First Bow Kill

Way back in may, the day I got my first turkey, we were on our way home and we stopped at our local Millers Gun Shop and I got myself my first compound bow. I was so excited and wanted to get a bow for so long. I loved it before I even started shoot. For the next 4 months all I did was practice shooting. I had a lot to learn, and as I did learn, I increased the draw weight, and continued to shoot.

By the time September came I was busy with moving out of my house and selling it, getting a new job, getting settled, and packing for my trip to Wyoming. When we got back from Wyoming it was almost mid October already. We had some family events to attend and we also decided to take a few days and fish the Salmon River 5 hours away. We packed up the camper and took it to another state to fish and relax before we went full force into archery season.

Monday, October 16th began my 2023 archery season. many hours in a tree… juggling hunting & working 3 jobs the best I could. I struggled with the guilt of not working enough & the pressure of wanting to be in a tree more. I truthfully didn’t expect the toll that it took on me. Needing to work, wanting to be in the woods, being exhausted, and the guilt that came with it all. Days I wasn’t in a tree that’s all I thought about because you never know when it can happen but it’s not gonna happen if you’re not in the woods.

This season tested me mentally, physically & emotionally. With many solo sits, opportunities missed, lots & lots of mistakes, & simply just being exhausted. Jake was also hunting himself & our sits together weren’t always “date night in the woods”. For most couples, it’s a date night or a night away from the kids. Some couples might sit together or just near each other and be out together. For us, this is Jake’s job so he feels a little more pressure than your average hunter. He was hunting himself and also trying to help me and guide me to get my first buck.

After a lot of bickering between Jake and I, I will be honest that we had a few fights that “blew up” so to speak and it really took an emotional toll on me. I didn’t want to hunt after that, I didn’t want to go out with him, I was pretty miserable and started to work more because I couldn’t just be at home.

I did sit a few times solo and none of them I felt super confident. I sat all day for the first time solo and that took a huge toll on me mentally. Not only was it tough and a long day. I had a buck grunting and running at me and I stopped him at 10 yards for him to turn and run. I was moving trees in the middle of the day and was climbing up the second tree. I was mad I wasn’t in the tree and ready, I was upset I didn’t have my bow prepared while on the ground, and I was pretty scared that the buck was running right at me and I was by myself.

fast forward to November 16th, I didn’t plan on sitting all day…. until our target buck made an appearance at about 100 yards. How could I get down after that? We made a rookie mistake by not bringing enough food or water to sit all day. We knew we didn’t want to sit all day but we should’ve prepared for it knowing it could happen and that we weren’t close to home to run to get food or water. The only action was saw was our target buck at 100 yards and we were beginning to make a game plan on when to get down. This was Thursday and Friday was the last archery day which was going to be rainy. We were trying to figure out what to do when out of nowhere, this buck starts walking towards me. I couldn’t see him, so I got turned around in my saddle and waited. He began to come in sight and I could see him out of the corner of my eye. he took two more steps, I drew back, & shot.

When I was waiting to even see this buck, I was put in such an uncomfortable position and getting ready to shoot on my weak side. I stayed still and was breathing and when I could finally see him, just barely, I just watched him for a little. The wind hitting us in the face I knew he didn’t smell us, he didn’t even walk near our tracks from walking in. But even so, he was definitely sketched out, he just wasn’t sure what to do or what was going on. Once I shot, I felt super confident and wasn’t even super shaky or anything, just waiting for the reassurance from Jake that it was a good shot and hoping that he could help me track him when we got down.
I knew it was a good shot, he heel kicked and ran off.. I still got nervous repeating “did I get him” & jake reassured that it was a great shot. I called my dad, then we got down out of the tree to go find him. I got nervous again with little blood then, laid up in a small ditch by a log, we found him. This was my first experience blood trailing a deer as well and after shooting it in the lungs and all the bleeding being internal, I definitely had a hard time. But I had a gut feeling I knew where he went and there he was!

a day I’ll never forget 🙌🏻