Not trophy deer by any definition, however it was the thrill of the hunt that was enjoyable.
The wind was blowing from West to East when I arrived that afternoon. I started stalking on the East side of the property. I got 3/4 of the way across the property when I spotted a doe feeding in the field. She was just over a small ridge and I could see her head when she stopped eating to look around. I was 40 yards away, as she ate, I crawled. Finally I got within 20 yards of her and another doe. She quartered away from me and I took that shot. She went down immediately. Bolt entered just in front of hind quarter and exited behind the front shoulder. The lung and heart had been clipped . . .the bolt must have hit a rib or something that deflected it for I found it off course 10 yards to the left.
The next day the wind had switched from East to West the next a.m. Therefore I started my stalking on the West side of the property. I hadn't gotten far and spotted a deer headed over the ridge in front of me to my left. There is a crossing 50 yards ahead, so I decided to check the crossing out for more deer. I got to the crossing and decided to wait. About 10 minutes passed when a doe came running from the direction the first was headed passed within 10 yards of me, no shot. I waited another 2 minutes when the small buck crossed. He stopped and looked toward the direction the doe had headed. He was 30 yards off and quartering slightly toward me when I took the shot. I didn't see him, but, he dropped 15 yards away. Another 10 minutes and two more does visited the crossing, they walked in the direction of the downed buck. I heard them snort and run . . .they must have found the downed deer. I don't think they saw or smelled me. The shot was a pass thru, bolt was two yards past on the ground in the exact position that it left the Xbow. The bolt entered the front shoulder, clipped the spine and exited just in front of the hind quarter.
They were both small deer. However, I took them the "old fashioned" way. Stalking is the hardest type of hunting and I love it. I have stalked upon large bucks, but I have learned to shoot first and check for horns later if you want meat in the freezer.
I lost my cell phone recovering the second deer. I almost forgot to take a picture . . .already skinned the small buck. Never did find the cell phone, I retraced my steps 8 times, 500 yards along a road. I'm thinking a tree rat took it or maybe a raven. I had more pictures on the phone, dang!
