My first deer with a bow.

I thought it would be nice to share our first deer story's.
1989 I was 15 yrs old.
Button head at 35 yards.
Early 80s model PSE bow, 125 grain satellite broadheads.

1977, 17 yrs old shot a doe. Bear Kodiak Magnums, 43lbs, Easton Gamegetters.
Wasp broadhead. Bout 18 yrds.

Killed my first one about 7:30 in the morning on 11/6/94, 2 days shy of my 27th birthday. It was a 60# doe. I was sitting in a ladder stand within bow range of three white oaks dropping acorns in a strip of hardwoods about 75 yards from my front door here in Fosters. Shot her a 33 yards. I was aiming behind the shoulder and hit her through the neck with an Easton 2213 tipped with a 125gr 4 blade Muzzy. Dropped her in her tracks. I was shooting a Browning Mag Compact with a 27” draw pulling 57#. Didn’t get one the following season, but I’ve killed at least one every bow season since 1996.

1996 I was 12 sitting on ridge just above Hytop Alabama in an ol man climber stuck a button head about 15yrd with a hoyt rebel bow Easton aluminum arrow n muzzy head

1981 killed a doe with a Browning bow shooting instinctively. I was a happy camper. Was up in Killingsworth Cove. Had a big ol leaning oak tree that had two stands in it . I was in one and a buddy was in the other. Also has a cousin in a tree next to us. I was teaching them how to bow hunt. They both had one but she gave me a shot. Never forget that day.

Late 80's. Had hung some rock salt in a sock a few weeks prior (I know, I know)
and hung a stand on it. Stand was maybe 10 feet off the ground.
Was shooting an 82lb. Proline Ltd. Happened just like it was supposed to.
3 does came in and I centered one in the heart with a Rocky Mtn. broadhead.
Shot was about 7 yards and she might have made it 10 yds.
Maybe 75lbs or so. Thought I was Chuck Adams.

1995 I was 13yr old in hale county shooting a browning black knight. She was a little farther than I guesstimated and 1 blade clipped the bottom of her heart. I ain’t near as mad at them now as I was then.

Crazy how you remember those details and I can’t remember what happened yesterday

1985 on the old Thomas WMA. About 4:00pm had a doe come into the field broadside at 20 yards. I drew back, put the pin on the heart, and turned loose of the string with my fingers. Perfect shot and she went about sixty yards. This was the first with the bow. It's been a long time ago, but I can still remember it like it was yesterday.

B

November 2008. 23 years old. Late 90’s bear bow dad handed down to me. Magnus stinger broad head, because that’s what ted nugent used lol. Dekalb co, Georgia. In the cheapest climber I could buy with no safety harness. Couldn’t of been more than 15 feet off the ground but it felt like 40. Sitting along a creek in a privet thicket. Had 3 does come down the trail and I shot at one she ran off but the others just stood around. thought for sure I missed so I knocked another arrow and shot another one. Saw the arrow hit that one and knew it was a good shot. Got down to track them and they were both piled up within 5 feet of each other

And my streak isn’t as long as Shaw’s, but I’ve killed at least one a year every year since then. Took me until Feb 10 this past year

October 1995. I was 15. Killed her off a willow oak. One of the few I've ever seen produce enough to be “hot”. I was shooting a proline with muzzy 100 grains. Shot her at 6:05 I remember having to sit down immediately after the shot because my knees were knocking so bad.

October 25, 2006. I was 16, shooting a McPherson Hornet VX, sifting in a lock-on that I had hung myself in a big post oak that was surrounded by water oaks. She came in late and by the time I took the shot I could hardly see her through my peep and I ended up hitting her through her hindquarters, severed her femoral artery, and she only went 60yds.

My first deer with a bow was a young 7 point back in '92 when I started bowhunting. I don't shoot does, so I may go a year or two without shooting a deer. I did have a good streak of about 5 years of killing a good buck each year. My largest buck kill is with a bow.

About 1990 at Skyline. Shot a small doe, about 35lbs with a Jennings UniCam bow, Easton aluminum arrow (probably 2117) and most likely Thunderhead broadhead, if they were on the market at that time.

October 15,1989 I shot a young 5-point crossing the creek from what's now the sod farm in Tuskegee NF.First of 5 that I shot from that same tree on opening day for 5 years.Young family of 4 with 2 Rottweilers ended that streak on year 6...

Missed everything I shot at for a couple of years then took a 6 pointer in 1992 with a Jennings Carbon Extreme XLR.
Never picked up a rifle again.

70's sometime. Doe with a Bear Whitetail.

october 16th, 2014 - bear truth 2 compound (used) ... i'm a super late-comer to the bow hunting deal

First one was a 100 lb slick head. Killed her off a food plot in Oct 1998. Shot her with a Reflex bow, shooting Easton 2315's with 100 gr Thunderheads.

Nov 2014. Opening day of rifle season. The guys I was hunting with looked at me like I was crazy when I walked out the door of the camp house that evening with a bow.

It was late afternoon when I heard footsteps over my right shoulder. See what I thought was 2 does crossing behind me, feeding. when they got behind the tree, I spun around and waited for them to come out on the other side of my tree. Was in an awkward half-crouch because my harness tether was in the way. Drew on the bigger "doe" and realized it was a small buck with a broken spike on one side and a weird, busted up forky antler on the other. Didn't care. As soon as he stopped, I shot. 25ish yds, slight quartering away. arrow went in just behind his last rib and exited around the far side shoulder. He ran about 50ish yds I think, and piled up.

Deer hunting still doesn't come close to turkeys for me, but that was the closest it got, in terms of excitement and adrenalin.

Haha, very similar. Fosters Loop Road, about 1998, 14 years old. Gifted PSE nova from a neighbor. Aimed body, hit neck. Cow horn spike. Dead right there. Home made wooden ladder stand I finished prior to the hunt

Was shaking very bad.

Hah... mine went down so fast I didn't have time to get the shakes until after the shot. But when they hit, I thought I was gonna fall out of the stand.

I started bowhunting when i was 10 and I couldn't even stand up when I seen a deer i shook so bad 🤣

My first was a 25 pound doe with maybe a couple of spots left on it. Shot it with a bear whitetail II in 1991. Pinned that little thing to the ground. If I had waited 30 more seconds, I could have shot her momma.

McPherson Bantam
Easton 1916
100 Gr. Thunderhead
Doe-1993

At least your honest

1993 in Fayette Alabama. Big bodied doe. Sitting on the ground on the edge of a food plot. Using a Bear Whitetail II shooting a Easton gamegetter 2216 with 5” feather fletching tipped with a 145 grain Bear razorhead. I also shot that bow using a tab. She was 42 steps (I guessed 40). She was staring at me stomping her foot. I shot her straight on in the chest, hitting her just above the brisket. Got lungs then spine. She dropped right there. After that season I started shooting that bow instinctively.

I was 15 and it was opening day of gun season 1982. All the club members at kirksey hunting club couldn’t believe I was going to bow hunt on the opening day of gun season. I was shooting a Martin cougar magnum, xx75 2016’s with 125 satellite head. My treestand was a baker climbing stand that I was using like a lock on. I had put the stand in place a couple weeks prior to hunting and was using climbing spurs to get in and out of the stand because those things were so noisy going up and down a tree. He was 5 steps from the base of my tree and was the only deer killed that day.

My dad was in kirksey hunting club in the early 80s

October 1989. 20 years old. Auburn University, farm off Donahue Drive. Pearson Spoiler Easton 2312 and thunderhead broadhead. 35 yard shot on a doe. Ended up killing 7 more that year with my bow on that farm. Lots of deer in those days. I was bloodthirsty back then.

I was 18 years old I went to a pawn shop in Saraland and bought a McPherson hornet 60lb bow and then to Quints and bought a new 3 pin sight 4 beeman arrows and a pack of rage broad heads. Went home sighted in at 20 30 and 40 yds and went hunting that evening. I was in a short ladder stand on a dim rd a doe stepped out at last light. guessed 30yds put the 30 yd pin on her, I was shaking so bad I could feel the ladder shaking and hear oak leaves rustling on the small tree the ladder was on. let go of the arrow and ill never forget that sound or the spark I saw from the rage blades deploying. double lung she went about 35 yds ive been hooked every since.

Great stuff, guys!
It was first weekend of November 1994, making me all of 25 years old.
A neighbor who didn’t let anyone hunt told me out of the blue I couid Hunt her 35 acres. Turns out a doe had eaten her roses down to the nub.
It was mostly cutover with thick baby pines but there was one little Oak knoll. I drove by it on 4-wheeler. The oaks were full of squirrels. That was enough to decide that’s where I’d hunt.
The next Saturday, I drug my Griz ladder stand in and set up. Within minutes the doe came by about 30 yards out. I hit her a tad far back but she was mighty sick when she left. It was a short tracking job finished with a knife, which was a bit ugly.
I was shooting a 70 lb Power Mag I bought new from the late great Delano Geoghagen, who had a bow shop in Arab. I was shooting either Thunderheads or Muzzys.
I found rubs while tracking the doe and got a pretty good 7 point with my gun on the place the next year. Also got a Fox with my bow on that knoll. My brother did too.

December 31, 2009..first with a bow and still my biggest scoring buck...corps land in sumpter co...me and my brother were together and hed scouted a little and saw a small buck and som does..i had seen a few does where id been and i didnt want to leave my spot but i moved my stand. I climbed a red oak at about 12:30pm and i sit there til dark..it was almost to dark to see my pins when i heard somethin an seen a deer slippin up behind me.. i couldnt make any horns outs so i assumed it was a doe..i was shooting a 100grn marden vortex..i hit the deer squarely in the rib cage at about 25yrds..he went about 75yrds. We found him and realised...that aint no doe...125 5/8 in 10point. He aged at 5.5 years and i was a happy little feller

00-01, 6 point in Wayne county Tenn. High Country bow and muzzy 3 blades.

October 15, 1987 I was 18.
Doe
Sumter County
Hoyt Spectra 5000
Easton XX75 2115 arrow
Razor Bak 5 broadhead
Wish I could go back to those days.

November 1974
Browning Recurve 45 lbs
Fiberglass arrows
Bear Razorhead
Baker tree stand
85 lb Doe feeding on acorns
Double lung shot/ran 100 yards
I tanned the hide and still have it.
Great memories hunting with a stick and string.

It was 2007 and I was in a lone tree in a 200 acre field, I just wanted to sit in a open spot to maybe just see a deer. A doe came into the field about 250 yards out and I thought “ cool I can watch her” I never thought she would come close, I watched her walk up to me for 30 mins before I smoked her at 30 yards. There is not doubt that bow hunting still get my nerves going!

Can't recall the date. (When did Mathews come out with the Q2)

Cow horn spike.
Shot distance 25 yards.
Mathews Q2 bow
27 inch Gold tip XT
Steelforce broadhead 100 gr

I was in a climber about 25 feet above a small patch. He came out of the woods just to my left and stopped quartering pretty hard away from me. I put the arrow just behind his last rib on the right side and it lodged in the solid bone of his left shoulder. He ran about 25 yards. I remember there was a dried up branch/ditch he tried to jump over when he made it back into the treeline and he appeared to have just hit the far bank and slid back down into it.

Q2 came out in November of 1999.

Pse lighting 2 a buddies dad let me borrow. Shot a bobcat opening morning Oct 15th 2002. The next morning shot a big doe at 23 yards sitting on the ground by a white oak. Killed my first 3 deer with a bow in that same spot

Big slick head in 2002 with a pse firestorm . Big orange vortex broadhead.

Had to be around 1990 , it was a little 6 point. I was shooting a High Country Supreme.

80 pound doe in 2002 with a diamond undertaker and a Rocky Mountain sidewinder broad head

‘96 or ‘97 in October near Poplarville, Ms.
Was hunting a little food plot and sitting on an old ladder platform with a bucket. I was using my dads pse infinity. Looked up from a nap and there stood a 5pt and a spike sparring about 10 yards away. I went to draw and my arrow fell off my rest and hit the ground. They run about 20 yards and stood around for a few then went back to sparring. I got another arrow and put one right behind the last rib as the 5 point was quartering away.
Being color blind, it’s hard for me to track. I had a buddy hunting with me that evening and we went back to his house to eat dinner and got a dog to help track. It was a cool evening I’ll never forget because my buddy had called his future brother in law while we were on our way out and talked to him a minute on the phone while I was in the truck. His brother in law happens to be Brett Favre. We came back after eating and found my little deer in the creek about a 100 to 150 yards from where I shot him. First time I ever heard coyotes close by while I was tracking a deer too.

I was sure proud to have that little 5 point. I was around 16 years old.

I think it was around '92 or '93. Shot a big doe with a Pearson bow and landshark broadheads on our family land.

Think we need to start a “My First Owl With A Bow” thread for RobertM?

I remember the day well. There I was in the back of the range minding my own business waiting to hear "Clear the range", when all of a sudden I hear a swiiiish and then what sounded like about 35 Plastic Owl decoys bouncing around on the floor. It was only one owl, but man that thing bounced around for like 15 minutes or so. It will go down in history as one of the greatest shots ever in Tournament Archery shooting.

I was back in the shooter’s holding area. I didn’t think that damn thing would ever quit bouncing.

1984
Shakespeare Wonderbow #45
Bear Cedar Arrows
Bear Razorhead with the 2 blade insert

Leftover stuff my Dad had.

Saved money for an entire year and my father matched it and the next season:

I had a Hoyt/Easton Spectra bow some XX75's! Rambo style.

Oct 1st.1976 Bear whitetail hunter. 105# cow horn in velvet. Shot from the ground at 17 steps.

Bow season of 1998 I was 13 yrs old. Had a dozen plus deer on a green field and a young 5pt eased within range and I connected perfectly after countless misses the prior few seasons. I was shooting a McPherson Mark VIII with 100gr 3 blade Muzzys. I had won that bow in a archery tournament the summer before. I left the bow at our hunting camp in Hardaway in 1999 and it was stolen.

Oct of 1991, I was 16
Mantua, AL at the old defunct BuckStop Hunting Club
Doe at 20 yards
Browning Bighorn bow, Muzzy 4 blade broadhead
In an AlumiLite climber, on the edge of a field. She was skirting the woods around the field.
Was using a pistol grip type release with no wrist strap and was so shaken up after the shot that I somehow dropped it, but didn’t realize it. I had no idea where my release went til I got down from the tree and it was laying on the ground at the base of the tree.

1993. I was 25 years old sitting over a small corn foodplot. Doe and a spotted fawn came in followed by what i thought was a yearling doe. 25yd shot with a Bear whitetail legend shooting thunderhead 100's. Turned out to be a button head.

From a ladder stand in Elmore county across from Parker's Island in Coosada. Had 2 does walk out at about 20 or so yards in the little food plot and I was so nervous I could barely hold my bow. Was able to stand up and shoot but shot high and hit her spine. She dropped like a wet rag but didn't die. Had to put another one in her. This was probably in 1990 or so. Didn't have a truck or an ATV so the drag back to the road was brutal.

Dr. B

1988 I was 16 sitting in a aluminum lock on in some water oaks.
Golden eagle bow with wasp broad heads.
Spine shot a 5 point at 10 yards.
First of many deer I shot high/over before I learned to shoot low.

10/15/17 28 yrs old

Started bow hunting in 2016 and got busted every time I saw anything that entire first year. (except once...missed a giant buck twice in less than a minute. First shot went over his back by several inches. He ran about 10 yards and stopped so I grabbed another arrow and let it fly.....second shot hit a branch. Took me awhile to get over that one)

Did a lot of preparation, scouting etc. before the 2017 season and it paid off opening weekend.
Sitting on a hardwood ridge in a hang-on stand about 15 feet up and 3 does came in about 6:00 PM.
I waited for them to come up the ridge from behind me and drew back after the last one passed my stand.
Hit her right behind the shoulder at 10 yards and she maybe ran 50 yds.
Crazy thing is I killed my second with a bow the next morning. Pretty good opening weekend.

Mathews Switchback
Ramcat broadheads
Gold Tip XT Hunter arrows