I usually hunt in one buck counties in Eastern Central Texas, each gunseason I see does pretty much all the time in the field, and can't do anything about it but hope that a buck would show up behind them.  The does seem fairly disconnected from their environment, walking right up to my blind, once I was sitting next to a tree and had two come up about 3feet away from me.  So the plan was to get a bow and try to get some of these does. 

I searched around on the web early this year and wandered onto this site, texashuntfish.com.  I starting posting to the bowhunting forum, asking questions here and there, reading other posts.  They folks on the site ranged from paid professionals to newbies like myself--lots of advice and opinions from a good variety of folks.  I decided on a bow and then tried to hit the range.  My rest wasn't so hot, so I had another post on arrow rests--changed to the whisker biscuit.  I then asked aluminum vs carbon arrows--changed to carbon.  I then asked about broadheads--you get the point, I had lots of questions and the folks were very willing to offer advice.  I guess I asked so many questions, that I won a random drawing from the site..  I got some goodies for my bow and continued honing my skills.

I practiced all spring and summer I moved to a Block 4x4 target, because I tore up two cheaper targets in the process.  Several friends and family said that I was practicing too early and would be tired of shooting my bow by the time the season rolled around--they were right.  I had fun shooting, but found my limits of myself and my equipment, just shy of 50 yards.  I had no plans of trying to take an animal beyond that anyway. 

Finally that magical opening weekend showed up, and I was in my ground blind in Lee county.  Hogs showed up to the feeder 20 yards away in the dark, they paraded past me at 5 yards in the dark.  This was pretty scary--I didn't have a firearm, and only a pocket knife.  They didn't stick around until daylight, not to say that I wasn't happy they left because I was all out shaken up.  Gramps, who also took up bowhunting with me this year had lots of does at his feeder.  He took a shot at one and missed, I could actually hear the arrow flying across the forest from me.

Over the next few hunts, I continued to see nothing, or I'd have cows at my feeder if anything at all, gramps continued to miss deer.  He hadn't practiced as long as I had, and I was doing something really wrong because I couldn't see anything.  Maybe it was my smell, or I wasn't camo'd up enough, something was off.  By the third week, he had missed 4 deer and instead of throwing his bow into the tank, he suggested that we try swapping stands the following morning, just to see if I could get a shot at something.  We swapped stands and sure enough, a piggie came out at 20 yards and I let him have it right in the heart.  There's an amazing sound the arrow makes when it connects with an animal, that was a great experience.  He ran 40 yards with an arrow sticking out of his side.  I always thought folks were BSing when they say they had a heart shot with an arrow and the animal still ran, but this was true. 

The last week of bow season was upon us, and I was determined to get a deer.  I took off that Monday, saw more cows--gramps missed another deer.  I then convinced gramps to go with expandables because at least they seemed to fly true for me.  He had some "wasps" someone had given him and added them to his quiver.  I also found the issue why gramps was missing deer, he wasn't judging distance correctly because of the terrain, we used my rangefinder and some weeds to identify some markers for him.  That Wednesday, I heard that sweet sound again--the sound of an arrow connecting.  Gramps must have gotten the deer this time.  So after the hunt I went over to his blind, turned out, the expandable didn't open.  It hit the tip of one blade and was deflected, how sad, this time he did everything right and the broadhead failed him.  This bowhunting thing was really not as easy as I thought it'd be.

So we are getting ready for the last stand, that final Friday of bow season.  The night before, my uncle gives me a call and says he wants to go hunting with us.  What a great time to go hunting, we're on a tiny tract with two blinds, and he waits until the very last day to tag along, while we've been busting it all month.  Gramps had asked him earlier in the season to tag along when I wasn't available to go and my uncle always said he couldn't go, now he wants to go, when we have our final hunt.. oh well.

So that final morning comes and we're drinking coffee in our camo.  Now my uncle doesn't hunt that much, I haven't seen him go for about 15 years or so actually.  He's wearing a black shirt for a top and blue jeans on the bottom.  It's in the low 40's, and I think what a tough guy, he can just wear a shirt and here I am in my jacket.  He's a bald guy with a shiny head--no hat, no facemask, nothing.  Well, I figure since he doesn't get to go hunting that much, and Gramps sure isn't going to offer up his deer blind since he just missed one, that I'd let him sit at my feeder.. I try to be civil and say "I guess I'll go find a spot in the weeds or something, I've had enough of bow hunting anyway, I'm ready for gun season to start tomorrow already." 

Gramps is in his blind across from my uncle and sees some deer too far out and doesn't get a chance at a shot.  He does hear sounds coming from my uncle's spot across the woods from him.  He hears something thrashing about in the brush.  That's just great, he doesn't go hunting at all, then comes out on the last day and gets one over us.  After the hunt, on the way to go regroup, Gramps finds the doe, about 15 yards behind the blind my uncle was sitting in.  He thinks about it a bit and realizes that my uncle must have dragged the doe behind him waiting for another one to show up--just great, he must really think this bowhunting stuff is easy.  He then comes upon me and my uncle in a meadow walking around looking for the doe.  Gramps has a long face, I have a long face, we both know the score.  Gramps says "I found the deer over there, you know I can smell the deer", trying to seem light hearted about our failing miserably this first season.  I then run up to Gramps, give him a hug and spin him around twice--he seems a bit confused.

So how's that, josh?  here's my story of the last hunt of the last morning. 

I took one look at my uncle's camo-less appearance and it sealed the deal, put him at my blind.  Earlier in the season I thought I had spooked some deer at my blind, then I left the blind and found a little trail where they were coming out on.  One day I even saw three deer coming out of what I then named the "back door".  Something wasn't right with my blind, whether they could see me, or smell me, and they were skipping around it.  So there's my uncle, peering over with his bald head shining at the deer in the chilly morning sunlight.  I hear the deer blow at him, and guess what?  That's right, they head for the back door.  I'm sitting in thick weeds on a bucket, I left my rangefinder in the truck so I don't have an exact distance to the back door.  I say at least 35 yards, I just picked this spot to sit in the dark this morning.  Then a doe pops up out of the back door, yeah it does seem far now, I use my 40 yard pin.  I held at full draw on the doe for almost a minute and she didn't turn broadside, I am tired so I slowly return the bow to rest.  Then she steps out again, broadside, in the thick weeds, and I can make out her sillouette and redraw.  I'm still very tired, so it's now or never, just release this thing and end the season already.  "WHIP-SMACK"!!!  That's what it sounds like to me when the arrow releases and makes contact!  That's right I made some contact.  I watch her run off in the distance, past my uncle sitting at my blind.  She ran 150 yards all said and done, and came to a rest 10 yards behind my uncle who was shivering over at my blind because he only has on that black shirt--HA. 

So all of a sudden, here I go into gun season better than EVER with a pig and a doe in the freezer.  It wasn't easy at all, and I got a lot of help from this website.  Thanks to every one who replied-- paleo, duck whacker, huntr, lots of folks who helped out and knew way more about this than I did.

Gun season is going pretty good also, I've a small spike and a small red deer.

My uncle plans to go earlier next year during bow season, and Gramps is getting over missing all those deer during bow season after getting some action in gun season.  I've heard two quotes which fit their specific situations-- "You aren't going to see them on the couch" and "You miss 100% of the shots you never take".  It's probably all about trying more than anything at all.  Of course it doesn't hurt when you've got a goofball to help spook the deer your way also.

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