It was the 1st of November 2003 when I headed to the woods in the early morning hours, way before the forest would start to wake. As I sat waiting for the sunrise, I remembered back to seven years earlier, when I used this very same stand to shoot my first buck from. My mind drifted back to my very first season of bow hunting...
On October 27 1996 my husband, Jim and I left our warm, cozy, farmhouse in the early morning hours in order to reach our stands way before sunlight. Reaching our field drive with time to spare, we parked and started to slowly walk to our stands while Jim whispered a game plan to me. He said, "Don’t leave your stand before I get to you okay?" I whispered, "Why?" He says, "Because I’m going to leave my stand about 7:30 and walk the big ridge around, I may jump a buck and push him to you, so be ready!" I say, "Okay." With our game plan in place we whispered our good lucks to each other and headed down different paths to our stands.
The morning seemed to slowly pass by, until a few does and fawns appeared! I huddled close to my tree shivering just a bit, as I watched them feeding on acorns in the early morning sunrise. It was very peaceful and serene with the wind softly blowing my scent away from the main trail. Every so often I would look to my left and then to my right, looking for a buck that may be headed my way. I understood more and more why my husband lived for bow hunting.
At the time I didn’t realize it, but it was 7:35, when I looked to the left and back to the right as I caught a glimpse of movement coming my way! Had I kept track of the time like Jim told me to, I would have been ready with bow in hand. At the first glance, I could see that it was a good buck and he was walking briskly up the main trail right to me! In one smooth motion I reached for my bow! As the buck’s head went behind a tree, I drew my bow. Seconds later he had reached my shooting lane and I grunted softly to stop him. I picked a spot, and released my arrow! It zipped completely through him! My eyes were big with excitement as I wondered if I had made a good shot. I watched him dart behind my stand, taking the same trail that I had walked on earlier that morning. Jim taught me to always watch to see where they run, never take your eye off of them, until they fall or run out of sight!
Being more excited than I have ever been in my life, I looked down at the ground where he had stood just moments before. There the arrow laid just 10 yards away. With so much excitement running through my body, I lowered my bow and carefully climbed down my tree. I picked up the arrow and instantly seen all the good sign! "YES" I DID IT! My first bow harvest and a good buck to boot! It all came so natural to me that I couldn’t believe it! Why had I grunted with my mouth to stop him? Jim hadn’t taught me that? Instinct, I guess? I just instantly did it when I seen that he had no idea of stopping. At that point, I knew that bow hunting was always going to be a very big part of my life. I was definitely hooked!
Minutes later I see Jim approaching me as he walked up the same trail my buck had taken just moments before. I was so excited! I started yelling, "I shot a nice buck, I’m not sure, but I think he’s an 8 point!" He says, "Shhh", and hushes me up, reminding me that we are still in the woods and that we needed to use a whisper so number one that we wouldn’t disturb any other deer that may be in the area and number two, so that we do not disturb the buck I had just shot, incase he was still alive and lying close by. I never knew the importance of being quiet after the shot. There was so much to learn and I was learning it so fast! I then started jumping up and down telling him what had unfolded. To my amazement he started to tell me what my buck looked like! I said, "How do you know?" He told me that he had jumped an 8 point buck when he was walking the ridge around, and that it looked as if he was headed my way. (Hence the reason he wanted me to stay in my stand until he got there).
So I showed Jim the good sign. We followed it, and it led us straight back to our truck, which was parked about 100 yards away. I looked over, and there lay my 8 point buck only 15 yards from our truck! I had made a double lung shot and he had expired fast. Jim’s plan had worked and I had my first bow kill under my belt, and a taste of the great sport called bow hunting. I ran to him and held up his head, looking at the greatest first bow kill of the century… to me anyhow! He was perfect! Jim was so proud of me. A week later, Jim and I were engaged! He figured he had better keep me around since I had officially become his new bow hunting partner!
Suddenly, my heart starts to pound, as I hear the snap of a stick and the rustling of the crisp fallen leaves, which stops my reminiscing and brings me back to reality. As I turn to look, I see a buck sneaking down the same trail! He’s a shooter...
