Robin Hood would be jealous

So another day in the woods ended up with more meat for the freezer. I have to say when I realized I did hit the deer with my arrow, I was impressed. It was only a few days ago when Shawn came over with his new crossbow purchase. While he was sighting in, I took the time to take a few shots. It came to my attention that my bow was a bit off. It could have easily been knocked off center from trudging through the woods in Maryland or the boat rides to get to the hunting grounds. Its good to check you bow every week or prior to hunting trip, (especially if you traveled far).

By the end of the night both mine and Shaun's crossbows were spot on. I have still yet to shot more than 20 yards to check the pins in my scope. If I only knew my bows potential, I could have taken some of the hit deer earlier. Saturday morning came quickly, after a long stressful week of work. I used my ground blind again, as it provides a great view of the woods rather than my tree stand. It wasn't long until I started to see some deer movement.

It was Spike, who came across the woods to stop by the food plot and then back out the same way he came. After that, a few doe appeared in the thick brush, luckily no bucks slipped by with them as they provided no clear shot. Once this small group emerged it was apparent that they we the soccer mom clan. Two moms and three little ones. The little ones have really grown since August. So at 20 yards they decided to bed down. The setup of the ground blind was perfect with the wind and the sight of it didn't even draw any interest from them.

20 minutes later, here came Spike again, chasing the does. Yes, its the first sign that the rut has started. And before I knew it, another small buck showed up to chase the same does. The bucks gave up pretty easily and the clan laid back down, at least they were a little further out of sight so I could relax and eat some lunch. I decided to stay a bit longer in the blind hoping for a larger buck to arrive but that never happened. I did though see the doe that Jenn missed last week and had another mature doe with her.

The two does came out pretty far away and crossed in front of me. They were going to utilize the same travel route as spike. So using a few trees, I decided that my shot would be around 50 yards. I chose a shooting lane and waited their return. The first doe passed by a bit quickly, and not enough for a shot. The second one lagged a bit, stood behind a tree and then finally appeared. I used a tripod stand from my camera to steady my shot and put the 50 yard pin in my scope on the top of her shoulder. Without hesitation I squeezed the trigger. It was like a scene from Robin Hood, the arrow took flight and weaved its way down the tree line and I saw the deer kick and start to run away. A smack sound of the impact soon followed like a lag of time for distance.

I gave it a few minutes, I thought I hit the deer based on the reaction after the shot. I soon took a trip to the general area to check for blood and my arrow. It felt like I walked in circles and ended up going back to my blind to determine the exact area of the shot. Again, I saw no blood and no arrow. I even checked for the recent foot prints to see the direction of travel. With that I just decided to look in the direction where they ran. With only a few steps I saw the deer piled up. I was amazed. I knew my bow was spot on from left to right but my long distance had never been tested. My shot had taken the deer down at a distance of 65 yards and was an almost instant fatal wound.

The deer had been quartering away and had it's front leg extended forward which opened up the heart for a direct hit. The arrow had enough energy that it did pass through all the way and landed a few feet after it jumped on impact. With this new found ability to take longer shots, it will provide more opportunities to take confident and quality shots. I have definitely put my new cross bow through the hoops and look forward to a buck stepping out, even at 60 yards.