2017/10/30 22:03:58
Guest
My 13 year old son is one of those annoying people who decides to do something and works at it till he can do it.  Juggling.  Playing the guitar.  Walking on his hands across a room.  Fly fishing.  Every sport he's ever played.  Not a brag, just matter of fact.  We all know that guy, who no matter what it seems he does turns out well.  He certainly didn't get that from me.  Maybe a little bit from my wife.  
 
He started hunting when he was 9, on the mentored tag.  He shot a spike that year.  At age 11, he shot a 9 point.  Guns were too easy for him, he said.  So I bought him/us a crossbow.  He hunted with it a few years, but last year, after he turned 13, he was all about a vertical bow.  So I bought him a Matthews Mission for Christmas.  Not a shared bow, since he's a lefty and I'm not.  
 
He's shot that bow at least 4 days a week since December 25, 2016.  Often times - and especially the last few months - 7 days a week.  20-30 minutes a day.  He wanted to be good.  
 
A few weeks before archery season this year, I set up an old 10' ladder stand for him in a hot corner of a 30 acre property that we hunt nearby.  We cut shooting lanes.  Put up a trail cam and got pics of at least 6 different bucks in only 3 days.  He hasn't had much time to hunt this fall with sports, and frankly, it's not the same hunting on my own without him.  
 
This evening, he hustled home from a pre season basketball workout, hit the shower and got in his stand at 5:45.  Throughout my travels for work today, I noticed LOTS of dead deer, and saw a couple of young bucks out cruising around looking for love.  I told him this was gonna be a good night.  
 
A 6:14 he let one fly at 26 yards at a big doe.  
 
The arrow:
 

 
 
Man, that looked good!  But there was hardly any blood, after we picked up the trail 20 minutes after the shot.  Just tiny drops here and there.  I couldn't believe there wasn't more with the way that arrow looked.  We went slowly.  Fortunately, she kicked up lots of leaves on her death run, but the blood was sparse.  Just 40 yards or so from where she stood when he shot, I saw the telltale white, piled up.  As you can see, she was dead on her feet.  That's the entry wound from the 100 gr. Ramcat.  He got both lungs and clipped the liver on the exit.  
 

 
And here he is, with his latest trophy:
 

 
 
 
 
2017/10/30 22:07:10
bingsbaits
Excellent, tell that young man well done...
 
2017/10/30 23:26:19
Fisherlady2
Give him a big congrats! That smile says 'hooked for life' ! 
2017/10/31 01:41:24
Big Tuna
Congrats,beautiful. That's what an arrow should look like,well placed shot. 
2017/10/31 04:19:28
CRAPPIE_SLAYER
Congrats on a nice shot and a fine looking doe.
2017/10/31 05:52:17
DarDys
That is just great! Congrats to the young man. And Dad too.
2017/10/31 07:41:03
eyesandgillz
Tell him Congrats Dave!  
2017/10/31 10:01:42
r3g3
Congrats to the young Hunter---and his Dad.
 
Have had that same high shot hitting liver and the top of both lungs. It never shows a decent blood trail, but the Deer is always dead quickly.
Makes a difficult tracking job in thick stuff.
Can make a novice nuts with so much blood on the arrow but hardly enough to find- one little drop here and there- on the ground.
 
2017/10/31 10:40:59
Guest
r3g3
Congrats to the young Hunter---and his Dad.
 
Have had that same high shot hitting liver and the top of both lungs. It never shows a decent blood trail, but the Deer is always dead quickly.
Makes a difficult tracking job in thick stuff.
Can make a novice nuts with so much blood on the arrow but hardly enough to find- one little drop here and there- on the ground.
 




Boy ain't that the truth.  I only ever shot one deer with a bow in my life over 20 years ago, and there was blood everywhere.  Easy tracking job.  Every deer but 1 I've shot with a gun dropped where I shot it.  Both that he shot with the gun dropped in their tracks.  So I'm by no means a skilled tracker with a lot of experience under my belt.  
 
I saw that arrow and knew for sure that was a dead deer.  But boy did the lack of blood make me start thinking we might have a long night ahead of us.  There was very little until that pile of lung butter where she fell.  Fortunately, she ran to open woods and was easy to see.  I'm sure she was dead within a matter of minutes after the shot.   
 
Thanks for all the compliments!
 
Heading back out this evening so he can hopefully tag a buck.  
 
I forgot to have a pen with me, so I sent him back to the car to get one.  When he was walking out of the woods, there was a big 10 pt working a scrape line that he's hoping to whack tonight.  
2017/10/31 13:18:47
mopars0
Congrats to the young guy 👍👍... excellent job and great shot...
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