tddeangelo
Handloader
- May 18, 2011
- 2,023
- 20
Bow season started here in Pennsylvania on Sept 15. It's been a hot, rainy summer, and mosquitoes are potentially outnumbering humans by about 10,000:1 right now. My Thermacell has been essential gear.
Thurs. Sept 20... I was late getting out of work, late getting to my hunting area, and was generally "not feeling it." Almost didn't go, and almost went home before I got to my stand.
Pushed a deer, but not hard, on my way in to my stand.
But...went in anyway.
20-30 minutes into my sit, a little spike meandered by. Cool.
5 minutes behind him came a racked buck. My first thought was, "nah...pass."
But he hung around a while, and I kept looking him over, till I finally thought, "He gives me a shot, I'm shooting."
He gave me a shot.
At 12 yards, I was drawn and hovering my pin in an opening where I expected him to emerge. He stopped a few steps short, but was in the clear. I had to twist to my right a bit to get on him, and as I did so, I either brushed my trigger on my release or my brain thought it saw my pin in the crease....which it wasn't...but either way, the shaft went on its way and I knew it wasn't where I wanted it.
The bright illuminated nock streaked to the deer like a meteor. I saw it disappear into the deer.....just in FRONT of the front leg.
Ugh. NOT good.
The deer whirled and took off, and at about 30 yards, not 5 seconds into his run, he just flopped over, kicked a few times, and that was it.
On inspection, the arrow entered about an inch forward of the front leg. Went through the front lobe of the near lung, probably cut the far lung, and came out low in the hollow between the neck and front leg. There was blood EVERYWHERE, right from the point of impact. I'm guessing the path the shaft took clipped the jugular and/or carotid on the far side as it exited. The chest was FILLED with blood when I opened him up fully.
So....no Sunday hunting here. Hunted AM/PM on Sat 9/15, pm on Monday 9/17, couldn't hunt Tuesday 9/18, hunted PM on 9/19, and on my 5th sit of the season, my buck tag was punched.
We just had peppersteak stir fry tonight from an eye of round from the deer. Delicious.
Thurs. Sept 20... I was late getting out of work, late getting to my hunting area, and was generally "not feeling it." Almost didn't go, and almost went home before I got to my stand.
Pushed a deer, but not hard, on my way in to my stand.
But...went in anyway.
20-30 minutes into my sit, a little spike meandered by. Cool.
5 minutes behind him came a racked buck. My first thought was, "nah...pass."
But he hung around a while, and I kept looking him over, till I finally thought, "He gives me a shot, I'm shooting."
He gave me a shot.
At 12 yards, I was drawn and hovering my pin in an opening where I expected him to emerge. He stopped a few steps short, but was in the clear. I had to twist to my right a bit to get on him, and as I did so, I either brushed my trigger on my release or my brain thought it saw my pin in the crease....which it wasn't...but either way, the shaft went on its way and I knew it wasn't where I wanted it.
The bright illuminated nock streaked to the deer like a meteor. I saw it disappear into the deer.....just in FRONT of the front leg.
Ugh. NOT good.
The deer whirled and took off, and at about 30 yards, not 5 seconds into his run, he just flopped over, kicked a few times, and that was it.
On inspection, the arrow entered about an inch forward of the front leg. Went through the front lobe of the near lung, probably cut the far lung, and came out low in the hollow between the neck and front leg. There was blood EVERYWHERE, right from the point of impact. I'm guessing the path the shaft took clipped the jugular and/or carotid on the far side as it exited. The chest was FILLED with blood when I opened him up fully.
So....no Sunday hunting here. Hunted AM/PM on Sat 9/15, pm on Monday 9/17, couldn't hunt Tuesday 9/18, hunted PM on 9/19, and on my 5th sit of the season, my buck tag was punched.
We just had peppersteak stir fry tonight from an eye of round from the deer. Delicious.
