# Almost Unbearable...



## olwhitee (Apr 10, 2004)

Hopefully you whitetail veterans can get me through this....lol

I have been hunting deer with shotgun and muzzle loader yearly and have always been successful in harvesting does which was fine with me because I mainly hunt for the meat. 
This year my buddy has turned me on to bow hunting and I am not sure if my ticker will hold out. I scared off the first buck of the season a few weeks ago by being too anxious, my camo coat stuck on the tree bark and made a velcro like sound as I leaned forward to try to catch a better peak at the deer.

The next week I had a beautiful ten point buck walk right in front of me. He was forty yards out and I picked my only clearing and waited. When he entered the lane, I tried to mouth grunt to get him to stop but found that my mouth was so dry from breathing hard that I could only manage a faint pre pubescent type sound that I had never heard myself make before. The buck never stopped cruising and eventually trailed off into oblivion.

So today I get back out and right after dawn I see the same ten point buck making his way from my left. He slowly moves closer and closer and it was only a matter of yards until I could let an arrow fly, when suddenly he quartered away facing the bean field behind me. Then he took off on a mad dash back the way he had came, and I saw that a doe was sneaking behind me and he had caught her. She was off to the races with him following.

I know that this is all part of hunting, and in a weird way this is what makes it fun. I am hooked on bow hunting. I tease my buddy and tell him that I would of been better off if he had got me started on crack instead of bow hunting....lol

Just wanted to share some of my first trials of bow hunting. Hope you are all having a good season as well.


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## postalhunter1 (Jun 5, 2010)

Welcome to the madness!! There are some things you should know, and it seems that you have already learned. This sport has an awfully low success rate. I have been missing deer with a bow for years. I have every excuse ever created. Equipment failure, bad weather, other hunters, unknown yardage, buck fever, doe fever, yearling fever, wrong release, dropped my shooting arm too fast, I was asleep, I was peeing, I was eating lunch, I was playing on the iPhone, I was day dreaming. I hope this makes you feel better!! You will get it, persistence & patience. 


God, Family, Hunting......


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## Mad-Eye Moody (May 27, 2008)

It's great to be excited by it. When it isn't that way for you anymore, it's time to quit.

Don't take up turkey hunting. It will probably put you over the edge.


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## billk (Feb 2, 2008)

Hooked like a rat on crack.


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## olwhitee (Apr 10, 2004)

Thanks for the support guys, lol 
I will keep with it and see what this turns out. 

Madeye: I love turkey hunting as well. Guess I am a glutton for punishment.


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## Hetfieldinn (May 17, 2004)

Deer hunting is like a box of chocolates................


I still get the shakes when I see a doe that I think is going to come within shooting range. If I ever stop getting that excited, I'll give it up.


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## FISHIN 2 (Jun 22, 2005)

Hetfieldinn said:


> Deer hunting is like a box of chocolates................
> 
> 
> I still get the shakes when I see a doe that I think is going to come within shooting range. If I ever stop getting that excited, I'll give it up.



Me too. Love that energizing feeling ,kinda makes ya feel like a 16 yr old goin on a first date , will it happen or won,t it !!! Mike


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## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

back when my little brother and me use to bow hunt we didnt measure our success by how many deer we killed, but how many we seen. if we got them close enough to get our blood pumping then it was a good hunt. bow hunting is more about being out there and just enjoying the hunt. our success rate wasnt very high on killing deer. but just about every hunt was a good hunt for atleast one of us.
sherman


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## jlami (Jan 28, 2011)

sherman51 said:


> back when my little brother and me use to bow hunt we didnt measure our success by how many deer we killed, but how many we seen. if we got them close enough to get our blood pumping then it was a good hunt. bow hunting is more about being out there and just enjoying the hunt. our success rate wasnt very high on killing deer. but just about every hunt was a good hunt for atleast one of us.
> sherman


Well said

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## FISH DINNER (Jul 23, 2010)

I have to admit, the first two posts had me almost falling off my chair laughing. The pre-pubescent grunt and the excuses, absolutely hilarious. Keep at it though Whitee, that adrenaline rush will always be there. I have days where my heart is beating out of my chest and I walk out of the woods thinking, "Why the heck am I doing this to myself? I should take up a less stressful hobby." The next day (or next couple of days) I find myself once again climbing a tree for more punishment. Its addicting and you would be hard pressed to find something else (that's legal) capable of giving you such a rush. Its a wonder there aren't masses of us bowhunters dropping dead out of trees from heart attacks every year...knock on wood..


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## brewkettle (Sep 7, 2006)

Been in the woods a lot this year. I have over 1500 trail cam pics showing some fantastic bucks on our property. This year I have committed to trophy hunt. That has given me some awesome close encounters with not only small to average bucks, but scores of does. Lots of them at under 10 yards. I have only been busted once this season by staying focused on scent control and wind direction. 

This weekend even though I did not shoot anything made me feel like an eight year old on Christmas morning. I hunted Saturday evening, Sunday morning, afternoon and evening.

I lost track but was well withing range of over 40 deer! Last night I could not even get out of my stand until 6:45 because the Oak flat I was hunting was covered with deer. Lots of bucks chasing does and running every which direction. I thought I was gonna have a heart attack. Finally the one I am after started working his way toward me at 5:41. He presented a 5 yard shot @ 5:55 and I could not see him through my scope because of the low light conditions. 

Oh well. He is still out there and so am I. The game continues. But, after 30 years of hunting. I can say that my best day ever in the woods was the day I didn't shoot a thing. I think it must be my old age creeping up on me.


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## olwhitee (Apr 10, 2004)

Well, as a follow up, I went out tonight and was able to get a shot at the big ten point that I had been seeing. I had a good shot at 40 yards and shot a bit low hitting him midway back. Arrow was full of blood with no gut smell. Waited about 30 minutes (seemed like 5 years) and went to look for the arrow. I saw a blood trail, not the best but definitely a trail to follow. Waited another 30 minutes for my buddy to show up and we went to tracking. We were able to follow his trail all the way to the river, where he crossed onto somebody else's land. 

We decided to call it a night and hope he beds down on the other side. Gonna get up tomorrow and go beg permission to track my deer. I feel both sad and anxious right now. 

I feel that I owe it to the hunting community to say that I took a shot that I felt was a good shot and that I was capable of making. I am not sure why I hit low. I watched this buck pass by me two other times and passed the shot do to not having a clear lane. Hopefully we can retrieve him and I will be able to post some awesome pics of my first buck tomorrow. Not sure how much sleep I will get, but wich me luck.


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## BaddFish (Jun 20, 2009)

I wish you luck on your buck!


At least it didn't rain last night- look forward to seeing your pics!


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## DLarrick (May 31, 2011)

good luck man, hopefully he is piled up right on the other side. keep us posted


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## olwhitee (Apr 10, 2004)

He was 50 yards on the other side of the river. Found him this morning. Very excited about this buck. Will post some photos asap


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## olwhitee (Apr 10, 2004)

Finally figured out how to post a photo. I am going to start another thread with the story of this buck and some more photos if anyone is interested.

Thanks for the support, it was a learning experience. Good luck to everyone.


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## BaddFish (Jun 20, 2009)

Awesome man! great buck!


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## davycrockett (Apr 9, 2005)

Great buck! The key words to this addictive sport of bow hunting is persistence and patience. I'm glad it came together for you. Treasure the harvest of the animal cause you don't know when you may get another! I've been humbled many times after harvesting a deer only to get skunked on later hunts. Welcome to the madness!


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