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Hunting update
October 26th, 2011 10:54 amNo luck in finding the doe that I hit last week. This is the most frustrating part of hunting. Fortunately it does not happen that often to me; I seem to hit them fatally with a quick drop or just outright miss them. In this case, I saw the bolt stuck in her as she turned and ran. I can only hope that the bolt came out and she was left with a shoulder wound. Optimistic, I know.
With nice fall weather in place, I sat out again on Thursday the 20th but didn't see anything.
Last night I was in my spot once more and had two young deer come into the drain field. They didn't see or smell me and I waited for them to move into my firing line. Once the first deer was in my scope, I took the shot - the deer jumped like it was spooked, not hit, and ran, but not horribly fast with the second deer trotting into the woods after it. I lost sight of the first deer but the second deer stopped once it got into the tree line and stayed there for quit some time. As I was taking off my mask and gloves, I heard a snort and knew that a third deer was close. Turned out that deer number three was a good-sized doe and most likely the dam of the two young ones. She stood for a bit in the woods and had I been armed with a reloaded gun instead of a crossbow, I could have taken her.
There was no blood or obvious sign of hitting the deer. I looked for a bit in the woods and went back to find my bolt to see if it had any clues. No blood on the bolt at all. Looks like I either went over it or under it. Once I got the bolt inside, I found two hairs stuck in the blade, but nothing else.
The scope needs a new battery and once that is installed, I'll be spending some quality time with my target and practice bolts.
The three deer that I saw last night are not part of the same two that were in the yard last week which is promising.
With nice fall weather in place, I sat out again on Thursday the 20th but didn't see anything.
Last night I was in my spot once more and had two young deer come into the drain field. They didn't see or smell me and I waited for them to move into my firing line. Once the first deer was in my scope, I took the shot - the deer jumped like it was spooked, not hit, and ran, but not horribly fast with the second deer trotting into the woods after it. I lost sight of the first deer but the second deer stopped once it got into the tree line and stayed there for quit some time. As I was taking off my mask and gloves, I heard a snort and knew that a third deer was close. Turned out that deer number three was a good-sized doe and most likely the dam of the two young ones. She stood for a bit in the woods and had I been armed with a reloaded gun instead of a crossbow, I could have taken her.
There was no blood or obvious sign of hitting the deer. I looked for a bit in the woods and went back to find my bolt to see if it had any clues. No blood on the bolt at all. Looks like I either went over it or under it. Once I got the bolt inside, I found two hairs stuck in the blade, but nothing else.
The scope needs a new battery and once that is installed, I'll be spending some quality time with my target and practice bolts.
The three deer that I saw last night are not part of the same two that were in the yard last week which is promising.
