Bow Season.
It has been a very eventful bow season for me so far this year! My first hunting trip of the season was one for the books...
First things first, my fiancé Aristotle has been bow hunting
since around 2005. He has really been bow hunting hard for the past 5 seasons.
In 2012 I picked up my first bow. After watching him shoot all the time, I
wanted in on the action with my pink-camo Parker Sidekick. This year is my 4th
season bow hunting. Aristotle has killed turkey with his bow but not a deer yet
and neither had I as of October 7th 2015. Persistence, dedication,
and practice eventually pay off, right?
Well, deer season finally rolled back around! My fiancé Aristotle
and I were so excited to be headed on our first hunting trip of the season. It
was October 6th and we were headed to the Eastern Shore to stay at
Sarah and Davids farm. I love getting a chance to go up there. We packed up our
camper and headed over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. That’s 17.6 miles from
shore to shore, two bridges, two 1-mile tunnels, nearly 2 miles of causeway,
four manmade islands, and 5 -1/2 miles of approach roads, totaling 23 miles. (www.cbbt.com)
We get there around noon and I’m so ready to get out there. Until
I realize I forgot my quiver with my arrows at home! I had some practice arrows
in my case and borrowed a Rage gold-tip from Aristotle. I made it work and
headed out to my stand. I had only been in the stand for 30 minutes when I had
a 5 pointer with a really funky rack come out in front of me at 10 yards. He
walked out to 15 yards in the beans while I ranged him. I drew back my bow and
prepared to take my shot. I eased off my trigger and it hits him straight in
his shoulder. My arrow falls out immediately and he runs off. I go to check the
arrow and my broadhead had some hair on it but no blood. It actually didn’t
even open all the way. I looked around but it the end my spirit was crushed. I
get back to camp and we decide we would just run home the next day and grab my
arrows.
I wake up REALLY sad about the buck from the night before
still. I didn’t hunt long that morning before heading back to camp. Aristotle
came in early and we decided to get a head start on our run home. We drive back
over the CBBT, but not with out a seagull getting the runs all over our
windshield. We get off the bridge and stop to pressure wash the truck at a
carwash. Awesome. We make it home, grab my arrows, switch cars, pick up lunch,
and stop at the store to pick up some Muzzy three-blade broadheads. We head
back over the CBBT to the Eastern Shore...
We pull up to the camper and I’m so ready for some
redemption. I’m on team Muzzy now, and I can’t be stopped. Until, we realize
three things; we left the camper keys back at our house, the camper is locked,
our gear and bows are in the camper. We forgot the key when we switched
vehicles. We can’t let it ruin the hunt, so we head back over the CBBT. We make
it home, get the key, and we head back over the CBBT, AGAIN. At this point we are
forming a friendship with the tollbooth lady. I go to put my new Muzzys
together in the car so we can get in the stands as soon as possible, all while
Aristotle is nagging me to be careful and not cut my self. Come to find out
they shorted me a blade in the pack. So I’m now working with two new Muzzys. Just my luck or so it seemed. We get back to
the farm and Aristotle starts getting ready to go. He goes to fix his Rage
broadhead and cuts himself. I would have thought he knew better after he just told
me a billion times! We super glue him together and roll out. We both have deer
come in and we both clean miss them. That night at dinner David and Sarah were
going over the daily “Dumbest shit you’ve heard all day” and after we told them
our story we were awarded the number one spot on October 7th 2015.
At least we got something that day…
The next morning, October 8th, we were pretty
drained and slept in till 8. It had been a rough few days and we were sleeping in! We had breakfast and hung a stand we had laying
around the yard. It had been tough but we were still going hard! We got out
in the stands at 12:30. I was still hunting the same spot and Aristotle was out
to try the new stand we hung. I sat out there all day and basically have formed
a bond with this marbled orb weaver spider by me. Around 6 that night, I finally
see a couple deer off in the distance. They start coming in and I get one at 25
yards. I pull back and the deer jumps a few yards behind a tree. She startled
the deer behind her, who jumped in her place... I lined back up on this deer and
made my shot. I immediately saw blood, and he ran off with my arrow. I was
really confident in this shot. I texted Aristotle to tell him and then my phone
died. I could see my Lumenok off in the distance. I got down to go check for
good blood. There was a good trail so I started back to camp. On my way in I
meet up with Aristotle and he tells me he shot two deer with his bow! His
arrows look good but we backed out until the morning on all the deer just to be
on the safe side. We get back to camp and were anxious to go tracking the next
morning. We laid in the bed and suddenly the night lit up with coyotes. I
personally have never heard that big of a pack and they were close to where my
deer had ran. The way the week was going I was praying they wouldn’t eat my
first bow kill.
The next morning, October 9th, we hit the woods
and recovered all three deer. Aristotle and I managed to get our first bow kills
in the same night. That’s a memory you just can’t beat. After a very trying
week the reward was well worth it, not to mention everything we learned along
the way. Harvesting an animal with my bow is a proud moment for me. I’m also
really proud of Aristotle, he managed to tag a beautiful Eastern Shore 6
pointer!
Robbie Kaitlyn Harris
October 8, 2015 First Bow Kill, Hoyt Ignite, Eastern Shore, VA
Aristotle Cleanthes
October 8, 2015 First Bow Kills, Hoyt Faktor, Eastern Shore, VA
Thanks for Reading-RobbieKKHarris
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