Opening Day - 1 for 1!

Archery season opened today for deer. I wasn't in a stand this morning though as I woke up in a tent at Falls Lake. The camping trip was Joseph's birthday party. It was a great night for camping and fishing. Joseph reeled in several sun fish. Kendrick Jr. caught a small mouth bass. Andy Klischer caught two catfish on the bottom. Nathan got an award for effort. I put on worms and took pictures.

Tonight I went out bow hunting. The main purpose was to visit my stand and clear some shooting lanes. I hadn't shot my bow until this afternoon. I took about 10 shots and was pleased that I was definitely in the zone. I got into my stand 50 minutes before sunset. I was pouring sweat from cutting some shooting lanes - wearing no camo. 30 minutes later I had a nice doe sneak up on me - I saw her for the first time at about 5 yards. I had to wait for several minutes until I got a shot.

Here's the bow tip for the day. You need to aim high inside of about 8 yards. I used to practice really close shots. My bow was sighted in so that it'd go low at close range, perfect at 8 yards, then a little high, and then perfect at 20 yards, then fade off low.

So that's my excuse why I missed shooting straight down at a deer inside 5 yards. The doe was startled by the shot but ran off only to about 25+ yards. I aimed high on her back and nailed a perfect shot.

Steaks are marinating for tomorrow. Ground venison, roasts, and some steaks are air sealed and in the freezer. Fun way to start the season. :-)

- posted by Kendrick @ 11:36 PM