The morning of the 16th, it was about 35 degrees outside and I got to my stand just a little after 5:30. At 6:40, I could hear something coming through the woods. At this point, it was just barely starting to get light and I could not see my pins very well. I kept wishing it would get just a little lighter so I could see the pins better. All of a sudden I could make out the shadow of a deer in the woods, too dark to see much at that distance, but I could tell it was a deer. I watched it slowly move around for a few minutes as it began to get lighter. It looked like a good sized doe. A funny thing happened as I watched the deer eat.. a house cat came into the woods and it started walking right towards the deer! I was afraid it was going to spook it, but they actually sniffed noses and the deer didn't mind at all! The cat started walking toward my stand, and the deer followed! Finally it stopped only a mere 10 yards directly in front of my stand, and started eating at one of my corn piles. It was in a "quartering-to" position, I wanted it to turn full broadside but it wasn't moving. I went to draw back (and seemed to have an extra hard time pulling back my bow!) and came to full draw, and then realized that there was no way I was going to be able to make an accurate shot with the way things were at the moment. My thick face mask was obstructing my view and it totally covered my mouth, making me unable to put the kisser button where it was supposed to go. So I had to let the draw out, adjust things, and draw back again! This was very risky but I'd rather take a risk than take a poor shot. The deer stuck it's head up and I knew it could sense something, it just couldn't see me. I was so afraid that it was going to spook at any moment. But I put my 10 yard pin on it and let the arrow fly... When it hit, the deer spun completely around in a circle and headed into the woods. It all went so fast that I didn't see where the arrow hit but I knew I had hit it. A few seconds later I heard an incredibly loud CRACK which I was sure was my carbon arrow breaking against the side of a tree.
I was afraid to leave the deer there for fear that I would not be able to find it again, so Hannah helped me drag it by it's feet to the edge of the woods. It wasn't a huge deer but it was very heavy. From there, my stepdad, James, helped me put it on a tarp and drag it the rest of the way home.
I hoisted it up into a tree with a skinning gambrel, and skinned it out. I kept the entire skin and plan on doing a lifesize mount of it later on. After I got the skin off, I cut up the meat and put it in a cooler. It took me 2 hours to skin and cut the meat off. I was so tired by then, but felt like I had accomplished alot.
I am so happy that I got my first deer, and even happier that it was shot with a bow. Hopefully I will get another one later this year with my gun -- maybe an antlered buck this time! But I will never forget the exciting experience of shooting my very first deer.