Thursday, November 19, 2009

Connecticut archery season,opening day.

I have to admit that I have negelected this blog for some time. I have been very busy with work and the hunting season. So far it doesn't look good for filling up the freezer. Dad and I hunted Connecticut and Massachusetts for archery.

Opening day which was September 15th found me in a treestand overlooking a cornfield after I got out of work. I was surprised to find that we had company. Two other hunters have been given permission to hunt this property. For many years Dad and I were the only ones. The landowner is gracious enough to allow us to hunt. We have exclusive access to one peice of land but the cornfield is shared, now. Anyways I headed to my ladder stand at the corner of the property line. It seems that deer from the neighboring property will cross over to eat in the corn. I had placed a couple of trail cameras and they indicate that the deer will move from that area at dusk or so. I was excited and ready to hunt.

I arrived at my perch and climbed upwards. I had waited a while until some movement caught me by surprise. I was anticipating some action close to dusk as indicated by the trail cameras but at 5:43 PM three deer passed by me. A large doe and a yearling along with what I believed to be a dry doe trailing. They went past me as I sat there not moving a muscle. I made a judgement call that if they come back I will take the dry doe. Sure enough they came back.

All of the deer were moving a little quicker than I anticipated but I have used this trick of blowing a kiss to stop a deer. Well it seems to work better on bucks. I blew a kiss as the dry doe passed. Instead of freezing in her tracks she jumped back and away. Instintively I aimed a tad higher and loosed an arrow. The arrow hit a bit high. At that point she took off into the still standing corn.

I waited for a good half hour and then called my Dad on the FRS. He came over and we began to search. What irks me is that I never found the arrow. I assumed it was a pass through shot but maybe that wasn't the case. I had followed the blood trail. What concerned me was that there was very little blood. I was feeling uneasy at this point. Dad and I continued to search the corn field and the surrounding woods until it became dark. I felt sick to my stomach. I lost her. I hate losing an animal. We walked out and saw the two other hunters standing by their vehicles. They have stands below me and in the area where the deer seemed to have gone.

The next day we went searching again but to no avail. No deer or further sign. My Dad is a very shrewd man. He has a great deal of wisdom and is somewhat suspicious of other people. He told me that there was the possibility of the other two hunters finding my deer and tagging it for themselves. He said he felt suspicious that they were hanging around well after we had left for the night .

The next time we hunted my Dad looked into the back of one of their trucks. He noticed there was evidence of blood. I have mixed feelings. Did they honestly get a deer or did they find mine? If they found mine why did they not do the honorable thing step up?

Anyways. I have made a resolution. I have been practicing more with the bow and making sure that I have been taking lower shots. Shooting high on a deer's chest does not guarantee a kill.