First deer on our land

[Someday isle]

While not a trophy by most standards I was able to harvest our first deer on our property today. If you've seen my first couple of threads you know that we bought our own land this year. It's roughly 36 acres in Crawford county, Missouri. I took a spike buck this morning. I know if you don't pass the small ones they never get to be big ones but it was important for us to harvest a deer as validation for all the work the boys and I did this summer trying to get the place ready to hunt.

It was only our third sit and while my son Austin wasn't able to join me today I decided to make a morning hunt on my own. I was hunting a stand we call the widow maker. I explained in another post that my sons have never been outdoorsman because their lives have always been occupied by athletics. In fact Austin received his National Championship ring on Thursday. His college team won the NAIA Men's Volleyball National Championship last year. His twin brother, Collin, is a distance runner and baseball player and my step son is just basically a sports nerd. As their careers have wound down they've taken an interest in the outdoors, especially Austin. That's why I finally decided to pull the trigger on our own land. They're bright kids and good students, and way more educated than I am, but it's amazing what they don't know about so many things. The stand is called the widow maker because when we first bought the land there was a tree on this old logging road that the whole top half of the tree was broken out and hanging above the trail. I called it a widow maker and told them to stay away from it. They had never heard the term before. So this particular spot just became known as the widow maker. My brother, who is a chan saw wizard, has since made the area safe but the name has stuck.

Anyway, on with the story. On our first sit Austin saw some turkeys but we didn't see any deer and really haven't seen a whole lot of sign. We have had a few does and fawns and just recently a couple bucks on camera. On our second sit I saw a small buck at last light. I had an opportunity to draw my bow but was undecided on whether to shoot or not. The buck never came out from behind a cedar tree and offered a shot so I didn't have to make a decision. Now I haven't killed too many "nice bucks" but I've killed my fair share of deer so I'm often guilty of waiting for something bigger or more mature. After talking with the boys though we decided that since its our first year on our own place and only Austin's second year (and TJ's first) we wanted to get on the board so to speak this year. We decided that we'd take our first legitimate shot opportunity.

 

[Someday isle]

It was a pleasantly cool morning and very comfortable to sit in the stand. I've graduated to a ladder stand this year and we put up two of the new Rivers Edge SYCT stands. They're very comfortable and while I have my doubts as to how their tear tuff seats will hold up long term they seem to be quite sturdy and easy to sit in. About 7:30 I had a raccoon walking about. We seem to have quite a few of them. I'll probably be asking advice at some point on how to deal with them in the future. At 8:00 a doe crossed the trail about 60 yards in front of me and walked through and down a dry creek bed. At the time I reconciled that it was a good day from then on. A half hour later a couple fawns came in from behind me and were nibbling on some acorns. I'm pretty sure one was a button buck. They loitered around for a few minutes and then wandered off. Fifteen minutes later this spike buck came back from the opposite direction of the two fawns. He too nibbled on some acorns in the same area. I decided if he offered a shot I was going to take it knowing the boys would be thrilled - and me too for that matter. Here's where it got a little dicey. I'm a decent shot but can get a little too arrogant with my abilities. This fellow walked out in front of me at about 25 yards and was kind of quartering away not really offering me the shot I wanted. But in an instant he turned and looked back, basically cocking his body at a 90 degree angle to itself. I convinced myself I could sneak an arrow into his heart/lung area from there and just instinctively fired the shot. As soon as it hit I knew it was too far back. I heard it hit hard and saw the red fletching too far back.

 

[Someday isle]

I'd say I was bummed but it was really more like sick. I decided I'd sit for a half hour and then go look at the spot. As I replayed the events in my mind I realized my old fletching was red. I switched to the short fletching this year and refletched with orange and white. The red I saw had to be blood. I decided to back out. I went back to the truck, had a sandwich and killed another half hour. Then I slowly went and pulled a couple camera cards to kill another half hour. I then shed some clothes and went back to where the buck was standing when I shot. Great blood. Bright red and a trail about a foot wide. I walked slowly following the trail still not confident in my shot. It was like someone painted a bright red trail right where he went. By now I was feeling good for the first time in a long 90 minutes. I found him in no time at all. He was kind enough to lay himself down on one of my food plot trails. I had indeed hit too far back but the angle was actually beneficial. The arrow had fully penetrated but didn't pass through. I've shot WASP broad heads for as long as I can remember and switched back and forth between those and Slick tricks the last few years. Austin fell in love with Grim Reapers though so since we both shoot the same arrows and have the same draw length I decided to give the reapers a try this year. I have to say that while I fortunately (or luckily) still got an arrow into the vitals I think the broadhead sure helped with a solid blood trail. In retrospect it was maybe both a poor shot and a poor decision to shoot but with a great result. Lucky.

Missouri has a two buck limit so I'm doe only until firearms season. My focus now will be on getting the boys an opportunity to either harvest their first deer or at least have that first close encounter.

It has been the best of times working with my young adult children on our own piece of land. While I wish they would have been there with me today it was really rewarding seeing them be so excited about our first harvest. I know it's corny sounding but that's trophy enough for me. When they each tag their first deer and then their first mature buck that'll be great too.

This is his good side - the other side was pretty bloody.

 

[huntall]

Nice. .it does feel good to get rewarded after u put the work in getting a place ready to hunt.. Something about killing the first one on your place.

 

[Bill]

Congratulations on christening your new land.

 

[Fall guy]

Congrats and day you will always remember .

 

[Roger_Greaser]

Congratulations! It's nice to just sit in a standing and relax after a season of hard work.

Sent from my SM-G920R4 using Tapatalk

 

[rlb165]

Congratulations Someday isle!!
I'm looking forward to reading about your young adult children getting their first deer on your property. If you are with them when that happens...get ready for something that resembles having buck fever on steroids, while you are attempting public speaking on a roller coaster.

 

[Native Hunter]

Congratulations, and I hope this is the first of many more to come!

 

[Bszweda]

Congrats!

 

[bueller]

Congrats. That deer is a trophy in my book. It's not all about the antlers or lack thereof.

 

[Someday isle]

For me the first deer was, and is, always the best. It's the one that got me hooked. Probably many of you too. It's was 1979 and I remember it like it was yesterday. In those early years if you were a public land hunter it was a successful firearms season if you even saw a deer. I was an 18 year old kid whose only experience was a few rabbits and squirrels. In Missouri that year there were certain days that were "any deer" days. I don't even think you could apply for what we called doe tags back then, but they were probably actually appropriately named antlerless tags. We were hunting in Florida, Missouri which a few years later became the flood zone when they built Mark Twain Lake. It was only my fourth day hunting and I'd never even had an encounter with a deer. I shot a doe using an old single shot H&R 20 gauge with a slug at 60 yards. Man! What recoil that thing had. I butchered my way through field dressing and dragged it back to camp. By 9:30 I was sound asleep laying under the tailgate of my friend's dad's International Harvester Scout wearing nothing but a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. My brother and my two friends came back to camp to warm up because it was so terribly cold that week. That's the first true adrenaline rush I guess I ever had. I was warm as toast...and hooked for life. I bought a bow that winter and became a deer hunter. I'd love for nothing more than to see my boys, or any new hunter really, feel that experience. The education that follows is theirs for the taking. Being a good steward is always a good life learning adventure. Learning to be a steward of the land and its resources has value beyond just antlers and a tasty tenderloin. Those are the lessons I want them to have the opportunity to acquire. I'm clearly still figuring it out too. In my working world I call it the learning triangle. Knowledge is the base of the triangle. Experience is the first leg. With knowledge and experience the third leg becomes wisdom. And the more wisdom we achieve the more we realize how little we know so we seek more knowledge and the cycle continues. A life outdoors enjoying the gifts and learning to be responsible for the resources in our charge can certainly be of immense value to both our current and future generations.

 

[buckdeer1]

Any deer off your own land is special

 

[Tree Spud]

You took it with a vertical bow ... congrats to you!

Every bow killed deer in my opinion is a trophy ... enjoy the harvest :)

 

[Someday isle]

Vertical bow - Haha! love the term. Not sure how I feel about the crossbows. There was a time the "traditional archers" didn't like us compound users. My first one had brackets riveted onto the limbs and tiny little wheels. It was a Bear Whitetail. Now we think we're the traditionalists. Things change...and while I'm not ready for a crossbow myself I'm also in favor of increasing our participation numbers as long as it's safe, ethical and for the good of us all.

But I'll be using that vertical bow term often from now on.

 

[scott44]

Congrats!

 

[MoBuckChaser]

If it were me, I would wipe the milk off his mouth before picture taking.......


Just kidding of course, congrats should be some good eating!

 

[Someday isle]

Thanks MoBuckChaser - I think they call those little ones veal. I've read some of your posts and enjoy your insights. Hopefully your month of hunting has started out well.

 

[tooln]

1st deer from your property is always special. Congrats