Well after a dismal start to my bow hunting career, I finally drew first blood yesterday. My little brother, Taylor, called me yesterday and wanted to take the afternoon and go up to Laguna to hunt deer with me. He was not hunting, but wanted to tag along. Last weekend I was up there and saw 3 deer, including one big buck. My buddy Brent also saw 11 deer up there Saturday morning. After hunting all season last year, this was already more action than I had experienced previously. It being a weekday, there was hardly anybody on the mountain. There was also a good breeze so I thought we could get away with still hunting on the ground rather than using one of our tree stands. The ground is super crunchy and loud with lots of sticks and dried leaves. You need a good wind to cover your approach. I also thought this would be more fun for Taylor since he could shadow me instead of sitting in a tree stand 1/4 mile away from mine with no bow in hand.
We decided to go to a spot where every time I have been there, I've seen deer. Never had a shot, but I've seen 'em. Last year, on the last day of the season, I played cat and mouse with a big buck in this spot. This was in a blowing snowstorm. The buck stayed in heavy brush and never offered me a shot. So yesterday we creep up through the same area. Right away we see sign everywhere. The trails are cut up like highways. We have to go through some thick evergreen forest to get to a more open area on top of a ridge. Every step was painstakingly loud. There was no wind in this thick forest. This was area that the deer would use to bed and for sanctuary. It's thick and you cannot see ten yards. I was on edge with all sense heightened. With every noisy step I expected to be startled by deer butts bounding away.
We made it to the top without busting any deer. Once up there, the wind was blowing all wrong for where I wanted to go. I wanted to head to the Southeast to try and find a stand my buddy left up there for me (thanks Joe). I wanted to hunt my way up to it so I could mark its location for next time. I looked around for a bit where I thought the stand was and couldn't find it. With the wind wrong, we turned around and worked the ridge heading back to the Northeast with the wind in our faces. We were following a small trail that would eventually lead us back to the truck as I was already planning a strategy for spot #2. We went through a spot in the trail with some soft sand and there were very fresh tracks in it. They were leading the same way we were heading. 20 yards later we come around a bend in the trail and I hear twigs snap. I look up just in time to see three deer butts bound away into the brush. I kicked myself. I was so intent on following the tracks that my head was down and not looking up like I should have been. Oh well, it happens more often than not. We continue along the trail, just working our way back to the truck. Again there is a bend in the trail. Right as I'm about to come out of the bend, I see three deer in the clearing ahead. It's the same three deer! They must have circled around and gotten ahead of us. We are still in the shadow of a big tree with a little brush in between us and the deer. We had a good wind and they had no idea we were there. The lead deer is the biggest. I range them at 26 yards. They are feeding left to right and are angling a bit farther away. They are just about to come out of the brush. The lead deer goes behind a tree and is about to enter a small clearing. I draw my bow as it passes behind the tree?
Allow me to digress a bit here. Some of you may have read my story about hunting A20 up near Bridgeport. Well at this exact same point on a big buck up there, I lost all self control. I fell apart, my heart beat uncontrollably, I forgot everything I know about archery, and blew it.
Fast forward 3 weeks and 500 miles to the south? This time I was calm, cool, and collected. The deer came out from behind the tree right as I came to full draw. It looked straight as us for a brief second. With full camo and face paint, it just looked right through us and went back to feeding. As soon as it put its head down to feed, my 30 yard pin found its mark. I was rock solid. The release surprised me and we were rewarded with a loud "crack" as the broadhead broke ribs. It took a couple of bounds, leapt over a six foot deadfall, and ran downhill out of sight. The deer was standing in the shade when I shot so my view was not the best. But I felt confident in my shot. I knew that the crack sound was a hit. It was not as loud as hitting the shoulder bone would have been, but it definitely was a crack so I knew I had penetrated the ribcage. I remembered seeing what looked like a good spout of blood right as the arrow made impact too.
I crept up and immediately found my arrow. The front half was buried in the soft dirt of the forest floor. The fletching that was sticking out was covered in blood. I took a brief glance at the deer's exit path and saw blood all over the ground immediately. I asked Taylor what time it was. 4:20. I told him we were not going after that deer until 5:00, just to be safe. I marked the spot off the trail and had to get out of there. I knew if I hung around, I'd want to go after the deer too soon. So we took a hike about a mile away and a mile back. We got back to the spot and waited just a few minutes before Taylor's watch hit 5:00. We get on the blood and it is solid from the spot of the hit and for about the first ten yards. But the blood is deep, dark red. I'm thinking a liver hit. Definitely fatal but we might have a challenge finding the deer in this thick cover. We loose the blood where the deer jumped the deadfall, but we can see the tracks in the soft earth. The tracks where it landed appeared to be stumbling and staggering. Taylor finds blood a few yards later. I leave him there as I walk ahead. 15 yards further I find a good spot on a downed log. Right next to it there was an oak leaf covered in blood. I pick it up to inspect it a bit closer. Yes! It's bright frothy blood, full of air bubbles. A lung hit! At this point my spirits were immediately lifted. I knew this deer was dead and probably not too far away. Taylor comes up and stays at this spot of blood. I again continue out in front following the tracks. No blood at all for 20 yards. All of a sudden, I pick up two huge puddles of blood and some on the trunk of a tree. 10 more yards right in front of me, I see a hump of brown that looks out of place. I walk out from around a tree and YAHOOOO! There it is, totally dead. Turns out my shot was just a bit high, but took out both lungs, angled back through the liver and exited. Since the wound was high on the ribcage, it took a while for the body cavity to fill up and start spilling out obvious lung blood. That is why it was 40 yards before I found evidence of a lung hit. Regardless, the Rocket Steelhead mechanical broadhead performed flawlessly. It broke ribs going in and out, and didn't even bend a blade. The deer didn't make it 75-80 yards.
I field dressed the deer and put my drag rope around the neck. We had to go up hill for about 1/2 mile before heading downhill about 3/4 of a mile to the truck. Thank God for my little Bro the pack mule. He did 90% of the work on the drag out. All I had to do was lift the hind legs up over a log or three. We got back to the truck beat. Went down to the Pine Valley Fire Station to get my tag countersigned and were back at home by 7:45. After pictures, we had the deer in the cooler by 8:30.
It was an awesome day to share with my little brother. Yes, the deer was only a doe, but a big, fat, mature one at that. Not that I feel the need to defend myself for taking a perfectly legal animal, but I killed the doe for several reasons. The most important of which was because Taylor was with me. He is just now starting to get into big game hunting. We grew up in a bird hunting family and got into the big game stuff on our own. He was immediately behind me when I shot the deer and got to see the entire event unfold. That alone was worth it. Another reason why I shot this doe was because I wanted my confidence back. Missing that big trophy buck a few weeks ago really rattled me. I have been second guessing myself and my equipment. I needed to prove to myself that I could keep it together at crunch time. Another reason was because I hunted Laguna all last year and had several close calls but never shot an arrow. This was a perfect opportunity and I couldn't pass it up. Lastly, I shot another doe last year with a G13 rifle tag. That was some of the best eating meat I have ever had. The thought of a freezer full of that awesome protein was all I needed to close the deal. I'm still amazed that you can kill deer, on public land, no more than an hour from the bright lights of downtown San Diego.
So there it is. My first bow kill. But it's bittersweet. Now my bow season is over. I'll miss my tree stand, stomping around up there and hunting with my buds. But next year is right around the corner and a big buck is going down for sure!
We decided to go to a spot where every time I have been there, I've seen deer. Never had a shot, but I've seen 'em. Last year, on the last day of the season, I played cat and mouse with a big buck in this spot. This was in a blowing snowstorm. The buck stayed in heavy brush and never offered me a shot. So yesterday we creep up through the same area. Right away we see sign everywhere. The trails are cut up like highways. We have to go through some thick evergreen forest to get to a more open area on top of a ridge. Every step was painstakingly loud. There was no wind in this thick forest. This was area that the deer would use to bed and for sanctuary. It's thick and you cannot see ten yards. I was on edge with all sense heightened. With every noisy step I expected to be startled by deer butts bounding away.
We made it to the top without busting any deer. Once up there, the wind was blowing all wrong for where I wanted to go. I wanted to head to the Southeast to try and find a stand my buddy left up there for me (thanks Joe). I wanted to hunt my way up to it so I could mark its location for next time. I looked around for a bit where I thought the stand was and couldn't find it. With the wind wrong, we turned around and worked the ridge heading back to the Northeast with the wind in our faces. We were following a small trail that would eventually lead us back to the truck as I was already planning a strategy for spot #2. We went through a spot in the trail with some soft sand and there were very fresh tracks in it. They were leading the same way we were heading. 20 yards later we come around a bend in the trail and I hear twigs snap. I look up just in time to see three deer butts bound away into the brush. I kicked myself. I was so intent on following the tracks that my head was down and not looking up like I should have been. Oh well, it happens more often than not. We continue along the trail, just working our way back to the truck. Again there is a bend in the trail. Right as I'm about to come out of the bend, I see three deer in the clearing ahead. It's the same three deer! They must have circled around and gotten ahead of us. We are still in the shadow of a big tree with a little brush in between us and the deer. We had a good wind and they had no idea we were there. The lead deer is the biggest. I range them at 26 yards. They are feeding left to right and are angling a bit farther away. They are just about to come out of the brush. The lead deer goes behind a tree and is about to enter a small clearing. I draw my bow as it passes behind the tree?
Allow me to digress a bit here. Some of you may have read my story about hunting A20 up near Bridgeport. Well at this exact same point on a big buck up there, I lost all self control. I fell apart, my heart beat uncontrollably, I forgot everything I know about archery, and blew it.
Fast forward 3 weeks and 500 miles to the south? This time I was calm, cool, and collected. The deer came out from behind the tree right as I came to full draw. It looked straight as us for a brief second. With full camo and face paint, it just looked right through us and went back to feeding. As soon as it put its head down to feed, my 30 yard pin found its mark. I was rock solid. The release surprised me and we were rewarded with a loud "crack" as the broadhead broke ribs. It took a couple of bounds, leapt over a six foot deadfall, and ran downhill out of sight. The deer was standing in the shade when I shot so my view was not the best. But I felt confident in my shot. I knew that the crack sound was a hit. It was not as loud as hitting the shoulder bone would have been, but it definitely was a crack so I knew I had penetrated the ribcage. I remembered seeing what looked like a good spout of blood right as the arrow made impact too.
I crept up and immediately found my arrow. The front half was buried in the soft dirt of the forest floor. The fletching that was sticking out was covered in blood. I took a brief glance at the deer's exit path and saw blood all over the ground immediately. I asked Taylor what time it was. 4:20. I told him we were not going after that deer until 5:00, just to be safe. I marked the spot off the trail and had to get out of there. I knew if I hung around, I'd want to go after the deer too soon. So we took a hike about a mile away and a mile back. We got back to the spot and waited just a few minutes before Taylor's watch hit 5:00. We get on the blood and it is solid from the spot of the hit and for about the first ten yards. But the blood is deep, dark red. I'm thinking a liver hit. Definitely fatal but we might have a challenge finding the deer in this thick cover. We loose the blood where the deer jumped the deadfall, but we can see the tracks in the soft earth. The tracks where it landed appeared to be stumbling and staggering. Taylor finds blood a few yards later. I leave him there as I walk ahead. 15 yards further I find a good spot on a downed log. Right next to it there was an oak leaf covered in blood. I pick it up to inspect it a bit closer. Yes! It's bright frothy blood, full of air bubbles. A lung hit! At this point my spirits were immediately lifted. I knew this deer was dead and probably not too far away. Taylor comes up and stays at this spot of blood. I again continue out in front following the tracks. No blood at all for 20 yards. All of a sudden, I pick up two huge puddles of blood and some on the trunk of a tree. 10 more yards right in front of me, I see a hump of brown that looks out of place. I walk out from around a tree and YAHOOOO! There it is, totally dead. Turns out my shot was just a bit high, but took out both lungs, angled back through the liver and exited. Since the wound was high on the ribcage, it took a while for the body cavity to fill up and start spilling out obvious lung blood. That is why it was 40 yards before I found evidence of a lung hit. Regardless, the Rocket Steelhead mechanical broadhead performed flawlessly. It broke ribs going in and out, and didn't even bend a blade. The deer didn't make it 75-80 yards.
I field dressed the deer and put my drag rope around the neck. We had to go up hill for about 1/2 mile before heading downhill about 3/4 of a mile to the truck. Thank God for my little Bro the pack mule. He did 90% of the work on the drag out. All I had to do was lift the hind legs up over a log or three. We got back to the truck beat. Went down to the Pine Valley Fire Station to get my tag countersigned and were back at home by 7:45. After pictures, we had the deer in the cooler by 8:30.
It was an awesome day to share with my little brother. Yes, the deer was only a doe, but a big, fat, mature one at that. Not that I feel the need to defend myself for taking a perfectly legal animal, but I killed the doe for several reasons. The most important of which was because Taylor was with me. He is just now starting to get into big game hunting. We grew up in a bird hunting family and got into the big game stuff on our own. He was immediately behind me when I shot the deer and got to see the entire event unfold. That alone was worth it. Another reason why I shot this doe was because I wanted my confidence back. Missing that big trophy buck a few weeks ago really rattled me. I have been second guessing myself and my equipment. I needed to prove to myself that I could keep it together at crunch time. Another reason was because I hunted Laguna all last year and had several close calls but never shot an arrow. This was a perfect opportunity and I couldn't pass it up. Lastly, I shot another doe last year with a G13 rifle tag. That was some of the best eating meat I have ever had. The thought of a freezer full of that awesome protein was all I needed to close the deal. I'm still amazed that you can kill deer, on public land, no more than an hour from the bright lights of downtown San Diego.
So there it is. My first bow kill. But it's bittersweet. Now my bow season is over. I'll miss my tree stand, stomping around up there and hunting with my buds. But next year is right around the corner and a big buck is going down for sure!
