I Broke My Archery Hunting Curse After 20 Years of Trying

If the Cubbies can break their curse, and win the World Series, than I can finally break my curse. I have been an avid bowhunter for over 20 years. I have had countless close calls and missed opportunities. But, I finally DID IT. I bagged my first big game animal with my bow.

Lots of people like to say that my curse is just a sign that I am bad at hunting. That is not the case. I spend the entire off-season preparing for the hunt and shoot more arrows than my poor target can even handle. I have won 6 gold medals in the Big Sky State Games in archery. I am not a bad shot. Archery is just a "right place at the right time" kind of game. There have been many times I have been within range of a huge bull elk or big buck, and things did not play out the way I wanted them to.

Yesterday, I was finally in the right place at the right time. I managed to fill one of my Bitterroot river bottom B-tags. Even though some may not consider my little doe a big deal. It will always be a trophy to me.

Here is how it went down:

I managed to skip out of work a little early, in order to climb into a tree before the "magic hour." After staring at a blank field for over an hour, I finally got movement. A small doe was feeding right to my tree. When she walked within 15 yards, I drew and let the arrow fly. The shot couldn't have been more perfect. But she didn't go down. As most bow hunters know. It takes a little time for a critter to "expire" after being stuck with an arrow. I calmly waited and watched as she went to go lie down. As I kept my eye on her, a 4x4 buck showed up in the field. As he fed towards me, I could only think about the deer I already had down. Confident that the doe was where I left her, I turned my attention to the buck, as I have a A-tag to fill also. This, wasn't as text book. As every time I came to draw, the buck would step behind a tree limb or just not give a clear shot.

I eventually let him go, and climbed out of the tree. After chatting with my hunting partner, we put on our head lamps and set out on the blood trail. The deer had crossed onto a neighbors property. But my buddy had already cleared permission to retrieve if necessary. As we searched for the blood trail, the neighbor came out and asked if we were looking for a deer. We hollered "Yes," and he replied "my son saw one do a cannonball into our pond." We couldn't believe what we heard, but it turned out to be true. We walked up on a dark pond, only to see a deer floating in the middle. I was ecstatic for having had my first successful archery hunt. But, now came the hard part. "How am I going to fish this deer out of the pond?" I found the longest piece of willow tree i could see lying on the ground. And, like a golfer fishing his ball out of a water hazard, slowly pulled the deer to shore.

It was a great story for my first big game archery kill. All I can saw is never give up and keep getting out in the field. Archery is statistically low for successful hunters, but the more time you spend outside, the better your odds.

Good luck with the remainder of the 2016 hunting season, and don't forget to share with us your photos of successful hunts. It could score you some rad prizes from Big Sky Beetleworks, Sportsmans Warehouse and Wear Your Roots.