My daughters first deer - An archery story

[724wd]

Anya has been an archer since the age of 2. She started her archery career with a Bear 1st Shot fiberglass stick bow and is now, as an 11 year old, shooting a left handed Bear Cruiser Lite in purple with Pinnacle Archery purple/black strings & cables, purple Bow Jax string dampers, a purple B-Stinger stabilizer, Purple Whisker Biscuit, and a (NOT purple) TruGlo 4 pin sight.

Anya sat reading her book while I held her bow and struggled to stay awake. We had been in the blind since 4:30pm after an eventful morning. Each time she turned the page, the paper rustled and crinkled. I cringed. I told her before she turns each page she has to look up (to see if animals are coming) and turn them quietly. She remembered about 75% of the time.

A flock of turkeys descended upon us at 6:18pm and hung out clucking and pecking for 10 minutes before something spooked them. One flew up on top of the shed we had our blind in and noisily walked back and forth. I saw a doe headed down the hill and looked over to get Anya’s attention. She glanced at me and I mouthed “Doe coming” and shook her head and whispered “Buck! Big Buck! RIGHT there!” I leaned to the left to see out of the window and crap! There WAS a big buck RIGHT THERE!

I took her book from her and put it on the ground and gently urged her to stand up very slowly. 6 does and fawns were also less than 40 yards away and I didn’t want them to see her movement. I handed her her bow as the buck sauntered straight in to the water trough Grandpa Tom thoughtfully leaves full for all the wildlife that calls his canyon home. The trough is 12 yards from the blind. Anya nocked an arrow and clipped her release to begin her draw. She strained and relaxed, then again without fully drawing her bow! She looked back at me and said “I can’t draw it!”

I braced the riser with her and helped her ease her elbow back. I whispered 12 yards in her ear and she released the arrow… right over the deers back! They all jumped back, startled and trotted up the hill out to about 35 yards. A few tense seconds ticked by while they looked around for what happened. The deer zeroed in on the turkey on the roof of the shed and, I guess, decided that bird must have thrown something at them! A fawn strolled right back in and headed for water with the buck following right behind. I, very slowly, reached under her bow and pulled another arrow from her quiver. She was too close to the window and I was worried the deer would see her movement. Arrow on the rest, she drew perfectly and as the buck dipped his head to drink, fully broadside, she buried her arrow right in the lungs! The buck took off on a literal dead run through the pasture, blood squirting 18” out his left side where the arrow still protruded. Not a pass through, but I knew that was a dead deer! We both stared at each other, she tore her face mask off, eyes bugging out of her head. I hugged her tight and told her she’d done PERFECT and had just killed her first deer!

When asked if she wanted to head into the house to tell grandpa and wait, she asked,”You’re not going to make me wait an hour, are you? How about 15 minutes?”

“Sure.” I told her, “That deer will be dead in the next 2 minutes if he’s not already.”

We ran back to the house and being the impatient person I am, I wanted to quietly glance out in the field in the direction the deer ran to see what I could see. Grandpa wasn’t in the house so we peeked over the fence and Anya started pointing excitedly! He buck was laying dead 50 yards out in the harvested field! I saw Grandpa had come in as we were at the fence and waved him out, and I may have used some colorful language to explain how f#*&^%@* HUGE the deer was!

“She shot a MONSTER!!!” I may have exclaimed, arms perhaps up in the air…

Anya and I climbed over the fence and approached the dead deer. Pictures, a friendly visit from the neighbor who saw the deer from his blind, and a quick drag back to Grandpas pasture. We took more pictures in a more photogenic location and began the processing procedure. The post mortem showed what we knew, that the arrow center punched both lungs, stopping just under the hide on the off side. As the deer ran, that RAD Madman broadhead sliced that buck from shoulder to diaphram! He was a MESS! But I wouldn’t have it any other way! The arrow snapped off at the hide, leaving the leading 12” in the chest cavity. We recovered the tail of the arrow the next day. The broadhead didn’t hit any bone and is just as sharp as when we took it out of the package! If it weren’t destined for the wall, it could go right back in the quiver!

WHAT A DAY! WHAT A FEELING! I find it SO much better to see my friends and family get an awesome animal than to do so myself. If I could let Anya shoot my deer, too, I’d never shoot another! And her grandpa was as proud as anyone! He was the WA state archery champion in the 1950’s as a kid and killed his first deer at 12 with his bow. To see his granddaughter best him by a year (and a lot of antler!) was awesome!

[724wd]

Just after she missed the first shot, and as the buck came back in. I had a trail cam mounted on the post of the shed to catch shots JUST like this.

As I sit and remember, while I had her bow on my lap I was mindlessly plucking the strings, and I remember them having NO slack at all! I wonder why it was that first time drawing it back that afternoon was so stiff? She had no problem the second shot, and she had shot at a deer earlier in the morning with no issue.  it's set at 41 pounds and she's shot it at that poundage for the last 2 months.

[Timberstalker]

Freaking awesome!  Congrats to her, and good on you for getting her out there.

Unreal.

[WapitiTalk1]

Absolutely awesome hunt and write-up!  Congrats to the young hunter and her guide. 

[bearpaw]

Awesome, her smile tells the story, congrats! 

[hawks33]

That's a great story. Congrats.

[bearhunter99]

Always great to see the youth success stories!

Congrats!

[ctwiggs1]

Congratulations to Anya!  That's a dandy!

[Woodchuck]

That's awesome man, congrats to you both. 

[quadrafire]

That's just great. Tell her Congrats!!!

[fowl smacker]

That's awesome.  These are my favorite kind of posts on hunting forums.  Great job dad and daughter!  Forever memories right there!

[Skyvalhunter]

 

[full choke]

Right on!
Congratulations to the young hunter!

[nitroelk]

awesome story.congrats

[huntnfmly]

Wholly moly I love these type of stories.
Congrats to you both and thank you so much for sharing