Campo

Oh my gosh....I need to move out west and hunt elk. That picture is awesome. Is that your pic and did you end up getting a shot?

My favorite memory would have to be my first bow kill, though it is not the most eventful. I was so into the blood tracking that I TRIPPED over the deer cause I was looking down at the blood. Talk about focus.
Now, if I could only focus on my work that well[&:]

muzzyman88

I think my favorite memory was a buck I didn't get a shot at, but the show he put on in front of me was amazing. I was rattling that morning and he came crashing through the timber to my right responding to the rattling I was doing. He was a huge, long tined 8 pointer with approx a 20-23" spread. The hair on his neck was on end, nostriles flaired and walking stiff legged. He than began to thrash every bush around, raking and throwing leaves and grunting. He then pushed a small 5 or 6 pointer that I didnt' see at first out of the area. He was definitely fired up. Had me so excited I couldn't do a thing but watch. Never saw that dude again after that.

The other that comes to mind was the ground hunting episode with a bear with cubs. I heard turkeys coming off the roost at first light. Fall turkey runs concurrently with archery... so I figured..."hey, I might get shot here". I was all situated expecting them to come from my right. Well, I hear something coming from in front of me. I had a tree to my back and in front of me so I couldn't see around it. I got ready, raised my bow and saw black. I thought "holy smokes, here they come!". To my surprise, the black materialized into a bear at 20 yards and still coming, right at me! I froze and watched this bear come to within 10 feet of me. She was close enough I could hear her breathing. She walked up beside me and stopped and stared for a few seconds, then went about her business and continued by me. Next, her two cubs came bobbing up the same path. They stared for a few seconds and continued. I never have been that close to a bear. Very cool experience. I saw that same family about a week later in a different spot.

killzonearchery

well mine was the first time i went with my dad bowhunting. I was so happy to be hunting with him bow finally that i did not even care that we did not see anything.

_Dan

I have three, in no particular order.

Seeing the look on my wifes face after she shot her first deer with a bow.

Shooting my first deer with a bow when I was 14. I skipped homecoming weekend to bowhunt.

Shooting my first turkey with a bow.

Germ

Shooting my first deer!

Grampa's stand was 2 miles down the road, I sprinted the whole way to tell him. Spooked three deer in front of him!!!

He ask "did you watch the deer run away", I said "No she dropped right their in the bait pile Gramps, with a carrot hanging out of her mouth"

I was 12 my first and only deer out of a bait pile and still the best!!

psebwhntr16

2 great bowhunting experiences spent with my dad. Last year we had an archery double out of the same blind. And this year elk hunting in KY was once in a lifetime.

Washington Hunter

So far it would probably be the results if this year's hunts.

After shooting my buck I decided to go get my dad at of his stand and include him in the tracking process. There was a blanket of snow so it wasn't like I was worried about not being able to find blood, I just wanted him to be there. Walking up to his stand, I saw that there was a foot long length of orange tracking tape hanging from the platform of his stand. That was our signal to one another that we had gotten a deer down and were in the process of tracking it.

After walking around the area a bit I picked up the blood trail and started following it, only to walk up on my dad a few hundred yards away. We dropped our packs and our bows and proceeded to track his deer. After 3/4 of a mile we finally found him. We drug him to the road, hiked back to the ranch house and got our truck. After hanging him in the barn we hiked back up to where we left our packs and then went and found my deer 50 yards from where I had shot him.

Apparently my dad had made his shot at 7:30 that morning. I looked at my watch immediately after the shot and it was 8:00. We shot our deer a half hour apart that morning.

sunset

I didn't take that pic. I'm from Ohio. No elk here yet, (that I know of). I have been on white tail hunt out west and have seen elk. Of course, I didn't have a tag for the elk that I saw[8D]

My favorite white tail hunt so far was the first one I got with my bow. I had bird and gun deerhunted since I was a kid, but, when I got my first bow kill deer I was in hunterheaven. I was in a ground blind and about 20 feet (yep, feet) away from the buck. I got a spine shot. Not exactly what I wanted, but, it spooked me being my first time and that close. It went down immediately, I gutted it right then and there, and butchered it with my two daughters on our kitchen table.

iowabob85

I have 2 favorites one deer hunting and one turkey hunting.

The turkey hunt was with my son and Antler Eater. We went that day with every intention to get my 9 year old son a shot at a turkey. Well that morning the turkeys were not answering our calls very well so we would call a while and move. Well finally we got to a large open spot in the woods that we turkey hunt in and yelped a couple times and way off in the distance we heard some Toms answer. About 10 minutes later 2 toms show up at the edge of the timber about 60 yards away. They both spot Antler Eaters decoys and one fanned out and came in on a rope with his buddy in tow. My son was ready to shoot and when the bird got about 10 yards in front of him he let him have it. The cool part was he was sitting in my lap and I was whispering in his ear to shoot (no blind involved). Turned out to be a 23 pound bird with a 10 1/2 inch beard. Oh ya Antler Eater got it all on tape also.

The deer hunt wasaevening hunt. Traditionally I don't like afternoon hunts but that morning I had seen a 200" monster about 40 yards away from me and I was hoping that he hadn't gone to far. Well come to find out he was still in the same area of the woods and had found a companion. I had been sitting just a short time when all of the sudden I see a doe coming from my left. She came to about 40 yards away thru some brush and layed down. I thought that is strange why would she lay down when she should be going to feed? I looked some 30 yards behind this doe and guess who is there, yep the monster was laying on this old road just watching this doe. I pick up my grunt call and hit it and the old boy doesn't even flinch. About 20 minutes later and many failed attempts at trying to make this monster mad enough to come over and look for the intruder the doe decided she had laid long enough and got up and walked past my stand about 10 yards away. Well in true form the buck gets up and starts my way, I stand up and grab my bow readying myself for a shot and the doe spooks, not because of me but I think it was the monster. She ran directly away from me and the old fella decided to save some steps and ran right away. That was the last time I saw this deer but I will never forget that afternoon. He was a true beauty. When I got down that morning there was a shrub that this deer had stood in front of and I thought maybe I should practice a shot and see if the deer was in range. I shoot at the bush and guess what, yep right through the middle of the bush. I don't feel bad because I have set my limit to 30 yards and he was outside of my limit. Still a hunt to remember.

txjourneyman

My first bowkill 2 years ago. A hog. I hope I never forget the absolute thrill I experienced that day.