October 1st – FIELD REPORT/ARCHERY DEER: From Sam

Tonight is October 1^st and it wasn’t bad for deer hunting. We got in the stand at about 5:00 p.m. The first deer that I saw was a doe and a fawn about 95 yards to the south of me just across the creek. Right at 6:05, Kevin calls on the radio and says that there is a big buck on the other side of the creek moving east, away from me. I look up and the buck wasn’t there but there was a doe just on my side of the creek about 75 yards away and slowly moving west but after 15 minutes of grazing by the creek, she angled my way and I was ready with the camera on her and my bow ready. She moved very slowly until she was 20 yards away and then she started to run right to the base of my tree. At the moment that I was about to shoot, I noticed little bumps on HIS head, I had mistaken the large button-buck for a doe – I let him go.

At 6:20, just after I let the button-buck go, I look across the creek where the first doe was and saw a white tail flicker. I pulled my 10×42 binoculars up to look and I am staring at a monster 5×5 that would score around 130 inches. I was hoping that he would decide that the grass is greener on THIS side of the creek and come close enough for a good shot on video… He decided to do just the opposite and went back in to the woods not to be seen again for the night. I wasn’t too disappointed because there was still quite a bit of daylight left.

The other side of the creek must have been the hot spot because at 6:50 I look over there again and see 3 does and 2 little 4x4s. They walked east and out of sight, too. Daylight was fading. We were starting to wrap the night up and another fawn shows up out of no-where at 30 yards and starts to come my way, but daylight was fading fast now (he was too small for me to shoot anyway).

That night didn’t end too bad, we saw a shooter buck and several does, I had one only 5 yards and had a shot opportunity, but chose not to take it. Hopefully tomorrow night will be better.

Sam

First deer of 2010 – FIELD REPORT/ARCHERY DEER: From Sam

 At 7:00, I saw a doe 7 yards away about to walk right in front of me. She walked to 11 yards, broadside; all I needed her to do was to turn away. Unfortunately, she didn’t and she cautiously walked back where she came from. Only 5 minutes later, I saw her again, but this time I saw her  when she was still in the cover where she couldn’t see me. So as slowly as possible I stood up and got ready for a shot. Once again she stopped exactly in the same spot she was before. She had her eyes on me once again. Then, she made her last mistake, she turned away just long enough for me to raise and draw my bow. She saw the movement but still didn’t move. I released my arrow and my bow’s limb bounced off a tree branch. Luckily I heard the CRACK of her shoulder and saw that my arrow had buried all the way down to the fletchings of my arrow.

I began to worry as the rain started to come down hard – off and on. Later my mentor, Kevin, called me on my radio and said that there was a doe and 2 fawns headed my way. I saw them to the north-west of me and running my way along the creek. I pulled my bow back again and grunted at her to stop. She stopped and I guessed the yardage at 30 (we only take shots 20 yards or less). So I let my bow down as she and her fawns trotted away. I got my rangefinder out and found out that she was only 20 yards – but I did the right thing by not taking the shot.

We got out of the stand early at about 9:45 to look for my doe. It was so rainy that day that there was no blood trail and that made me a little nervous. Kevin was the last one to see her just as she jumped across the field road. When we got down and went to the spot where we saw her last, we looked across and saw her white belly only 20 yards away – only 12 yards away from the property line!

When we got to her I noticed that my arrow had punched through both of the shoulders and she had only gone 90 yards (deer can run that far in a matter of seconds).  I picked her head up and she was a big doe. Since the weather wasn’t the best, a lot of hunters would have just stayed home, but we go whenever we can as long as it’s still safe.

I got to go out that afternoon as well, but our luck wasn’t quite as great. It was an amazing afternoon weather-wise, but the deer just didn’t seem to be moving quite as well as I thought they would. I only saw 2 fawns and 2 does and none of which were within 35 yards of me. No one got anything, but one member of our team got really close to a buck, but the shot just didn’t present itself.  I had a lot of fun on this hunt, and it’s only the start to a really long season, so hopefully, a lot more deer will be taken by our mentor program. 

Mentor Kevin & Me

Sam

First Hunt – FIELD REPORT/ARCHERY DEER: From Sam

First Hunt of the 2010 Season

Maybe Next Time!

Sunday, September 19, was my first hunt of the 2010 fall archery deer season, and man was I pumped!  We got in the stands around 4:00 p.m., but it was really slow until about 6:00.  I was scanning the area from my tree stand and about 70 yards to the east of me, I saw a deer. I reached behind my tree to grab my binoculars to confirm that it was a doe…she was a HUGE doe.  As she grazed the grass not knowing I was there, I got ready, but she decided to coast east and out of sight.  Then just a second later I looked back east where she was standing and there was a fawn.  When the fawn came out into the clearing, I saw that there was another big doe right behind her.  I began to tremble with excitement as they started my way, but all of a sudden they started leaning north and went away. Once again in the exact same spot there was yet another doe.  I reached around my tree to grab my binoculars, and that’s when I heard the crack of a stick to the north of me.  I looked up and saw a beast of a buck running the opposite direction - right in front of my stand at 30 yards.  Dang it!  He must have seen my movement when I reached around the tree.  That was the last that I saw of him.  Hopefully I will see him again soon…with my arrow in him.

Sam

Introductions – Field Report/Archery Deer: From Sam

My First Buck - Taken in Mentor Program

Hi,
my name is Sam, I’m 15 and I have been in the mentor program for 2 years. With the season just underway I wanted to share a little about myself. I started shooting a bow in 2007. I bought my first bow (a Bear Odyssey ll) in 2006 when I had a broken arm. I couldn’t shoot it, or practice with it but I knew that I wanted to get into archery. Once I got the clearance from the doctor, I started going to JOAD (Junior Olympic Archery Development) hosted by the Golden Arrow Archery Club and Mentor Kevin Markt. The guys taught me how to shoot correctly and accurately and have fun while doing it. I practiced shooting and got up to the minimum requirement (at that time) of 40 lbs to hunt  for the next year.

 September of 2008 was the first time hunting in the mentor program and it was awesome. That year I was able shoot 5 deer! I knew that this was going to be a good time. The mentors who taught me are amazing and I owe them so much, as well as the Nebraska Game and Parks mentor program who finds the land and gets it signed up for us to hunt and learn on with professional guidance.

By my second year (last year), I had learned and experienced more than I had ever expected to. Last year I was able to help other people and share my knowledge that the mentors had passed on to me. By now I was teaching other new hunters how to shoot, put up a tree stand and gut a deer. I love the mentor program. We all get along and have a lot of fun together. Even during the off-season we get together and shoot 3-D competitions and have competitive shoot-offs.

Mentees at 3-D Shoot

I can’t wait for this season to start, and get out in the woods to get some deer in the freezer! Good luck to all of ya this season!

Sam