Photo credit: Buck Stevens

I got to enjoy the excitement of getting my first deer with a bow Saturday (11/3). Be forewarned, if you click ‘Read More’ there will be a picture of the deer I got while hunting.

I enjoy outdoor life in what limited spare time I have. I enjoy fishing and hunting. I am a meat hunter for the most part. I only hunt what I will use as food. If I get a “trophy” in the process, that is a bonus. I am not condemning those who trophy hunt, just saying that is not my mentality.

Last Christmas I received a bow from my son-in-law Drew. This year was my first walk in the experience of bow hunting. It is quite different and harder than hunting with a shotgun or muzzle loader. You cannot harvest a deer from 50, 60, 100 or more yards away. With a bow, it typically takes place at 30 yards and under.

I had gone out four times with my bow since the opening of deer season on October 1st. All of those times hunting, I had not even seen a deer let alone had a shot at one. I guess in my first year of bow hunting, the fifth time is a charm. Saturday I headed out to my tree stand before the sun rose and got set up in the rain. I was in place and waiting for a few hours thinking it would be another morning of nothing seen.

I used my new deer call I purchased the day before at around 8:45 a.m. or so. (For those interested, the call is a Bone Collector edition Buck Crusher from Flextone.) I gave a handful of doe “tending bleats,” waited a minute and followed up with a few buck “tending grunts.” Within about five to ten minutes of the calls here comes this nice eight point buck behind me.

I had to get turned around in my tree stand without alerting him to my presence. I did, waited for him to get close enough, around 25 yards or so, and pulled up and aimed. This was the first buck I had ever taken aim on to shoot even with a gun let alone the first deer I had ever taken aim at with my bow. To say the least, my heart was pounding and I was shaking with excitement. I wasn’t sure I could hold the bow steady enough to get a straight shot.

As I released the arrow I was sure I had missed due to my shaking. However, to my delight I had not missed. I quickly felt the excitement of my first deer with a bow and it also happened to be my first buck while hunting with anything. While this buck won’t set any records with its antlers, it is a very nice eight point with a massive body. I am very excited about my accomplishment my first year bow hunting and looking forward to my next encounter.

By: Buck Stevens