THINK DEER                                                                                           by Ted Nugent

You can’t really close your eyes and read this, so instead, concentrate as you read and pump images of deer into your brain. Envision all those stunning beasts you have been so blessed to encounter over so many hunting seasons, and burn that beautiful picture deep into your cranium. Imprint it on your psyche, make it an actual element of your being. Now, doesn’t that feel good.

I am typing this little ditty in my Ranch King deer blind on a cold December afternoon, and I have eight whitetails in front of me right now, all within twenty yards. I sit spellbound.

An old matriarch doe is crazy alert, two doe fawns and a very handsome button buck with huge pronounced nubbins could care less as they nibble away. There is a yearling doe, a yearling three point buck, and a fat stud of a three year old eight point beast. They own me.

My heart is racing rather predictably, and I only keep typing because I am trying to convince myself to not shoot the handsome eight pointer.

Steady Uncle Ted. Steady as she goes.

For all the right reasons, I should kill that old doe as part of my Texas Parks and Wildlife Managed Land Deer Permit plan. We figure eight more does gotta go off our ground, and she’s an old gal that would be perfect to take out to better the herd. We shall see.

I really love hunting, ambushing and killing deer, love watching and videoing them, love being a natural part of their world, love grilling and eating them, really love sharing their sacred flesh with the regional Hunters for the Hungry program and the families of the US Military, but what turns me on the most is the intelligent, stewardship system by which we manage deer and all wild game for healthy, thriving populations and properly balanced conditions. By doing so, I can forever enjoy and celebrate all those other ways that I love deer.

I just looked up again from my laptop, and now there are ten deer. Another shooter doe and a scrawny spike horn buck arrived, and they are all bulking up on feed in the cold weather. They constantly look around and flinch at every bird, every breeze, and for many unknown reasons. What an amazing creature. I would propose that for millions and millions of us, our lives would be dramatically less enjoyable without deer. I know it has always been a powerful force of joy, inspiration and awe for me and my family.

The two big does just stood up on hind legs and went into that flurry of cartwheeling punches with their front hooves. That is some violent behavior right there, and any one of those cloven hooved blows could kill you outright. I am sure that while we are all conveniently tucked away in our cushy homes throughout the year, whitetail deer are knocking the living bejesus out of each other, including killing each other at a much higher rate that anyone really understands.

The button buck is way out of his league haranguing the old girl, as the rut is up and down for the last couple of months. I am real tempted to kill the puny spike and forkhorn, but at only one and a half years of age, their first set of antlers in no way provides a meaningful indicator of their genetic potential. Have you ever noticed that once we decide to not shoot a particular animal, that they pose perfectly broadside with their leg forward for the longest periods of time?

I just gulped a deep breath of freezing air, for a dynamo buckaroo just arrived on scene to take any deer hunter’s breath away. This majestic stag has ten perfectly defined points on his tall, wide, sweeping rack, and represents the kind of monster buck I would never have dreamed of coming in contact with growing up in the Midwest deer woods.

This incredible beast has no idea that a blood thirsty venison addict is only fifteen yards away in this dark blind, with a bow and arrow and razor sharp broadhead and the tags to go with them.

He noses the does and the other bucks give him lots of room, and with all the commotion, you couldn’t ask for a better opportunity to get to full draw on such a great deer. But I just gaze, video it all and type away, for though this buck’s antlers are very impressive and highly desirable, I can tell by his trim neck, brisket and body that he is only two and a half years old, the very definition of a quality deer management specimen to let walk.

I am so proud of myself. I am learning, and his presence literally increases my excitement just knowing such quality bucks are around. It wasn’t that many years ago that I would have killed him in an instant, but like so many other hunters these days, I know I can get all the venison I need by killing the right deer and letting the right deer grow to their potential.

Shooting light is gone now, all the deer have moved off, so I put away my vidcam, attach my quiver back on my bow and get ready to shut down my laptop, absolutely thrilled beyond words that I am a deer hunter. I head home with my soul filled with allthings deer.

Tomorrow in another day, and tomorrow is another deer. I will now fill my belly with some scrumptious backstraps and keep the spirit of the deer alive in everything I do.

TEXAS TEN                                                                                 by Ted Nugent

 

I never really stop hunting. It is indeed a cherished, time honored lifestyle for me. A wonderful, totally alive, day by day celebratory outdoor lifestyle of great, deeply appreciated, heartfelt gratification. Self-sufficiency. Rugged individualism. Hands-on conservation. Private land ownership. Property rights. Privacy rights. Experimenting in “self-government”. We the people resource ownership and stewardship. The right to keep and bear arms. Live free of die. Don’t tread on me. Surely the ultimate American Dream the way I see it. Independent. Free. Self evident truth, God given right’s. Pursuit of happiness guaranteed. Perfect. You can’t do this in France.

 

The supremely enjoyable daily routines of checking my trapline, killing varmints, choosing and planting foodplots, running irrigation, positioning new deerstands, constructing groundblinds, upgrading old ones, checking fences and gates, filling waterholes and feeders, trimming shooting lanes, practicing with rifles, handguns, shotguns and bows, arranging and upgrading targets and ranges, training dogs and introducing new people to the joys of shooting, watching and studying wildlife and constantly strategizing ambush zones for my hunting clients, and more, are all chores and enjoyable outdoor activities that I really look forward to each day. Rocking my brains out nearly 100 concerts per year pretty much keeps me busy throughout the summer any way you cut it, so these wonderful activities which I live for in between rockouts do indeed keep me bright eyed and bushy tailed in a constant, energized way. When the actual official hunting season shows up in the fall of the year, my state of mind doesn’t need too much adjusting back to my natural predator mode and spirit. In fact, with the amazing year round hunting opportunities for exotic wildlife in my new adopted homestate of Texas, there are not any “No Hunting” days in my life. How cool is that? Godbless Texas, Godbless America and Godbless the beasts all!

 

Back in my ancestral homegrounds of Michigan, the seasonal changes are palpable. The air tastes different. Dramatic change is tangible. The planets do indeed realign and there is a mystically altered pulse in the wind. Ya gotta love that. Meanwhile, in the great Republic of Texas, one must routinely check the calendar so see if summer will ever end. Texas is hot. Usually hotter. For an old dyed-in-the-wool Michiganiac, it is a bit of a psychological adjustment to deal with all this blazing sunshine and brutal heat. But as a guitarplayer-cum-U.S. Marine, I can improvise, adapt and overcome with the best of them. And I do. There is no Plan B. It is time.

 

So it was, as the blistering fireball in the LoneStar sky grilled my inner being, nonetheless, the calendar read October and my spirit insisted on liftoff. All that dedicated boot time on my hunting grounds had kept me abreast of whitetail activity, and this day I chose a tall ladderstand nestled deep, and hidden within the green embrace of a tall pine tree overlooking a winding, rocky creek course amongst the thorny screen of greenbriar, assorted impenetrable tangles and relentless juniper. A line of huge, towering pecan and live oak trees made up the forest before and behind me, and with the gentle southwest breeze, my confidence ran high. It is always a roll of the hunter’s dice, but we had a full on backstrap mojo going on this day. I could feel it. You never know, but we always hope.

 

After a long wait, the eye-candy parade of beautiful, sleek, healthy does and fawns ghosted from the shadows as the sun dipped lower. Some of the whitetails were red, some brown, others slate grey. A few of the fawns still showed remnant spots, confirming that the breeding does indeed continue well into winter. Momentarily, a small forked horn, a spike and a fat, muscular, slick six joined the group. My elevated ambush hideout gave me a perfect viewing position to watch the group of 20 plus deer carryon undisturbed, and again provided me the greatest joy that is being a hunter. To be on the inside of their natural world has a powerful healing and calming effect on me, and I studied each animal in detail through my Yukon binoculars. Mutual grooming, prancing, kicking, nipping, licking, head butting, sparring, browsing and constantly examining their surroundings with an uncanny alertness entertained me completely. I love every minute of such encounters and it represents a prime allure to the great outdoors lifestyle. The critters never let you down and there is never a dull moment.

 

Early season bucks tend to hang out in bachelor groups, and the slight glint of bone through the scrub materialized into antlers as five stud boys emerged from the tangle down below. The first two were handsome 2-3 year old eight pointers, followed by a 3-4 year old 9, then another young eight. It was the arrival of massive, tall, wide, light colored antlers that got me. With a dandy set of impressive antlers towering over his distinctive, Roman nosed face, one hog of a mature buck strode up the creek embankment and waddled into view. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that Texas whitetails are small, for this old granddaddy of a buck was every bit as fat, muscular and heavy as a Kansas or Michigan brute up North. I could tell by the deep chest and brisket, and the fat belly that I had before me a 7+ year old trophy. Now the slight trembling began.

 

Slowly lifting my binocular, I examined this fine buck carefully and realized that I knew this old boy. I had encountered him in this same grove late last season. His distinctive white legs and exaggerated white facial markings clearly identified him as my old buddy. My bow was already at half mast, Scott release locked onto my bowstring, and my mind made up.

 

The does and fawns and younger bucks backed away as the old boy strode toward the small piles of Wildlife Innovations Buck bran I had put out as an attractant, and now my inner predator ballet was going into the gutpile pirouette hyper two step. I dance divinely.

 

A slight screen of leaves on a young cedar elm separated my arrow from his vitals, so I had no clear shot. It doesn’t take much interference to deflect a speeding arrow, so I held tight. As goes bowhunting, the big boy kept his forward shoulder toward my position for a long while, and life around me ceased to exist. It was just his ribcage and my broadhead that existed, nothing else.

 

With a graceful swing of his long neck and head, he took a step to his right, bringing his bulky chest clear of any obstruction, and the mushy 55# CP Oneida bow flexed back smoothly on its own. I zeroed in dead on the crease behind his left foreleg, and the next thing I knew, big white feathers were dangling out of his armpit as he and all the other deer exploded at once. Angling forward as he had turned, the zebra colored GoldTip shaft had surely sliced through his ribs and into the life pumping heart of the old beast, his sagging hindquarters telling of his imminent demise. Big Jim swung the SpiritWild vidcam from the now departed buck’s vaportrail, onto my now smiling, giddy face for the whole word to share, and I was one happy American bowhunter to say the least.

 

We captured on tape all the glory and joy of this wonderful, perfect hunting connection, then filmed the short, quick bloodtrail and recovery to the heartshot monster. Everytime we collect these wildlife gifts, a Nuge party erupts in the forests and wildgrounds of the world, knowing and celebrating the thrills of being so intimately functional as a beneficial, positive participant in this natural tooth, fang and claw world. Every exacting nuance and detail of the pre-event, anticipation, encounter, shot preparation and intense action is relived and articulated as clearly as possible, so that the viewer of our Spirit of the Wild TV shows and videos better understands the depth of spirit, form and function of the real world that we are living and documenting. Life and death is it. It is perfect. Shame on those who pretend otherwise. Rejoice to be a player.

 

For the Best of Spirit of The Wild DVDs or Ted Nugent Hunt Music CDs, contact tednugent.com or call 800-343-4868. Dealer inquiries welcome.

Straight Shot
with frank addington, jr.

Frank Sinatra once sang that “Chicago is my kind of town…” Now that I have attended the 2012 Chicago Outdoor Sportsman Show I can also say that after 27 years on stage, Chicago is finally my kind of town too! I’d wanted to work this market for a long time and it never worked out. I’d heard Fred Bear, Ann Clark, Dick Mauch and others talk about the famous Chicago shows but I had never been booked to perform there. I came close in 2011 but it didn’t work out.

It looked like I wouldn’t have a chance to do the show when I heard that there would not be a 2012 Chicago show. However, an east coast based company called MET group stepped up and started to organize a show in three months time! I was booked to perform along with my friend Jeff Watson and his huge bruin, Brody the Bear. There were many other features there of interest to sportsmen including seminars and demos, 3-D archery, and other activities.

My sidekick for the weekend would be one of the show’s employees Jimmy. He’d never thrown for me or even seen the show. I told him what we’d be doing and it was showtime…. he did a super job that first night and I hit the baby aspirin shot second try! I told him he was hired and that I wanted him to throw the rest of the weekend. Saturday morning the audience and Jimmy was amazed when I hit the three baby aspirin/three arrow shot first try! Then we followed that up with three mustard seeds and three arrows–and hit that first try too! Never underestimate the help a good assistant is. There is an art to tossing targets and some people have it and some don’t.

They captured one performance and we have that on video you can see here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEvSZPfbYZ0

I really enjoyed doing this show. Folks asked lots of questions and I remember doing some outdoor radio shows to promote this event. We had good crowds and this show did very well to have been organized in such a short period of time. If you want more information, you can visit the MET Group’s website for this event at :

www.chicagosportsmenshow.com

Special thanks to MET Group, Jimmy, the audiences, show staff and everyone that came to the show. I had a great time and look forward to coming back! The Rosemont Convention Center is a short distance from O’Hare airport which was also handy. Ole’ Blue eyes was right, “Chicago is my kind of town.” Great to be in a town where so many of my archery heroes have performed!

That’s the latest. Coming up: Shows in Indianapolis at the Indiana Deer, Turkey, and Waterfowl Expo and then on to Ohio for the first annual “Eastern Ohio Sportsman Expo.”

Thanks for reading. Until next time, Adios & God Bless.

Shoot Straight,
Frank

Hi fellow Iowa hunters,

My name is Brian Hibbs. I live near Oxford in Johnson Co, Iowa. I have had legislation introduced to allow the use of a leashed dog to track wounded deer in Iowa. I have been working on this for several years. The proposed bill has made progress and did make it through the Iowa Senate the other day with a 13 yea and 0 nea vote. It now has to get through the Iowa House. I am told that there is opposition in the House by some Southern Iowa Representatives. They are concerned this bill will cause dogs to over run their properties and create trespassing problems. This makes no sense because the bill contains specific language that states the dog will be on a lead under the control of the handler and permission must be obtained prior to tracking on private property. The DNR has told me they do not oppose this practice and I believe Diane Ford of the DNR actually helped answer questions to move this bill through the Senate. The bill is labeled SF 2017. Please note I am not doing this to try and profit off of tracking or anything like that. I do breed tracking dogs and have about 1 litter a year. I have no problems finding homes for my pups because they are in high demand. They go throughout the country. I am doing this because it is another tool that can be used to recover a shot animal when the animal leaves a sparse blood trail or no blood trail at all and conventional tracking methods don’t work. In these situations a trained dog can improve the success rate of recovery quite a bit. If you live in Iowa, I am asking for your support. If you could take the time to contact your House Representative and show your support I would really appreciate it. This could be done through a phone call or email. If you don’t know your Representative, you can find them through the Iowa legislation website. This would especially be helpful in the Southern Counties. I have included below an email I sent to the Representatives that I believe are opposing this bill. I also have included a letter written by John Jeanneney to our legislators. John has been tracking in New York State for many years and is a pioneer in introducing tracking in the states. He has written a couple excellent books pertaining to bowhunting, the use of leashed tracking dogs, and tracking wounded animals. He has had much experience in this field and does a good job explaining the misconceptions that opponents come up with to try and find unrealistic negatives about the practice. He and his wife run a website called “born to track”. I thank you once again for your support and if you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

 

Brian Hibbs

Oxford, IA

www.trackingteckels.com

319-430-8065

 

February 1, 2012

 

Dear Representatives,

 

My name is Brian Hibbs and I live in Johnson County near the town of Oxford. I have been working to get the use of tracking a wounded deer with a leashed dog legalized for several years. In July of 2010 I presented a petition to the Iowa DNR’s NRC showing how this practice is used in many states and that it is another tool to locate a deer that has been shot and cannot be found through traditional tracking methods. I presented information that tracking a deer with a dog on a leash under the complete control of a handler has proven in many other states to be a positive tool and created no extra problems for enforcement agencies in those states. Realize this is just a hunter tracking a deer like he would now with the only difference being a tracking dog ahead of him on a leash helping him to find sign he may normally miss. This petition was unanimously approved and the rulemaking process was set to go into affect. The DNR asked me if I would mind waiting until early 2011 to start the process because there wouldn’t be enough time to get the rule into the books for the fall of the 2010 hunting season and it would make it easier to just start it the following year. I agreed it would be ok to do this as long as we did what had been approved by the NRC petition. The next year rolled around and I discovered that Gov. Branstad had taken office and that he was changing the way things had been done in the past. I was told he was not opposed to this practice, just that he wanted everything to now go before his desk. This nullified all the work I had done and halted the rulemaking that should have been a done deal.

This year I had Rep. Willems propose this bill once again. I am told the bill passed out of the full Senate Natural Resources and Environment Committee yesterday (1-31-12). It is assigned as SF 2017. After speaking with Rep. Rayhons and Rep. Smith they have informed me that many of the Representatives from Southern Iowa oppose this bill because they are worried about people overrunning their land with dogs. This proposed bill has specific language addressing these concerns. It states the dog will be on a leash under full control of the handler. The bill also states the tracker will need to obtain permission from any landowner involving private property before tracking on that property. I don’t think the bill can be any more cut and dry than that. If unethical people want to break the rules they will whether it is legal or not. If you are concerned about dogs over running your properties maybe you should address coyote hunting dogs that run wherever they want uncontrolled by a leash and people chasing them in vehicles. I understand that this is a popular practice in Southern Iowa.

I ask for your support with this proposed bill. The language is cut and dry about free-running dogs and trespassing. Please do not punish the rest of us Iowan’s in the other counties if you do not trust your citizen’s in the southern counties to follow the rules. As I stated before this practice has proven to be no problem for the enforcement agencies in other states. Diane Ford of the DNR has told me that they are not opposed to this rule as they were educated on it through my previous petition. Please ask her and she will confirm this. I am including a letter from John Jeanneney of New York as of to his experience with tracking in his state. Tracking with a leashed dog has probably been going on in New York State longer than any other state.

 

Sincerely,

Brian Hibbs

Oxford, IA

319-430-8065

Date: January 6, 2012

 

 

Dear Representative Rayhons,

 

Since I am a resident of New York State, I venture to comment on the proposed Iowa leashed tracking dog bill only because I have had 36 years of experience with leashed tracking dogs. Perhaps I can offer some useful insights. In 1976 New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation issued me a research permit to investigate the feasibility of using leashed tracking dogs to find wounded big game. This method was being used in Germany and other European countries, but in the US it appeared to many hunters and non-hunters that deer hunting and dogs did not mix in any way.  The decline of deer populations that came with the use of dogs to drive deer to the gun, was well remembered.

 

What I proposed in New York State was something very different from deer hunting with dogs. My research demonstrated that in New York leashed tracking dogs could find mortally wounded deer when hunters could not track them by eye. The value of a good dog is that he can follow the individual scent of a wounded deer, even when there is no visible blood.

 

1986, after a long period of experimentation, the New York State Legislature passed an enabling bill to establish the use of leashed tracking dogs on a licensed basis. Since then thousands of deer have been found by licensed trackers like me.  Variations of the New York law have now been approved in a total of 21 states where the use of tracking dogs had previously been illegal.

 

In a state like Iowa, where professionally guided hunts are an important source of state revenue, the tracking dog would maximize an outfitter’s capability to use a wildlife resource in an ethical, conservation-conscious way while satisfying the expectations of his client.

 

As other states have considered and ultimately approved leashed tracking dogs,

certain questions and doubts have been raised. Below are responses that have been accepted as valid:

:

1. Experience with the use of leashed tracking dogs has shown that this has

not been used as a cover when  poaching deer. The deer jacker knows that there are better ways of doing this.

 

2. The availability of a tracking dog does not encourage irresponsible shooting any more than availability of a retriever encourages irresponsible long range shots at pheasants and waterfowl.

3. Some have wondered whether a tracking dog on a leash would be illegally used to drive deer out of heavy cover to posted hunters. Anyone who has handled a leashed dog in the woods knows how impractical this would be. There have been no reports that this is being done.

To sum up, the use of leashed tracking dogs to find wounded big game has now been time-tested around the United State for many years, It is not a crazy, new idea. Writing as a man who has taken over a thousand volunteer deer calls, and who has dedicated much of his life to this cause, I urge you to give the Iowa tracking dog bill your serious consideration.

 

Sincerely yours,

 

John Jeanneney, Vice President, United Blood Trackers

1584 Helderberg Trail

Berne, NY 12023

518-872-1779

 

 

John Jeanneney

born-to-track.com

now on Facebook!

Riverside Archers
Proudly Presents
The 8th Annual team tough man
Registration – 8:00am
Tournament – 9:00am
2-Member Team Shoot
30 Unmarked 3-D Targets
Scoring 10-8-5
“Best Arrow Scores”
$$$ CASH PAY OUT $$$
1st through 5th place pending # of shooters
All ties will have a shoot off!!
Entry Fee: $60 per team
Cubs: $5.00 per shooter
Snacks & Lunch Available
For directions and more information go to:
www.riversidearchers.com
* NO ALCOHOL ON RANGE DURING TOURNEMENT PLAY *

I have been waiting for a reality based hunting show to come out on on of the networks for a long time, I want something I can be involved in and go online and vote for hunts I liked and recommend thing I want to see. I recently stumbled upon Outlanders on the Outdoor channel and although the hunt I watched didn’t appeal to me, the idea behind the newish series is what I wanted. They take everyday hunters and build an eposide around their choice hunt. In the hunters everyday honey hole. Next season you can enter in a drawing to have this be you, they opened up like 10 spots. I love this! I cant wait to see me and my buddies on tv.

Great Northwest Archery in Puyallup, Washington was burglarized on January 27, 2012 and lost more than a dozen new bows valued at thousands of dollars. 

PLEASE – If you saw anything, cars, suspicious activity at Skookum Archery Club between 8:30PM and 8:30AM please contact the owner Doug at 253-841-0991.

The stolen goods included new Hoyt Rampages, Rampage XT’s, Prohawks, Vector 32’s, Vector 35’s and 3 Strother bows.  Also like new items included a shiny, red PSE, two fully set up Hoyt Camo Matrix’s and a fully set up Black Carbon Element in its case.

PLEASE – If you see any of these items for sale on Craigslist, E-bay, the archery forums or pawn shops, contact Doug immediately! 

December 3, 2011

The night before I had a very difficult time falling asleep due to wondering if there was going to be a huge amount of hunters around me using muzzleloaders when I only had my bow (Bear Charge.) Well when the alarm went off early in the morning I woke up with a strange feeling of energy with only getting about 3 hours of sleep. I then had to drive about 30 minutes to this small gas station/check in station to meet my brother so we could go through the gate. He is a memeber of Izaac Walton’s. A small club with a pond, woods and has many other activities. Well after sitting there for about 30 minutes I called him and it turns out that his truck won’t start. I didn’t want to go back home after driving that far and I knew this would be a good morning because we had just got about 4 inches of snow two days earlier. Well this private ground borders state ground so I parked on a bridge right next to some powerlines. I had to walk about a mile up and down some ridges until I reached one of our stands we placed back in the summer. I finally got set up in the stand about 5 minutes before daylight. This stand was placed midway up a ridge overlooking a bending creek. Well when it became daylight a few minutes later I didn’t see anything. I heard 3-4 gunshots a little ways off across the salamonie and then there was 4 does running across a ridge to my left about 50 yards away. All of them stopped about 5 yards away from one of my stands on that ridge that I hunted in gun season. I was getting mad as they started to just stay within 20 yards of my stand on that ridge. I kept thinking to myself “why didn’t I sit there this morning”! Then when they all stepped into the clearing I noticed that they were all shooters. Then the biggest doe started to make her way down the ridge quartering towards me and stopped at about 40 yards. Soon as I stand up and go to draw back a squirrel broke the limb it was sitting on and spooked the deer. Well they took off behind me and stopped around 110 yards away. So I sat back down and I got a text from my brother and was asking me if I had seen anything. Soon as I told him about the 4 does and put my phone back in my jacket I notice something in the corner of my eye and it was a big doe about 8 yards away. I grabbed my bow but couldn’t draw back because her head was turned sideways towards me and I kept thinking “turn your head, turn your head!” Well soon as she turned her head I drew back and put my pin right on the pump station and slowly went to release then she started to walk away and couldn’t get a shot. At this point I was ready to throw in the towel and give up on deer hunting in general because that was a for sure gimmee. Then I got out my grunt call and grunted a few times and about 5 minutes later there was 9 does coming down the ridge right in front of me. I started thinking I might be able to get my first deer after all. It was one big mature doe with 8 yearlings/ small does. Well they were just grazing and slowly moving around on this ridge then out of nowhere the mature doe started running down the hill towards me. She stopped at 38 yards standing towards me then she turned broadside and started walking along the creek. I drew back and waited on her to stop and I couldn’t figure out how far she was then when she stopped behind a tree I studied the distance from the stand to her and I figured around 40 yards. She stepped out from the tree and I put my 40 pin right on the lungs, exhaled and released. I heard the arrow smack something but thought I missed, when she took off running and then I noticed the blood pouring out of her. I felt the biggest adrenaline rush of life and just thanked god for letting me harvest this doe, more importantly my first deer and it was with my bow. I sat down and called my brother and he rushed out to the stand looking like he was going to war, he had his muzzleloader, glock, and his gut knife on his belt. I climbed down and we started to walk over towards where she was at when I shot. I looked and looked for my arrow and was having a hard time finding it. Then I saw part of the viens in the leaves and when I pulled it out it was soaked in blood. My brother asked me where I hit her and I told him a little bit back farther than the heart and a little high. He sniffed the arrow and he said that he didn’t smell guts. We started to track the blood trail and it was quite a easy one thanks to the NAP HellRazor. We came up on her in the creek and she was deader than a doorknob. He looked at me and said you just shot a swamp donkey of a doe. She only ran 40 yards from where I shot her. After gutting her I just sat there thinking this is what I have been waiting for all this time and it was the best feeling that I have ever felt. That is when I knew I had bow hunting whitetails in my blood for the rest of my life.

Just a few tips for practicing on a cold dark morning:

1. Light the target with a work light that is set next to it.                                                                  

2. Get a headlamp and wear it a little to the left on your forhead (or right if you’re left handed). Nothing else lights up the sight better. Also, buy lithium batties. Only because they will continue to run the light down to 40 below.

3. Buy an arrow puller.

4. Buy a better arrow puller.

5. Invent a better arrow puller.

Arrows have a way of cementing themselves into targets in cold weather.

6. Get all your gear and clothing set up the night before. The less time you spend in the  morning figuring things out (especially in a groggy state), the more time you can spend shooting. 

7.If you have to drive to a shooting range. Dress up totally ready, including your release and other accesseries before you go out the door. Set things up in the car so that when you get to the range all you need to get is the  bow and arrows. For me anyway, it’s psychalogically easier to get going in freezing cold weather when there are few things to do.

8. Have whatever acceceries you need easily acessable with your gloves or mits on. Put things in big pockets or hanging on a belt loop, etc.

Free Turkey Hunt Giveaway!!!!
Go to www.classycouponclippers.com for a chance to win a hunt with Team Rarebreed in the heart of the bluegrass.