I have only been hunting for the last two years. In that time I have learned so much. I am pretty much teaching myself from books, magazines, the internet, and NJH. This morning I realized one of the biggest lessons ... preparation pays off. Last year I spent countless days in the woods without even seeing a deer. I did no pre scouting and in turn, spent many an hour sitting against a tree just 'hoping' a deer would wander by. I made sure I had things in order this year. Working to gain access to some private land, putting trail cameras out, scouting for deer trail/sign, and practicing every single night with my bow. This morning it all paid off.
Was hunting a small piece of semi-private land in Rockland county this morning. I was about 3/4 of the way up a hill, working the edge of a hedgerow where the deer had worn a trail through. The trail cameras gave me a good idea how many deer were coming through. At 8 a.m. I started to hear some activity off to my left in the hedgerow. I had been waiting there since 5:30, trying to catch them coming out of their bedding area.
A four point buck stepped out along the deer path and began working his way to my stand. I took my deep breathes and focused on hitting the fundamentals of my shot that I had been practicing. Arm back, kisser button, relax the grip...
He stepped out, I gave a quick grunt to stop him and let the arrow go. He had just started to turn towards me when I shot, so what I thought was a perfect broadside shot, turned in to a quartering-towards shot. Arrow hit right behind his front leg, right on my mark, and exited out his side, taking the liver on the way out. He ran for about a 100 yards and I heard the big crash. When I recovered him I was afraid the arrow had exited too far back, but there was no gut whatsoever in the cavity. Lesson learned: Be sure of the shot!
Anyway, I know he is certainly not a trophy to many of you on the forum, but he is definitely a trophy to me, my first bow kill and my first buck!
Final moments:
![Image]()
A better look at the body:
![Image]()
Was hunting a small piece of semi-private land in Rockland county this morning. I was about 3/4 of the way up a hill, working the edge of a hedgerow where the deer had worn a trail through. The trail cameras gave me a good idea how many deer were coming through. At 8 a.m. I started to hear some activity off to my left in the hedgerow. I had been waiting there since 5:30, trying to catch them coming out of their bedding area.
A four point buck stepped out along the deer path and began working his way to my stand. I took my deep breathes and focused on hitting the fundamentals of my shot that I had been practicing. Arm back, kisser button, relax the grip...
He stepped out, I gave a quick grunt to stop him and let the arrow go. He had just started to turn towards me when I shot, so what I thought was a perfect broadside shot, turned in to a quartering-towards shot. Arrow hit right behind his front leg, right on my mark, and exited out his side, taking the liver on the way out. He ran for about a 100 yards and I heard the big crash. When I recovered him I was afraid the arrow had exited too far back, but there was no gut whatsoever in the cavity. Lesson learned: Be sure of the shot!
Anyway, I know he is certainly not a trophy to many of you on the forum, but he is definitely a trophy to me, my first bow kill and my first buck!
Final moments:
A better look at the body:
