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First Traditional Kill

Jmp209

By Jmp209,
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Jmp209 Newbie

Jmp209

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Not a super exciting story but here goes. A buddy of mine got into traditional archery a year or so ago and converted me from my compound. In turn I talked my hunting partner into going traditional also. My dad had an old recurve that he'd picked up years ago on a trade from a guy who owed him some money but he never had a whole lot of interest in it. It's sat around for well over 20 years that I know of. He gladly allowed me to take it and I got it all set up with a new string, silencers and rest. I had some help from some other trad guys getting shafts tuned to the bow and just started shooting every day since June. And I found shooting the recurve was way more enjoyable than shooting my compound. Fast forward to this morning. I normally don't hunt from a tree, I love being on the ground but I've been busted a few times this season while drawing the bow so I opted to hunt out of a pretty low hang on, only about 10' off the ground. I was late getting to my spot because I was running between my basement, garage and truck trying to find all the stuff to tether myself to the tree during my climb and while in the stand. My hunting partner never complained and just told me to take my time to make sure I had what I needed. When we got to the parking spot I realized I forgot a line to haul my bow up with, luckily he had a roll of twine that I stole several feet of. While walking in he said how cool it would be to shoot a bear, which he says every time. I agreed that it would be awesome but knew odds were slim. I've been fortunate enough to take 3 bears before today, one of which was with a compound but it's all just a matter of luck. And really, how much more luck could I have with bears? At about 8:20 I caught movement just up the hill from me and figured probably another squirrel or something. When I looked I couldn't believe I was watching a bear walk off the ridge towards me. He walked right in to within 15-20 yards as I drew and all my practice went right out the window. I have a pretty practiced shot cycle and I'm sure that wasn't it. I watched the arrow, which looked a little far forward disappear and knew it was a far forward hit but wasn't sure how good. I called my partner and told him what happened and to keep an eye out since it ran his direction. The next minutes were so slow. I wanted to track but knew I should wait. Finally I climbed down and found my arrow. The blood trail was easy to spot within the first couple of feet and I was super excited but I didn't want to count my chickens before they hatch so I didn't txt my dad or anyone until I knew for certain it was dead. I still decided to wait a while longer before taking up the trail which was agonizing. I had to force myself to sit down on a stump and wait. The. I heard a limb snap and my phone started to buzz a few moments later. It was my hunting partner, I figured he'd just shot a deer and it had piled up. He said "I think your bear just rolled down the hill towards me." He told me he had been watching some does when he heard a crash on the hill behind him which spooked the does and turned to watch a black ball roll down the hill and pile up about 50 yards behind his stand in some brush. He told me it looked pretty big. Now I'm about jumping out of my skin wanting to run down there. I got on the blood trail and followed to the top of the hill he'd seen it roll down before circling around and coming across the hill instead of straight down. I called him again before I got to him and asked if the bear was still laying there and he said it had rolled behind some brush but he never saw it leave. When I got close enough he guided me by sight right to where she laid. Now I could finally call my dad and tell him all about it which is one of my favorite parts of hunting. I love sharing my hunts with him even if he's not there. She wasn't the biggest bear in the woods, the pictures are slightly decieving. I couldn't get her hung high enough to get the head off the ground with the scale attached to my hanging post but dressed weight is right around 130 pounds so I'm figuring around 150 live weight. No matter the size, I'm super excited for my first traditional kill.

 

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Jmp209 Newbie

Jmp209

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Wasn't sure if I wanted to post this or not. I'm trying to be humble but this has been one of my best seasons and I'm having a hard time not posting pictures. I was able to take my first buck with a recurve this morning and I'm pretty excited. He came in head on this morning and showed up at 15 yards. I was somehow able to raise my bow ever so slowly and draw as he was passing my stand at only 10 yards. My stand is only about 10' off the ground and he was on my uphill side so he was almost level with me in the stand. With the break over point of cams on a compound I don't think I ever would have been able to draw on him without him seeing me. The release felt great and the arrow sunk right behind the shoulder. I watched as he ran about 25 yards behind me and stopped. He began to stumble and went right down. This is the first deer I've ever killed with a bow that I've had go down within sight and it was a huge relief knowing that i wasn't going to have a long track job. I used the same exact arrow and broadhead that I took my bear with 2 weeks ago, just resharpened the blades. Unfortunately this buck broke my lucky arrow. dadf2587f41d9046d24ab71569f5b527.jpg

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wildcat junkie Contributor

wildcat junkie

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On 10/30/2017 at 9:06 PM, Jmp209 said:

Magnus stinger buzz cut

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Looks a LOT like the (non serrated) Satellite broadheads I used before I went to glue on points on swaged aluminum,. I eventually going to wood shafts.

Not a fan of serrated  edges. 

Have you ever tried "file sharpening" followed up with a few strokes on ceramic sticks? It leaves a micro serrated edge that will pop the hairs off your arm as the edge is drawn across them. It will not dull as quickly going through hair & bone as a honed edge.

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Jmp209 Newbie

Jmp209

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Looks a LOT like the Satellite broadheads I used before I went to glue on points on swaged aluminum,. I eventually going to wood shafts.
Not a fan of serrated  edges. 
Have you ever tried "file sharpening" followed up with a few strokes on ceramic sticks? It leaves a micro serrated edge that will pop the hairs off your arm as the edge is drawn across them. It will not dull as quickly going through hair & bone as a honed edge.
I originally wanted to go with something along the lines of a single bevel grizzly but I've heard they can be difficult to sharpen. This is the first experience I've had with serrated heads so I haven't found anything negative yet. Honestly I'm not too experienced when it come to sharpening so I usually just remove blades and take them to a honing stone. I've been looking at a couple of sharpening kits but I've heard so many mixed reviews that I don't know what to get.

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