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For those of you who hunt deer, want to pet deer, or anything in between....this is too funny! Names have been removed to protect the stupid!

 

This is an actual letter from someone who writes, and farms:

 

'I had the idea that I was going to rope a deer, put it in a stall, feed it up on corn for a couple of weeks, then kill it and eat it.

 

The first step in this adventure was getting a deer. I figured that since they congregate at my cattle feeder and do not seem to have much fear of me when we are there (a bold one will sometimes come right up and sniff at the bags of feed while I am in the back of the truck not four feet away), it should not be difficult to rope one, get up to it and toss a bag over its head (to calm it down) then hog tie it and transport it home.

 

I filled the cattle feeder then hid down at the end with my rope. The cattle, having seen the roping thing before, stayed well back. They were not having any of it.

 

After about 20 minutes, my deer showed up -- three of them. I picked out a likely looking one, stepped out from the end of the feeder, and threw my rope.  The deer just stood there and stared at me.

 

I wrapped the rope around my waist and twisted the end so I would have a good hold. The deer still just stood and stared at me, but you could tell it was mildly concerned about the whole rope situation.

 

I took a step towards it...it took a step away. I put a little tension on the rope and then received an education.

 

The first thing  that I learned is that while a deer may just stand there and look at you funny while you rope it, they are spurred to action when you start pulling on that rope. That deer EXPLODED.

 

The second thing  I learned is that pound for pound, a deer is a LOT stronger than a cow or a colt. A cow or a colt in that weight range I could fight down with a rope and with some dignity.  A deer-- no chance.

 

That thing ran, bucked, twisted, and pulled.  There was no controlling it and certainly no getting close to it.  As it jerked me off my feet and started dragging me across the ground, it occurred to me that having a deer on a rope was not nearly as good an idea as I had originally imagined.

 

The third thing I learned, the only up side, is that they do not have as much stamina as many other animals.

 

A brief ten minutes later, it was tired and not nearly as quick to jerk me off my feet and drag me when I managed to get up.  It took me a few minutes to realize this since the blood flowing out of the big gash in my head mostly blinded me.  At that point, I had lost my taste for corn-fed venison.  I just wanted to get that devil creature off the end of that rope.

 

I figured that if I just let it go with the rope hanging around its neck, it would likely die slow and painfully somewhere.

 

At the time, there was no love lost between that deer and me.  At that moment I hated the thing, and I would venture a guess that the feeling was mutual.

 

Despite the gash in my head and the several large knots where I had cleverly arrested the deer's momentum by bracing my head against various large rocks as it dragged me across the ground, I could still think clearly enough to recognize that there was a small chance that I shared some tiny amount of responsibility for the situation we were in.  I didn't want the deer to have to suffer a slow death, so I managed to get it lined back up in between my truck and the feeder - a little trap I had set beforehand...kind of like a squeeze chute.

 

I got it to back in there and I started moving up so I could get my rope back.

 

The fourth  thing I learned!!!!  Did you know that deer bite?  They do!  I never in a million years would have thought that a deer would bite somebody, so I was very surprised when I reached up there to grab that rope and the deer grabbed hold of my wrist.

 

Now, when a deer bites you, it is not like being bit by a horse where they just bite you and then let go. A deer bites you and shakes its head, almost like a pit bull.  They bite HARD and it hurts.

 

The proper thing to do when a deer bites you is probably to freeze and draw back slowly.  I tried screaming and shaking instead.  My method was ineffective.

 

It seems like the deer was biting and shaking for several minutes, but it was likely only several seconds.

 

I, being smarter than a deer (though you may be questioning that claim by now) tricked it.  While I kept it busy tearing the bejesus out of my right arm, I reached up with my left hand and pulled that rope loose.

 

That was when I got my fifth  lesson in deer behavior for the day.  Deer will strike at you with their front feet.  They rear right up on their back feet, strike right about head, and shoulder level, and their hooves are surprisingly sharp.

 

I learned a long time ago that when an animal -- like a horse -- strikes at you with their hooves and you cannot get away easily, the best thing to do is try to make a loud noise and make an aggressive move towards the animal.  This will usually cause them to back down a bit so you can escape.

 

This was not a horse.  This was a deer, so obviously, such trickery would not work.  In the course of a millisecond, I devised a different strategy.  I screamed like a woman and tried to turn and run.

 

The reason I had always been told NOT to try to turn and run from a horse that paws at you is that there is a good chance that it will hit you in the back of the head.

 

Deer may not be so different from horses after all because, besides being twice as strong and three  times as evil, the second I turned to run, it hit me right in the back of the head and knocked me down.

 

Lesson six...  Now, when a deer paws at you and knocks you down, it does not immediately leave.  I suspect it does not recognize that the danger has passed.  What they do instead is paw your back and jump up and down on you while you are laying there crying like a little girl and covering your head.  I finally managed to crawl under the truck and the deer went away.

 

So now I know why when people go deer hunting they bring a rifle with a scope so that they can be somewhat equal to the Prey.

Went to Old Town Archery Today.
Remember them from when I bought my bow in 2006?


Towards the end of last season my draw seemed to be longer. I figured it was string stretch over time and that I needed new strings. Bob check the bow over, had me draw it, and checked the timing. He gave the strings another year, gave a not of approval on the contact points, but declared the timing off.

The timing being off was what was making my wall feel 'mushy'. So, he had Chad (?) reset the timing, serve where my MeanV CSS contacts the string, and rechecked me.
Good to go.

I really appreciate the honesty. He COULD have just agreed that I needed strings and sold me some and took my money. I would not have argued or known otherwise. While I can do most things, I don't have a press or enough experience with strings to know any better.

Kudos again to Old Town Archery Shop and to Bob for superior service.

Tags: PSE Diablo Archery Bow Arrow Old Town Archery

Bounty of Harvest

It all started the week before.
The season had opened and it was another fall with my own yearling in the house (second child, 9m old). I had no time to scout, but I had a couple spots on my neighbors land picked out.

All that week as I arrived home after a long day; 4am Andrew diaper changing, 5am feeding, 6am Samantha is up, 7am off to drop off kids at Daycares (split with wife, we go in opposite directions)... I get home after a longer than usual work day and stare wistfully out the window. I know there are deer out there somewhere.

On Thursday I am supposed to put my stand up and fix my blind to place on the edge of a field. I get home to find out my wife had tweaked her shoulder working out and is out of commission. I cook supper, give the kids baths, get Andrew in bed and then retire to the living room to dream about being out in the woods.

Friday rolls around and I am going through the 'routine' that evening while my wife is waiting to get into the Drs office this upcoming Monday to get her shoulder checked out. By now it is hardly able to move. The phone rings, it is my brother.

"Shawn", he says in a shaky voice while half whispering, "I just arrowed a doe!" He continues,"I finally got a shot on with the Diablo and it felt soooo smooth. She was quartering away hard but I know it was a good shot. It all felt so magical." I ask him if he needs help tracking, though I was not looking forward to the hour drive knowing Mandy would have to deal with two kids with a hurt arm. Marc replies, "Naw. Charlie is coming to help. If we do not find it by 8:30p, I'll give you a call back." Around 8pm, he calls and excitedly tells me he found her. She went about 80 yards and went down. I congratulate him and ask him if Dad is going to help him skin it out tomorrow. Nope, he is busy.

So I offer to go down and help him out and I'll find Mandy help babysitting with the kids. At that point he suggest I pack my bow up and take a turn in the stand. There were three does in the area and they all came in together. He is sure they will come back out, as he has them well timed and they are walking through like clockwork.

I ask Mandy if she would mind if I put an evening in the stand, and she agrees. She does tell me that not only do I need to do, but if I get the chance I need to take the shot. No waiting for the perfect moment. She has seen me shoot and I need to use the skills I have.

The next day I head out in the late morning down to my brothers. As I make the hour trip I am feeling a little pride in the confidence my wife has in me and her actually saying she knows I can make a humane shot even without the broadside. It fills me with confidence as I head down and makes the drive that much more enjoyable.

I arrive around 1pm and help my brother finish processing his deer. It is a nice time chatting about how exactly they came in, how he kept waiting for the broadside, but finally settled on the quartering away. I take a couple pictures for him, and while it looked like he hit it WAY back, the shockwave sliced and diced all the vitals and left the ponch in place. A textbook shot.

I head over to the landowners place at 3:30 and settle in. I sit enjoying the cool breeze (it had been 80 dgrees all week, fall in Maine - welcome global warming). I slowly turn my head this way and that, my bow across my lap holding my personally assembled arrows in the quiver. I am shooting Xweave Predators fletched myself with Blazers (2 Orange and a White cook Vane), Bohning Signature Flo Orange Nock and Slick Trick Magnums.

I pull out an arrow and place it in the Whisker Biscuit, and nock it. Staring at the broadhead, I reflect back on the decision to make the switch. Last year I took a buck with a G5 Montec, but the blood trail was less than I would have expected and I just felt my sharpening skills were not good enough to make the most of the broadhead. I bought a couple packs of ST Magnums to try out as an alternative and within my second set of 3, I was hitting 2" squares at 20yds with no tweaking of rest or sights. I was sold.

I sit and wait. In front of me are several old and dying apple trees, still feebly bearing fruit. Several woodpeckers flitter from tree to tree while searching for bugs and soft spots in the trees to find tree worms (or whatever they really are).

Slowly the sun goes down and the sound of traffic slows in the distance. My awareness increases tenfold as the 'right time' approaches. I start scanning more with my eyes, working right to left and slowly turning my head to help my vision reach the tote road to my far left. Time slows down, but it is not boring. It is that time that takes out into the woods. The time where you become part of nature as a predator. Your patience becomes ten fold as you wait. Waiting like a Puma in the trees.

Off to my far right I hear the tell tale sound of a deer. Not surprisingly the small doe has decided to break all the normal rules of access and is coming through the thickest part of the woods instead of the easy tote roads or the two deer trails running parallel to them. I turn my eyes and head slowly, and she is walking straight in. I see that she is small. But, I promised the wife that it was meat I was after and not a trophy. If a deer came out, and did not sport spots, then I would take it.

Slowly she comes in, but relaxed. She walks straight in and under my stand. Stopping for a moment she sniffs the rungs of the ladder stand and sort of glances around. I guess the soles of my 15 year old leather slipper boots (it was so warm I could not wear my 'hunting' boots) did not leave much scent. She then walks out from under the stand and slowly starts walking straight away.

As she comes out from under the stand I wait for her to get out a little and then I stand and turn ever so slowly. Forest Ninja's could not have moved so silently or smoothly. Knowing she could not see at that angle behind her I get myself into position.

She browses a little but slowly continues walking straight out. It is time for a decision! So I wait for her turn? Do I risk her walking straight ahead and under the canopy 30 yards out? I look to my right again (straight ahead of my body now) and check for following does or bucks and see nothing. This is my chance for the evening and I think of my wife back at home, hurt and watching our two kids to give me this chance. I draw.

One of the important pieces of a successful shot is to not change your style. To let your instincts do what you have done dozens, hundreds, thousands of times at home and on the range and in the 3D course (if you are lucky enough to live close). To draw the same, anchor the same, hold the same, and to take the shot when it looks and feels right. Overthink it and you take too long. Get over excited and you shoot too soon. I bring my bow up into the draw (I happen to draw upwards, always have) and line everything up, just like every other time. I envision in my mind where the arrow will go, and aim for the far lung. I ‘see’ the arrow going through to the far leg, down and through.

Without even realizing it my finger smoothly pulls and my Scott Wildcat go off. I see the arrow in flight through my VBG Triangle sight and watch as the arrow strikes HARD. The doe drops instantly and without so much as a kick breathes in and out 4, then 5 times. In the time it take for me to see her drop with the arrow still within her, I have a second arrow out of its quiver and nocked in the rest. Later I would remark to my Dad and brother than my hands just automatically did it, that the next thing I knew I had the bow in the ready position and tension on the dloop. I watch as she takes her last breathe and passes, less than 30 seconds after the shot. I can not express my concern, and then relief that no second arrow would be needed.

As I let my bow down and call my Brother and Dad, I reflect on the shot and wonder if I ‘missed’. I had certainly not intended to spine her. And the arrow not getting pass through had me concerned that I had somehow missed the vitals and hit something harder like the upper scapula. I take great care to respect the doe as I have my Dad take some pictures of where she lay. I give thanks for the bounty and we move the deer off to take care of her in preparation of getting her to the tagging station.

Later, and mostly due to the interest and thoughtful atmosphere of sharing here to help educate ourselves and others, I take special interest in capturing on my camera the entrance, exit, and damage pictures. Upon skinning out the doe I find that my shot was not bad at all. In fact, the arrow passed one blade through the spine, nicked one lung (it did not look like a pull out wound) and punctured the far lung cleanly. There was complete pass through the lower ribs on the far side and the broadhead had actually lodged in the far leg in the lower potion of the shoulder. It was that penetration that required two hands to start the broadhead back out through the body. Interestingly, and maybe it was because it was dark, we had not figured it as a pass through or I would have captured a picture of the broadhead external to the shot.

Attached below are the photo’s that relate to this story.
There are more if people are interested, but these are those that tell the story without being repetitive.

Thank you for the opportunity to share.

Equipment
2006 Diablo NH 65# 26"DL
VBG Triangle w/G5 Peep
WB DX QS
Doinker Multi-Rod 7" D2 Hunter
SIMS Modules as Riser Vibration Dampeners
Scott Wildcat Buckle
Radial XWeave Predator 200s @ 26.75"
Bohning Signature Flo Orange Nocks
Blazer Vanes (2 Flo Orange/1 White)
Slick Trick Magnum 100s
Benchmade Snoddy 210
Buck Woodsman 102

Game
Doe @ 75#s
16yds
Pass Through: Spine/Lung(s), Far Ribs, Lodged in Far Leg
0 Foot Tracking

Supporting Pictures

 My second group with Slick Trick Magnum 100s.
I did not shoot a third.


Doe:


Slick Trick Post Shot --
Straight Blade


Only Damage:

Tags: Deer Doe 2007 PSE Diablo Xweave Slick Trick Magnum Vbg Triangle Archery Bow

A sample of their work.
If you like what you see below, check out their progress towards their April 1st release date.

Downeast Knife Company

Downeast Knife Blog

Hi guys, We've had a crazy week trying to get these Downeast Companion prototypes done for the show this weekend. Well, here they are. We're currently working with several laser engravers in our area. There is no limit to the amount of clip art they have. Micarta is great for laser engraving images on. What do you think.

The DK Companion

• Overall Length of approximately 8",
• Blade length 3.75" with 3.5" sharpened
• D2 Steel, 1/8" thick, with various finish options
• Micarta Grips in various colors
• Kydex or Leather sheaths with color options

 

[Click for larger view]

Protect and Serve SOLD

Deer Hunter

Old Glory

U.S.M.C.

Old Glory II SOLD

Tags: Knife Knives Companion Maine Downeast D2 Custom Engraving Deer Turkey Fish

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