# An early morning..(long)



## Onion (Apr 10, 2004)

The blaring of the alarm clock pierces my slumber. 4:30 a.m. my God is this really worth it? Damn daylight savings time. Dog..get over here and eat your food. Ok hot water...much better now, able to form full thoughts. Take the dog outside and grab the paper. A cold pepsi and an apple for breakfast. Finally a truck pulls into the driveway, I pile my equipment in the bed and we are off.

Its an hour drive to the farm, we are going to be late for the sunrise. Oh well, I've had worse days. We are headed to a farm in Morrow, OH. Last year we didn't see any deer on the property until after gun season. This year things are a little different. Last weekend we saw six deer, maybe things are changing in our favor.

As usual we go over our strategy on the way to the hunt. I have recently finished a book about using topos and aerial photos to find deer. I have decided to abandon my usual blinds in favor of a spot I picked based on the information I read. He is going to stay in his old blind.

The next question is always the same: "You gonna wait for the big boy?"

The answer is always the same too: "Nope, first deer in range gets it."

You see, the landowner wants the deer population thinned as much as possible and I haven't killed a deer during archery season. Plus I haven't filled a tag yet this year.

As we split up we wish each other luck and head to our respective spots. I found a good cedar tree to sit in front of and start clearing the leaves. No time to build a blind, I'll just have to trust the camouflage. I spread a little doe in estrous scent in a semicircle 25 yards from the "blind". 

The time passes slowly. About 70 yards away I hear 'crunch crunch ....crunch crunch". I can see them now, 2 deer, impossible to tell if they have racks or not. They move slowly away. Good, they didn't spook, the wind is in my favor. Another 30 minutes goes by, its getting hard to keep my eyes open......

Here they come. Behind me in the field...blast it. They are in the tall grass. Moving quite a bit. Nothing now. Great...at least one, maybe more bed down thirty yards away.

Now grunting, LOTS of grunting. Too much grunting. Never heard a deer grunt that many times that loud. Ed doesn't have a grunt tube, anyway he is 400 yards away, this grunting is right in my backyard. Now a massive racket. Great, I have somone hunting 50 yards away who doesn't have a clue how to use a set of antlers. My God he is trying to break those antlers!

Finally he stops, this is not good. Nothing is going to come to that racket. It couldn't sound more unnatural than that. Should I move? Should I go see if he is on the wrong property? Bah..chalk it up to bad luck and find a new spot for the afternoon.

Fifteen minutes later and he is back at it. Grunting and rattling his butt off. Five minutes of racket and he is finally done.

THWACK! Holy cow he shot at something! I can't believe something came in to that racket. Well maybe now he will leave, of course it will be my luck that he ends up spooking every deer in a 2 mile radius.

Fifteen minutes pass and I'll be damned if he doesn't start grunting AGAIN! He missed. Great, now I really want to move. Of course he did apparently bring one in last time. Maybe I'll stick it out and try to get those bedded deer on the way out. Check the watch, 8:15. I'll give it another hour. THWACK! He shot again! This time I hear a few loud crashes. I look behind me into the field and there he is. This is a deer who doesn't seem to know exactly what is going on.

He is a big boy, corn and bean fed obviously. His rack isn't very impressive but he would provide a lot of meat. His head is down now. Moving towards my side of the field. He enters the woods. Slowly I turn and pick my shooting lane. He is still a good 50 yards away but I can clearly see him through the brush.

There! Head up and lip curled, he smelled the scents I put out. Head down and on his way towards me. Stop and eat some, check the scent move some more. Speed up! he is taking forever!

Heading into my lane now, 30 yards away. NO! He is walking right towards me. I am looking through my pin right at his forehead. He is looking right at me, don't move now, can't take this shot but he may still give me another. There you go boy, she is close, move on and find her. He decides he was seeing things and turns to look for that hot doe. Through my next lane too fast. I can see his rack now. Really unimpressive, 4 points at the absolute best. My own statements go through my head. First deer in range....my mind is made up.

The next lane is my last chance. The world stops spinning. I stop breathing. His front shoulder moves past the pin...THWACK! I can see the bolt flying towards him. THUMP!. Time is insantly back to real time. He turns around in midair and bolts. I lose sight of him in the trees. Safe to breathe now. Let him go for 30 minutes, don't push a wounded animal. Check my watch, 8:30 a.m.

Ten minutes later I can't stand it anymore. Did I hit him? How could he move like that if I hit him in the chest? Did he stay on the property? Start moving towards where he was standing. There is my bolt. Its covered in blood. Dark red blood. Ok I feel much better now. I have a good blood trail and I will be able to find him. I go to the truck and stow my gear. At 9:00 I am standing over him filling out my tag. Bill Jordan wouldn't have shot him, heck, most of the people I know wouldn't have shot him. None of that matters though.

I have taken my first archery deer.


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## mrtwister_jbo (Apr 7, 2004)

good job onion...... thumbs up anydeer with a bow is a good deer sounds like some good eating 2 me!!!!!!!!!!!  
mrtwister_jbo


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## AEFISHING (Apr 25, 2004)

Great story. So was all that racket another hunter or just deer?


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## Shortdrift (Apr 5, 2004)

I'm sure you will remember every detail of that hunt and shot for the rest of your life. I still can recall in detail the first buck I ever got with an arrow and everything leading up to the shot. I also jump at the chance to share it with someone. The deer dressed out at 180 pounds but was a small racked eight point. I have the antlers and look at them quite often.


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## Richs63Corvair (Apr 6, 2004)

Way to go Onion. Wish my day went that way.................Rich


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## ski (May 13, 2004)

Great Job!!

Remember, there is more to hunting than just a big rack.

ski


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## TheKing (Apr 15, 2004)

Congrats and thanks for telling the story. Enjoyable to read!

I think you should tell one about the first meal after the kill and also on the field dressing experience. But please, not both in the same thread. Your descriptions are just too real.


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## Fish-N-Fool (Apr 12, 2004)

You'll never forget your first! My first was a smaller buck too and I've taken many much larger since, but that first one is always special.  

And never make decisions based on the opinion of others. If you want to harvest the first buck you see, go for it. Every deer with a bow is a trophy.


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## ARGEE (Apr 5, 2004)

Thats Great..taking A Deer W/a Bow Is Quite A Accoslament {sp}?.you Will Never Forget It.when I Took My First Deer W/ A Bow It Was 1 Of The Greatest Days Of My Life......


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## Onion (Apr 10, 2004)

Thanks everyone!

The field dressing is never a pleasant experience for me 

I am a bit of a gagger I'm afraid. On this deer especially I thought I may have gotten a bit of stomach because of the smell around him. Turns out the shot was a good solid double lung hit. The smell was his tarsals, which I had never smelled before.

I believe the racket was another hunter although I never did investigate. I suppose I should have at least said thanks!


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## truck (Apr 12, 2004)

congrats on your first bowkill!!!Good story also


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## Onion (Apr 10, 2004)

I just checked the antlers and upon recalculation he was a 5 pointer.

The points count if they are only 1.5 " right?


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