Die Hard Bowhunter!

I went hunting Saturday with my buddy Jimmy and his nephew Andy on some public land in Pine City, Minnesota.  It was the third weekend of firearms season.  Jimmy and Andy were both sporting their rifles and I had my PSE compound bow.  This is my third season of bow hunting, I had yet to take a deer with a bow.  My expectations were high, yet I was feeling discouraged by the unsuccessful hunting trips that preceded this one.  I thought my chances of taking a deer would improve if I hunted during rifle season, because it usually coincides with the rut.  This was my year to take a deer with my bow, I could feel it.  

The three of us arrived at the campsite in Pine City the night before.  Andy arrived first and set up camp.  He had a roaring fire waiting for us.  Jimmy brought up some cold beers.  We stayed up until about 11am, chatting about hunting, guns, cars, and various other topics.   Camping is normally tough for me on the first night, and this night was no exception.  It was very cold, and Andy snored like a disgruntled bear.  A few guys from South Eastern Minnesota set up camp at about 2-3am.  It was one of the longest sleepless nights that I can remember.  

Saturday morning came, eventually!  Jimmy and I immediately started our vehicles so that we can have some heat.  We quickly got our hunting gear ready and had some Blueberry Pop Tarts for breakfast.  We decided to hunt close to the camp site and hit the trails about 1/2 hour before sunrise.  Jimmy and Andy were able to find places to hang their stands.  I had a difficult time choosing a spot, and ended up posting in various places.  Neither of us saw a deer.  It was a cold, bitter morning.  I think all three of us eventually scouted around just to keep warm.  

We met up for a good brunch at 10-10:30am.  There was some interesting and fun pre-brunch activities.  Neighbor hunters had a big doe hanging on a tree in their camp site.  They hit it with their truck as they were driving up.  As they were sharing the story with us, one of them spotted a "big buck" swimming across the river.  Those guys all scrambled to grab their rifles and went chasing after it.  I'm assuming it was a fantom buck, because Jimmy, Andy and I didn't see a thing.   This prompted us to quickly cook our brunch so that we can get back to hunting.  The three of us had hash browns, eggs, and bacon for breakfast.  It was delicious.  

After lunch, I was itching to get back out there and hunt.  I still had not found a place to hang my stand.  Jimmy and Andy found a nice place to park, and took naps (slackers).  I spent a couple of hours lugging my portable tree stand around hoping to find the perfect spot.  I could not find many signs of deer activity and there were many hunters scattered throughout the woods.  I finally settled on a spot and hung my stand.  The picture above is the view I shot from my stand.  If you look closely, you can see a heavily trotted deer path just right of the tree in the center of the picture.  This path was one of the only signs I could find of recent deer activity, and I looked for hours.  Below is another view from the stand I hunted from, you can see the hiking bath that followed the stream.  My hope was that I could either see deer on this hiking path, or on the deer path that crossed the stream.

The afternoon hunt was tough.  I was so tired from the sleepless night before.  My eyes were very heavy and I kept getting down to walk so that I didn't doze off and fall out of my stand.  When I was walking, I bumped into two other deer hunters wandering around.  This with bothersome for me, but what can I do as we are on public land.  I felt pressure on all sides.  Andy was on one side, and two other hunters on the other.  As it got later, I returned to my stand to wait out the evening with feelings of pessimism and defeat.  As I was watching for deer, another hunter walk by me (smoking a cigarette I might add).  the wise words of the buck slayer (Jimmy) came to mind: "Don, you can't give up.  That deer can come at any moment!"  Jim had already bagged a 9 point buck this year, and a much larger buck two years ago.

About a half of an hour later, I saw this doe bouncing along towards me.  My heart began to race.  The deer walked down the deer trotted path, stopped for some water, and walked up the hill towards me.  As I began to draw my bow, my mittens (archery precision shooting mittens, that is) bumped my trigger release and I pre-maturely shot.  In disbelief I scrambled to re-nock another arrow.  Luckily the deer wasn't spooked.  The misfire caused her to pause long enough for me to reset, draw and shoot.  Perfect shot right in the cage.  She ran about ten yards and fell.  I had taken my first deer with a bow.  

Now I know a lot of you are laughing about the size of my deer.  It is about the size of a large dog.  Sure it doesn't have a huge rack.  I am still grateful for the yummy venison that I will have in my freezer.  When bow hunting this late in the season, you take what you can get.  And, don't tell my wife, I still have one more tag that I can fill by the end of December.   Anybody up for some late season buck hunting?