Well the longbow did it again for me this year. I shot this doe on the westside yesterday evening. It was a great day for black tail hunting (in my opinion any way) - blustery wind and rain.
I'd still-hunted most of the afternoon and had seen an ENORMOUS blacktail 4x6 walk right by me at 10 yards. Literally the biggest blacktail I've ever seen and one of the biggest bucks I'd ever seen in person. He came up from behind and with the wind I never heard a thing until I saw him out of my peripheral vision. Would have been an easy shot had he stopped moving but alas, no luck... I tracked him for a ways and saw him one more time but couldn't get close.
Anyway I returned to my tree stand around 3PM and had several deer moving in the vicinity. The wind was still blustery but swirling at the time and I had the interesting experience of very distinctly seeing a deer cross my downwind scent line. A doe had been working her way slowly through the brush behind me and came out on my right side about 20 or 25 yards away. Right as she was beginning to enter the zone in which I could feasibly shoot given the geometry of the stand, the wind started to blow towards her and her head popped up very distinctly as she tested the air. After a minute or two of sniffing she turned and quietly walked away. After that deer had disappeared I experimented a bit with my stand and realized that I could turn to face the tree, hang back suspended from the safety strap, and actually fairly comfortably draw my bow. I decided that if another deer appeared in that spot, I would try the shot. About a half hour later, I heard a deer moving again through the same brush, and a different doe walked out and paused in the little clearing. Fortunately the wind was more favorable this time and the doe did not spook. She stood broadside about 22 yards away, totally unaware that I was there. I leaned way back, hanging suspended from the safety strap, and picked a spot.
I had the supremely satisfying experience, especially for a traditional shooter, of having my arrow bury right in the spot I'd picked, at the apex of the "V" formed by the scapula and humerus. As a brief aside, I believe most archers aim way too far back (behind the "crease" of the front leg) to place their shots. You really want to be aiming just behind the angle made by the humerus and scapula, more in line with the front of the back leg. This is a much more rapidly lethal shot.
Anyway, the doe took off at a full run and made it about 30 yards, so I'd guess she was alive for all of three seconds. The blood trail was modest but easy and the chest was full of blood.
I was shooting a Wes Wallace longbow, 55# at 28" (I draw 30"), and cedar arrows I made myself. A great experience.
I was tempted to hold out and try and find that buck, with a longbow and a busy schedule, I take what nature offers, and the shot was too good to pass up.
