pushed my luck too far. I started shifting around trying to get my bow drawn, to no avail. Eventually he noticed something was up, gave a couple of stomps, then ran off, but only about 20 yards behind some brush. He looked back, kinda confused, then disappeared. I was disappointed, but decided to stick around until noon.
About 2 hours later, I was looking around, and noticed something. I looked at my shadow on the forest floor, and noticed there was some long stick thing coming from my butt. In my haste to get settled in, I never stowed away my lineman's belt, and it was just hanging from my saddle the entire hunt. I'm not sure if that's what spooked the deer, or if it had followed it up into the tree where he noticed it, or if it was just my silly bow draw dance that spooked him.
With the 4 hours worth of reflection in a tree, this is what I've gleaned from the situation so far...
1) My #1 mistake was that I didn't get in a position where I could effectively draw my bow and have good form. I didn't move my feet to get in a position where I could make that 12:00 shot, nor did I point my bow at the 3:00 position, draw then move. I just looked at the deer, drew, and screwed up. I'm not sure why I had done this. I suspect that I had been so focused on concealing my movement by placing the tree between the deer and me (the #1 reason why I had gone for a saddle in the first place), that I didn't put enough thought into drawing my bow and getting good form.
2) I was so worried about getting settled in that I had forgotten to put my lineman's belt away. This certainly couldn't have helped. Slow and steady...
3) I'm not sure if it contributed to the initial situation, but my clothing definitely felt different. After I spooked off the deer. I had practiced drawing in all of the shot angles, and it was definitely harder for me to get good form.
On the positive side...
4) The tree is definitely good for concealment. I'm still a fan of the saddle because of this, I just need to get my technique down better.
5) When in doubt, hunt. There's only so many days in the season, and even though I didn't get anything, I certainly feel better than yesterday.
That buck would have been my first antlered buck, my first bow deer, and my first saddle deer. It's time to trade the bow for the Ithaca 37. The next time I'll have to hunt is during the firearms season (I might only have 2 days to hunt, sadly). But I'd still like to get something with the bow. Maybe after Christmas...
So I've been working. A lot. Skipping vacation days that I had set aside to hunt, working 12 hour days, all that stuff. Not fun, and it's been affecting me mentally and physically, but I figured it's all a part of being an adult sometimes. Work hard, play hard.
As a result, it's been about a month since I've had any meaningful hangtime. I only hunted about a total of 8 hours up until today (see above). During the summer through about late September, early October, I had practiced at least once a week, if not twice a week (I'd have done it more frequently, but I have to drive to my club to practice, since I live in an apartment). During that, I tried to practice everything. On the ground, at height, at various distances, wearing a leafy jacket, wearing a mask, all 4 shot types in a saddle on both 3D and block targets. General shooting too - archery is a new thing to me and I had gotten my bow only earlier this year.
So I said that I would hunt today. Most of PA is done with archery season, but WMU 2B is open up until firearms opens next Saturday. Man has it gotten cold! Packed a jacket and a thick mask sorta deal into my gear. Hadn't hunted with it before, but figured it'd be similar to the leafy jacket and mask I tried earlier in the year. Somehow only had 1 glove with my gear, even though I generally keep all my hunting gear in a tote in my truck. Bummer, but I'll suck it up.
Got to my spot, checked the wind, and set up in a tree just above some low lying branches for some nice concealment. Only about 12 feet up, given my 4 Heliums, lack of aiders, and short limbs, but I figured that would be all I needed. It was getting light just as I got onto my platform, and I was feeling good. Turkeys were making all sorts of a commotion about 50 yards away, squirrels running about. I pulled out my backband and took a nap. I figured light sleeping is better than me being fully awake and stirring around needlessly.
Around 8:00, a light rustling awakened me, coming at around the 10:00 position. It wasn't even as loud as a squirrel, but I figured I'd check. Ah, a pair of antlers floating in the brush, the bits of white. It was an 8 point buck, maybe not the nicest I've seen on my camera, but bird in hand worth 2 in the bush and all. Pulled my hands out of my pocket, slid my back band down, grabbed my bow, and clipped on my release. At this point, he's less than 15 yards away, walking towards my tree and starting to turn to his left (my right). I knew that he would soon be broadside, traveling towards the 2:00 position. I decided to draw, and that's when everything went awry.
The bow string hit my bridge. I was very confused, I practiced this a crap ton, I didn't think I changed anything with my setup, why is this happening? The buck seemed to be oblivious to all of this, and that's when I pushed my luck too far. I started shifting around trying to get my bow drawn, to no avail. Eventually he noticed something was up, gave a couple of stomps, then ran off, but only about 20 yards behind some brush. He looked back, kinda confused, then disappeared. I was disappointed, but decided to stick around until noon.
About 2 hours later, I was looking around, and noticed something. I looked at my shadow on the forest floor, and noticed there was some long stick thing coming from my butt. In my haste to get settled in, I never stowed away my lineman's belt, and it was just hanging from my saddle the entire hunt. I'm not sure if that's what spooked the deer, or if it had followed it up into the tree where he noticed it, or if it was just my silly bow draw dance that spooked him.
With the 4 hours worth of reflection in a tree, this is what I've gleaned from the situation so far...
1) My #1 mistake was that I didn't get in a position where I could effectively draw my bow and have good form. I didn't move my feet to get in a position where I could make that 12:00 shot, nor did I point my bow at the 3:00 position, draw then move. I just looked at the deer, drew, and screwed up. I'm not sure why I had done this. I suspect that I had been so focused on concealing my movement by placing the tree between the deer and me (the #1 reason why I had gone for a saddle in the first place), that I didn't put enough thought into drawing my bow and getting good form.
2) I was so worried about getting settled in that I had forgotten to put my lineman's belt away. This certainly couldn't have helped. Slow and steady...
3) I'm not sure if it contributed to the initial situation, but my clothing definitely felt different. After I spooked off the deer. I had practiced drawing in all of the shot angles, and it was definitely harder for me to get good form.
On the positive side...
4) The tree is definitely good for concealment. I'm still a fan of the saddle because of this, I just need to get my technique down better.
5) When in doubt, hunt. There's only so many days in the season, and even though I didn't get anything, I certainly feel better than yesterday.
That buck would have been my first antlered buck, my first bow deer, and my first saddle deer. It's time to trade the bow for the Ithaca 37. The next time I'll have to hunt is during the firearms season (I might only have 2 days to hunt, sadly). But I'd still like to get something with the bow. Maybe after Christmas...