Rancid Crabtree
20-01-08, 02:55 PM
I took a day of vacation so I could head up North to the farm for my final bow hunt of the year. The trip is 182 miles. As I neared the farm the snow started and by the time I reached my destination, it was a full blown snow storm. This was the view from my parents driveway at noon..
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c239/212007154/bow_nov_10th/snow1.jpg
I helped my Father put some firewood in his basement and then headed for the woods. With the storm and heavy clouds, I knew it would get dark early. The storm was getting worse as I drove to my spot.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c239/212007154/bow_nov_10th/drive.jpg
I saw this as I was approaching my hunting spot. Snow is really cool to hunt in but it has it’s drawbacks too.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c239/212007154/bow_nov_10th/car_crash.jpg
I was going to hunt an old farmstead with some apple trees and fields that had not been planted in many years but my brother told me that he has been seeing a lot of does and that is what I was after. This is one of the fields on the homestead.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c239/212007154/bow_nov_10th/snow3.jpg
I did not take my treestand because the snow made it easy to get around without making too much noise, that and I could not be sure exactly were I should set up. I decided to still hunt the field edges. The snow was very wet and heavy which made walking very quiet.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c239/212007154/bow_nov_10th/deepsnow.jpg
The wind was from the NNE so I walked into it along the field edges. It was snowing pretty hard now and I was covered with white. It made me blend in pretty good. I could not see very far but I soon picked up movement ahead
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c239/212007154/bow_nov_10th/fawn3.jpg
It was a small fawn that was limping very badly on it’s front right leg. I wanted to put this deer down but I never got closer than 60 yards.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c239/212007154/bow_nov_10th/fawn2.jpg
I would walk a few steps and stop and watch ahead but it was snowing so hard that it made it difficult to pick up movement. I got to the old apple trees and stood near some small pines. The snow started to let up and right before dark it quit all together. It was still a little windy though. I had about 20 minutes of light left when I saw a deer headed towards the apple trees. I saw it was a doe and she was headed straight at me. I was covered in snow and so were the small pines in front of me. When she got to the apple trees, she started to paw the ground as she looked for dinner. She was very close but was facing me, She finally turned and her head went behind the base of one of the apple trees. That was all I needed. I began to draw and as I looked at my bow, I could see a lot of snow on my sight and arrow so I wiped the top of my arrow off with my finger and then my sight. I drew back as she ate her apple and put my pin right on her front leg, I raised it up until it was settled a few inches above the bottom of her chest. I have been telling myself to focus more on aiming and anchoring and in this case, I had all the time in the world. I felt the kisser button on my face and then the string on my nose. The ring of the peep site fits the ring of the sight housing perfectly. This was the most relaxed and settled I had been on any deer this year. I squeezed the trigger on my release and the arrow hit the exact spot I was aiming. I even used good follow through. It was like shooting in my back yard. The doe did a high kick with her back legs and bolted towards the field were she came from. The apple trees are on a small hill and the field and the woods edge where I was standing are lower so I lost her as she ran down the back side of the hill. I was getting dark fast so I walked over to where she was standing to look for sign. This is what I saw.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c239/212007154/bow_nov_10th/impact.jpg
I looked beyond where she was standing and saw a line cut in the snow from my arrow. I dug down through the snow and found it.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c239/212007154/bow_nov_10th/arrow_snow.jpg
The Muzzy Phantom had done it again. That's four deer in one season with the same broadhead.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c239/212007154/bow_nov_10th/muzzysnow.jpg
The snow made it pretty easy to track. She was bleeding almost immediately.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c239/212007154/bow_nov_10th/doe_blood.jpg
I slowly walked to the top of the hill to look down the back side as I was tracking her and was surprised that I did not see her laying within sight. She left in a big darn hurry and her tracks were pretty spread out. I stepped of the distance from one set of tracks to another set that I could see in the distance. The reason I stepped it off was because I could see it was a long way between them. I counted 10 full strides (Nearly 30 feet) from track to track. The reason I could not see the deer was because of the weeds in the field and the fact that she was laying pretty flat on her side. She went a total of 80 yards before crashing. This is the entrance wound.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c239/212007154/bow_nov_10th/nov_doe.jpg
I flipped her over to see the exit wound which was higher on the body than the entrance because she was slightly above my position.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c239/212007154/bow_nov_10th/nov_doe2.jpg
I pulled her back to the field edge and put my camera on a stump to take a field pic. I was pretty wet at this point. This is a big doe. I weigh 320 pounds and you can see by comparison that she is a big old doe.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c239/212007154/bow_nov_10th/nov_doe5.jpg
I made the long walk back to my truck and was able to drive up to the doe so my drag was pretty short. I paid for that by having to get her into my Dodge Ram without any help. It took me a half hour and a few ropes to get her into the back of my truck.
I took her to the registration station and got another Earn-A-Buck sticker (to be used for gun season) Then I took her back to the farm for a gut and a wash. I had a pretty good idea from the entrance and exit holes of where I had hit her and my suspicions were confirmed.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c239/212007154/bow_nov_10th/nov_doe4.jpg
I came home today (Saturday) as I am out of tags ans I could get a head start on butchering. This doe is so long that Her only barely clears the floor when I have it cranked as high as I can get her.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c239/212007154/bow_nov_10th/hanging_doe.jpg
This is why I had such a hard time loading her into my truck by myself. With the guts in, I estimate I was trying to load around 200 pounds.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c239/212007154/bow_nov_10th/scale.jpg
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c239/212007154/bow_nov_10th/snow1.jpg
I helped my Father put some firewood in his basement and then headed for the woods. With the storm and heavy clouds, I knew it would get dark early. The storm was getting worse as I drove to my spot.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c239/212007154/bow_nov_10th/drive.jpg
I saw this as I was approaching my hunting spot. Snow is really cool to hunt in but it has it’s drawbacks too.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c239/212007154/bow_nov_10th/car_crash.jpg
I was going to hunt an old farmstead with some apple trees and fields that had not been planted in many years but my brother told me that he has been seeing a lot of does and that is what I was after. This is one of the fields on the homestead.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c239/212007154/bow_nov_10th/snow3.jpg
I did not take my treestand because the snow made it easy to get around without making too much noise, that and I could not be sure exactly were I should set up. I decided to still hunt the field edges. The snow was very wet and heavy which made walking very quiet.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c239/212007154/bow_nov_10th/deepsnow.jpg
The wind was from the NNE so I walked into it along the field edges. It was snowing pretty hard now and I was covered with white. It made me blend in pretty good. I could not see very far but I soon picked up movement ahead
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c239/212007154/bow_nov_10th/fawn3.jpg
It was a small fawn that was limping very badly on it’s front right leg. I wanted to put this deer down but I never got closer than 60 yards.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c239/212007154/bow_nov_10th/fawn2.jpg
I would walk a few steps and stop and watch ahead but it was snowing so hard that it made it difficult to pick up movement. I got to the old apple trees and stood near some small pines. The snow started to let up and right before dark it quit all together. It was still a little windy though. I had about 20 minutes of light left when I saw a deer headed towards the apple trees. I saw it was a doe and she was headed straight at me. I was covered in snow and so were the small pines in front of me. When she got to the apple trees, she started to paw the ground as she looked for dinner. She was very close but was facing me, She finally turned and her head went behind the base of one of the apple trees. That was all I needed. I began to draw and as I looked at my bow, I could see a lot of snow on my sight and arrow so I wiped the top of my arrow off with my finger and then my sight. I drew back as she ate her apple and put my pin right on her front leg, I raised it up until it was settled a few inches above the bottom of her chest. I have been telling myself to focus more on aiming and anchoring and in this case, I had all the time in the world. I felt the kisser button on my face and then the string on my nose. The ring of the peep site fits the ring of the sight housing perfectly. This was the most relaxed and settled I had been on any deer this year. I squeezed the trigger on my release and the arrow hit the exact spot I was aiming. I even used good follow through. It was like shooting in my back yard. The doe did a high kick with her back legs and bolted towards the field were she came from. The apple trees are on a small hill and the field and the woods edge where I was standing are lower so I lost her as she ran down the back side of the hill. I was getting dark fast so I walked over to where she was standing to look for sign. This is what I saw.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c239/212007154/bow_nov_10th/impact.jpg
I looked beyond where she was standing and saw a line cut in the snow from my arrow. I dug down through the snow and found it.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c239/212007154/bow_nov_10th/arrow_snow.jpg
The Muzzy Phantom had done it again. That's four deer in one season with the same broadhead.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c239/212007154/bow_nov_10th/muzzysnow.jpg
The snow made it pretty easy to track. She was bleeding almost immediately.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c239/212007154/bow_nov_10th/doe_blood.jpg
I slowly walked to the top of the hill to look down the back side as I was tracking her and was surprised that I did not see her laying within sight. She left in a big darn hurry and her tracks were pretty spread out. I stepped of the distance from one set of tracks to another set that I could see in the distance. The reason I stepped it off was because I could see it was a long way between them. I counted 10 full strides (Nearly 30 feet) from track to track. The reason I could not see the deer was because of the weeds in the field and the fact that she was laying pretty flat on her side. She went a total of 80 yards before crashing. This is the entrance wound.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c239/212007154/bow_nov_10th/nov_doe.jpg
I flipped her over to see the exit wound which was higher on the body than the entrance because she was slightly above my position.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c239/212007154/bow_nov_10th/nov_doe2.jpg
I pulled her back to the field edge and put my camera on a stump to take a field pic. I was pretty wet at this point. This is a big doe. I weigh 320 pounds and you can see by comparison that she is a big old doe.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c239/212007154/bow_nov_10th/nov_doe5.jpg
I made the long walk back to my truck and was able to drive up to the doe so my drag was pretty short. I paid for that by having to get her into my Dodge Ram without any help. It took me a half hour and a few ropes to get her into the back of my truck.
I took her to the registration station and got another Earn-A-Buck sticker (to be used for gun season) Then I took her back to the farm for a gut and a wash. I had a pretty good idea from the entrance and exit holes of where I had hit her and my suspicions were confirmed.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c239/212007154/bow_nov_10th/nov_doe4.jpg
I came home today (Saturday) as I am out of tags ans I could get a head start on butchering. This doe is so long that Her only barely clears the floor when I have it cranked as high as I can get her.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c239/212007154/bow_nov_10th/hanging_doe.jpg
This is why I had such a hard time loading her into my truck by myself. With the guts in, I estimate I was trying to load around 200 pounds.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c239/212007154/bow_nov_10th/scale.jpg