Last Wednesday, I was a little late leaving the office and I debated the wisdom of rushing out to the treestand and possibly spooking deer that had already left their beds to feed. I’ve been carrying my video camera with me on most of my hunts, so it takes a little longer for me to get set up than most hunters. Not wanting to pass up the optimum weather conditions, I opted to check out a white oak stand near my house where I could sneak in quickly.
Click here to watch the video of this hunt
The steady west wind was perfect for my stand location along the eastern edge of the oaks. I climbed the tree and attached my video camera to the custom mounting arm I built from a Realtree EZ hanger and an old tripod head. My camera only weighs about a pound, and this system supports it well and is small enough that I can carry it in a large coat pocket.
I hadn’t been on stand long when I caught movement in the brush to the east. A lone doe was approaching from my downwind side. I muttered to myself in disgust. Not because I wasn’t happy to see the doe, but annoyed that I always seem to find myself upwind from the deer. However, my Medalist gear did its job and the doe continued to feed on acorns as she neared my stand.
The doe feeding on the plentiful white oak acorns; At about 20 yards, she turned and walked straight toward my stand.
Initially, I concentrated on getting good video footage of the doe. But at 20 yards, it was apparent that I needed to let go of the camera and pick up my bow. This transition was not a smooth one and did not go unnoticed by the doe. I froze and did my best impression of an old sugar maple. The doe must have decided my movements came from one of the many squirrels that were bounding through the treetops, because she went back to feeding and continued toward me.
At 10 yards, I knew the doe had walked out of the camera’s sight window. I slowly reached over and adjusted it until she came back into the viewfinder. When I looked up from the camera, my eyes met squarely with the doe’s and I knew she had realized I was no squirrel. She turned and took several quick steps away from me. I came to full draw, hoping that she would stop and turn broadside for a shot. Luckily she did just that, but once again, I couldn’t see her in the camera. Not wanting to let the bow down, I carefully leaned over to the camera arm and clenched the handle in my teeth. I managed to push it just enough to find the doe again in the viewfinder.
The doe made several zigzags trying to identify the source of movement in the forest canopy.
The doe stood motionless, staring intently back at me. My top sight pin automatically settled behind her front shoulder and I let the arrow fly. The broadhead found its mark, as it passed completely through the doe and stuck in the ground behind her. She bolted to the east, and I thought I could hear a crash in the leaves a few seconds later. I tried to regain my composure and double-checked to see if the camera was still recording.
The lighted nock shows the path of the arrow as it left my bow (check out the oscillation!)
The arrow entered slightly to the right of my aiming point.
I thought the hit was good, but it seemed slightly farther back from the shoulder than I would have liked. I remembered being aware of the tree along the left side of my sight window and figured that I’d subconsciously tried to avoid it and pulled the shot a bit to the right. With darkness approaching, I decided to check my arrow, whose lighted nock was beaming back at me from the forest floor. Upon investigation, I discovered that the arrow was covered in bright red blood from a solid lung hit. The heavy blood trail led me about 50 yards to the expired doe. Closer inspection revealed that due to the doe’s slight quartering angle, the arrow had exited just behind the opposite shoulder, and the hit was better than I’d originally thought.
Bright crimson fletchings assured me of a good lung hit
A view of the exit wound that provided an excellent blood trail
I was very glad that this hunt had a happy ending and even more thrilled that I’d managed to record it on film. I couldn’t wait to get home and watch the raw footage to see if the camera was able to capture the flight of the lighted arrow nock. I’m pretty pleased with the results of my solo hunt, but I’ve learned a couple of things from the experience. The first is that I need to invest in a quality tripod head so my camera panning will be a lot smoother. The second is that I need to get AJ behind the camera one of these days. Happy hunting!
I couldn’t ask for a better start to the ’07 season!
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