New Season, New Tree

[Elkhunttoo]

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My wife’s deer hunt started on the 15th so we hung this stand on the 14th. We chose a different tree this year. Hopefully this will put us in a little better position than last year’s. The shot my wife had last year was 41 yards. That same area is 26 yards away from this stand. This tree is more of a central location for better or worse. We shall find out

[Swede]

Best wishes to your wife and you on your deer hunt. I like your stand. I think those older Millenniums are the best. Forty-one yards is a long shot on a deer.

[Elkhunttoo]

The 41 yards was on her elk. Her range finder told her 35 because in was catching the bushes in front of the dirt patch she was ranging. Therefore she hit the bull lower then she wanted. Hopefully being in this tree it will make most of the shots a little closer.

[Swede]

You have me curious. If it is not intruding, would you tell us about what happened to the elk? Could you recover it? What the critter hard to find? My limit has always been 40 yards on deer and elk. The one I shot last season was just a pinch over40 yards. I was a little nervous when I squeezed the trigger as I had just detuned the bow to 56 lbs. It proved to be fully adequate as I got a near complete pass through. I was not certain as that was the lowest poundage I have ever shot a compound bow.
Over my hunting life I have been a very good archer. I try hard to be ethical and avoid risky shots, but I have a tendency to be too confident in myself. I am not afraid to pull the trigger after I determine I can make the kill.
Don't tell anyone, but I have missed a couple of times and have made a few bad hits. The times when I finally find my elk by watching for the ravens and buzzards are always gut wrenching. I try to learn from even the bad experiences. If anyone tells me they have never lost a critter, I automatically assume they haven't shot at many or they are liars. There are many things that can go wrong in an instant and you can't call your arrow or bullet back.

[Elkhunttoo]

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I was thinking I had already told her story of last year. We found the bull a week later. I think the shot hit liver but one never knows for sure. It was 2 miles almost exactly from where she shot it. Never one drop of blood that we could find. Lots of elk had been in the area so it was almost impossible to stay on tracks after about 50 yards. Definitely a frustrating gut wrenching experience but hopefully we learned from it and will be better. My wife was upset when I got to her because it hit low. She said she had ranged the spot several times and always got 35 yards. When we stood where the bull was and ranged the tree it said 41. From her angle in the stand the range finder was hitting the tops of the bushes in front of the dirt spot she thought she was ranging. That too became a learning experience. This year we walked around after putting the stand up and ranged the tree at stand height to make sure we were getting proper readings.

[Swede]

I am sorry she did not get to recover her whole bull. I know it hurts. Of course, it hurts because she cares. That is good about her. I have forgotten everything about the earlier story.