Hunting Is What Matters...Not The Method

Joined
Jun 4, 2017
Messages
629
Location
Susanville, California
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2017 proved to be a year of extreme humility. I began my journey as a Bow Hunter 3 years ago, rookie here. In those 3 years as a Bow Hunter I must say I foolishly drank the kool-aid. Before the beginning of this last season I was the quintessential idealist. I fell in love with the notion of playing the wind, getting close, going through my shot sequence, and sending a well aimed arrow down range. There was just something about doing things that way that screamed...purity! That somehow made me feel superior to other hunters who use different methods of take. I want to be crystal clear, I was dead wrong. Now I see the success I found as an archer was completely achieved with dumb luck. This luck fed my ego, and my ego showed me there's much to be desired in my skill and approach to hunting.

Deer are amazing animals. They spend 365 days a year being assaulted by the elements, chased by predators, dodging vehicles, and running from all of us. It seems that everything is trying to kill them, yet year after year they find a way to survive (in some cases thrive). As the 2018 season approaches, and I get ready to hit Oregon with an OTC Elk Tag in hand, my admiration for Mule Deer and Blacktails will always be what really gets me going. I used to fancy myself as a successful bow hunter. Though, my inability to harvest with my bow in 2017 forced me to leave the delusions of grandeur I once clung too, and look at my attempts more realistically. Out of 13 legitimate opportunities over 2 years, I have harvested only 2 bucks. While those successful shots are still crisp in my memory, I've lost the romantic notions I once had about hunting with a compound. Let's be honest, 2 for 13 sucks, even in T-ball! This isn't a story about being a bow hunter, and how that puts me in a class above other hunters who use different methods (nothing could be further from the truth). It is a story of humiliating humility, circumstance, and finding the realization that being a hunter (no matter the method) is the most important thing to me. As my boy grows and takes his rightful turn as the shooter, he will understand what it is to be a hunter, and he will support hunters who use any method, so long as it is legal and ethical.

There's no need to go into the details of my archery hunt this year, all you need to know is that I choked at under 20 yards (looking for a range finder instead of going to full draw), blew the opportunity, pursued the deer, and sent 2 arrows resulting in clean misses (probably should have used the rangefinder on those shots). I went full on Winchester! Somewhere in the California Cascades there is a very educated buck. This failure was day one of the hunt. The buck wasn't a monster, but he was a dandy for the tag I had. The next 12 days, seemed to be a display of my ineptitude as an archer. If it wasn't the wind shifting at the moment of truth, it was my two left feet on a stalk, or it was my inability to get my prior failures out of my head. My confidence was at an all time low. Maybe there are guys that would go through this kind of season and just hang it up. I concluded my unsuccessful season with a newfound resolve to be a more complete hunter. It was time to swallow my pride and pick up a rifle.

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Now boys, as I go into the next part of this story, I know there will be some that see my status as a tribal member, i.e. being able to hunt tribal lands as an unfair advantage. While I understand those sentiments (because it is basically a private land hunt), I am also thankful for the privilege. Believe me when I say, there are quite a few boxes that must be checked before I can set off on a tribal land hunt. There's a combination of tribal and state laws that I must adhere to so that my tribal hunts are considered legal. Rest assured my i's are dotted and my t's are crossed.

Upon the conclusion of the CA Archery season, I new that I still had opportunities to get meat for my family by hunting tribal land, and boys that's a good thing! I freely admit I am fortunate. In the nearly 2,000 acres of trust land, any knowledgeable hunter would see it as prime deer and antelope habitat. With small acreage, I ran lots of cameras to ensure I wasn't going in to their areas too much. It was pretty fun checking SD cards and hoping for a monster. While I never got my picture of a toad, I did get to know a mom and her fawn. I think that's something that the Anti-Hunters don't understand about us. The dichotomy that exists when we consider a hunter's actions vs. the passion for the animals he/she pursues will probably never be fully understood. Maybe I don't fully understand it either. I love these animals more than most humans, but yes, I set out every year to take one, or two for my family. I do so with love, regret, and yes... joy. That little fawn became a favorite find in my camera recon. It was like watching a child grow from afar. Sadly, that little baby found herself under my buddy's ford. Sad day for me.

Over the course of several months, I would get hundreds of pictures. There was a fox who loved to come into my sets, packs of coyotes running and hunting, lots of moms and kids licking mineral, some small bucks in transit, and many many pronghorn.

As I set out on my hunts I knew my shots had to be accurate because of the property lines. This changed my mindset and tactics from hunting public land to feeling like I was hunting in a box. Keep in mind, there's no high fences here, the game come and go as they please, but having private land around tribal land meant I had to ensure attempts taken were high percentage quick killing shots. I tried sitting in a ground blind where I was picking up lots of game pictures. Man that is something I completely suck at. I quickly changed tactics and began skirting the outside edges of the land, glassing inward looking for opportunities to spot and stalk.

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On the morning of my first kill, I was applying this tactic. The wind was horrible (blowing in the direction I was traveling), but I wasn't too concerned, because I was on my way to a glassing spot where I would be looking in a direction that bucks wouldn't be smelling me. As luck (bad luck) would have it, I was 5 minutes into the short hike and I caught movement. 4 Doe (who obviously winded me) crossed hurriedly in front of me about 50 yards. They didn't run and look back, they just ran! Figuring I blew out whatever deer where in my approach, I just kept walking along. Dumb move! I didn't get 100 more yards and another small herd tore out across me in a dead sprint. This time, they stopped to look back and see what I was. The last deer in that group was a buck. Now before I get into this, it's important for you to know, I am the worlds worst trophy hunter. If there's a legal deer, I see red.

He was - what looked like a forked horn. Standing for just a few seconds staring at me, seemingly knowing exactly what I was up too. In those few seconds every blown stalk and missed shot from my archery season came flooding into my mind. I decided, this buck was not going to get away, because I had the .270 in hand. As I racked a round, he and the others gave chase, quickly and out of sight. But I knew where they were going. I'm not going to say it was a dead sprint after them, but it was freaking close to it. I haven't felt that sort of adrenaline rush since my USMC Infantry days. I knew if I could just get them in sight, I would have a shot. I chased them over a sage brush and juniper covered hill for a few hundred yards. As I cleared some trees, I could see them sitting in a draw browsing on some bitter brush. I closed the distance just a few more yards, got to the prone and ranged the buck. 297 was the reading. At that point it was muscle memory I learned from being a Marine Rifleman. I settled my breathing, slowly squeezed the trigger, and sent the round on a breath pause. As the first shot impacted, the rest of the deer fled, and my buck hit the deck. I quickly chambered another round, let the cross hairs settle, and sent another one. Hunt over. From the time the deer was shot until he expired it was a matter of seconds. All I could think of after I realized he was down was, dam that was fast. As I walked up to my buck, I could not help but feel so dam thankful for the opportunity. He was a beautiful boy, and no, he wasn't a giant. Ha-ha.

I took a lot of joy processing that deer for my family. While we have not been able to harvest enough game/fish meat to last a whole year, we certainly try. Up to the point I killed this buck, we were looking at a year with no deer meat....needless to say the Mrs. wasn't very happy.

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Now as I said, I'm a tribal person so I also try to fill the role of providing what I can for family. Mom has really been there for me through the years, and she's always talking about how she loved how her dad would bring home tasty deer meat. Of course like most, her favorite was the backstraps. With the notion of another hunting opportunity, and giving mom an early Mother's day present I set back out in search of one more deer for the freezer. The rut had started heating up by this time, so I knew opportunities would be good, as we have plenty of resident does on our land. I spent the morning hunting a different portion of our land, again skirting the edges. But this time, being very mindful of the wind (even though the rifle was in hand). I got high, and glassed a few spots for about an hour at a time. I was not seeing anything, but the feeling of success just felt so prevalent.

While my focus was looking inward and working the wind. I peaked a small ridge and there it was. 200 yards off my naked eye caught the movement of a deer's ear. I popped up my binos and looked in the direction I saw movement. There he was. The 4x4 I had seen with my old lady a week prior. He stood there unassuming and oblivious to my presence. He was facing east and the sun was still on the rise. I shouldered my rifle and attempted to get a good sight picture several times, but the sun kept washing out the scope. I knew I needed a different approach. Perhaps with all the failed opportunities of my archery season, I had all the panicking out of my system. Knowing the wind was in my favor I circled the buck loosing him from my sight as I approached.

At this point it was a guessing game of when to start back in the direction he was in. Luckily for me, I guessed right! As I approached we came eye to eye at less than 50 yards. I immediately went to the kneeling and got a sight picture. He stared at me, seeming to know the jig was up. But he didn't break away fast, he turned cautiously giving me a perfect shot. I seized the opportunity, and again, in the blink of an eye the hunt was over. I couldn't believe my luck. Or maybe it was just failing so many times, that my threshold for success has climbed a bit. Needless to say, my mother cried tears of happiness when I brought her the prized backstraps from my kill. Today, my family continue to eat and enjoy the meat those brave bucks provided. I continue to dream about my upcoming archery hunts, but now I know it doesn't really matter what weapon you choose. It's about the experience, providing for family, and doing things efficiently. The thing I am the most satisfied about is they both died quickly.

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Joined
Nov 5, 2015
Messages
651
Gotta go back and re-read this again later but I really appreciate the humility here.

Having bow hunted Whitetails 3 seasons now I'm 2/5 on my harvest/shot ratio. Was seriously spoiled my first year when I tagged a nice Buck and have been trying to beat that one ever since.

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OP
bguitierez
Joined
Jun 4, 2017
Messages
629
Location
Susanville, California
Gotta go back and re-read this again later but I really appreciate the humility here.

Having bow hunted Whitetails 3 seasons now I'm 2/5 on my harvest/shot ratio. Was seriously spoiled my first year when I tagged a nice Buck and have been trying to beat that one ever since.

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That's still a pretty good ratio. Thanks for reading bro!

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Joined
Sep 24, 2016
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Conifer, CO
Awesome write-up. Mods can we make this a sticky or turn it into an article/blog?

Keep your head up OP. I'm well into my second decade bow hunting and this past October I missed...wait for it...seven deer. The first of those was a brisket shot because of a stupid yardage mistake on a giant 10 that is still out there walking around haunting me. After that shot I just couldn't keep my head on straight. Another guy went out to the same property the first week of rifle season and took 3 deer. That right there is an exercise in humility. His freezer is full, mine ain't.

It's all a process and just about the time I think I've got it figured out, I'm reminded that He is God and I am not. At the end of they day we're blessed to be out there...and occasionally we get reminded that it's called hunting, not killing.
 
Joined
Nov 5, 2015
Messages
651
. The first of those was a brisket shot .
.

I did that this year on the biggest Buck I ever had a shot on- BRISKET shot. Found the arrow full of blood and tallow where I shot him and was in denial for a week! I darn needed to see a therapist, LOL.



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OP
bguitierez
Joined
Jun 4, 2017
Messages
629
Location
Susanville, California
Awesome write-up. Mods can we make this a sticky or turn it into an article/blog?

Keep your head up OP. I'm well into my second decade bow hunting and this past October I missed...wait for it...seven deer. The first of those was a brisket shot because of a stupid yardage mistake on a giant 10 that is still out there walking around haunting me. After that shot I just couldn't keep my head on straight. Another guy went out to the same property the first week of rifle season and took 3 deer. That right there is an exercise in humility. His freezer is full, mine ain't.

It's all a process and just about the time I think I've got it figured out, I'm reminded that He is God and I am not. At the end of they day we're blessed to be out there...and occasionally we get reminded that it's called hunting, not killing.
Hey thanks for the props brother! I appreciate it a lot. Humility is pretty important. hoping no more humiliation this season haha

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