Finally got my highly coveted triple

[Twanger]

For a number of years I've been trying to get a triple-kill in one hunt, and it finally happened last night.
I was hunting in the woods behind the back yard of an elderly lady who has Lyme's disease. I've seen deer in this yard or woods every single time I drive by, no matter what time of day it is. I have not hunted it this season, but last night decided to give it a try.
A limping doe watched me get out of the car. I picked up my bow and ranged the deer from the side of the house. 45 yards. There were people in the driveway two lots down so I decided it was best not to try for this deer, even though it was clearly injured. Probably a car.
So, I walked into the woods with my stand and it never let me get closer than 35 yards. Too far. Finally it grudgingly walked off.
As I climbed the tree several deer came in and busted me! Dang it!
After I got to altitude a couple of more deer came in, and there I am with my pack and bow on the ground. Arghhhhhh!
They backed off, but didn't spook.
I got the bow and pack up, hung the bow on the hanger I'd just screwed in, and hooked the pack to my stand. Facing the tree I put my camo top on, was about to put my camo bottoms on, and heard something behind me. Dang it! These deer will not leave me alone! They were back in to about 25-30 yards.

I'll show them.

Lifting my bow slowly off the hanger I nock an arrow and draw my bow with my body blocking the draw from the deer's view. Then I slowly pivoted in my stand 180 degrees at full draw. The deer have walked in another 5 yards and I pick a doe out of the pack and drilled her, just a wee bit back further back than I like. She ran off with half the deer and stopped about 60 yards out behind a screen of brush. The other half run past my stand and stop about 30 yards away. I see the does tail flicker a bunch of times and then stop. Sweet!

Splash one.

The big six pointer and spike didn't know what to think. All their does just ran off. Whut?

Slowly half of the remaining does filter back in. I'm at a loss why they want to be under my stand so badly. I have no corn feeder here. The two behind me hold firm. The six pointer jumps the creek and walks to within about 3 feet of my tree and is highly suspicious. He spooks back out to 10 yards and starts to calm down. The does are back inside 30 yards. I've got 6 deer within 30 yards of my stand, and my camo pants are still hanging on the rail of my stand! I decide to just go with it.

About that time Davehawk calls me! Oops! :D The six-point looks right at me! Fortunately, I have set the ring-tone on my iPhone to the sound of crickets, and after it does the "cricket-cricket-cricket" thing for a while the six loses interest.

Looking over my right shoulder I ID a doe now 20 yards out and facing straight away. I pivot, nock another arrow, make a quick check that the does behind me are not looking and draw. I patiently wait until the doe turns and is quartering away about 45 degrees. This is a dream shot. My pin finds her far shoulder and the arrow is away. It flashes into her and she runs off about 50 yards and stops, wobbles, and crashes. Down!

Splash two!

The six watches her run, and is not happy. The other does don't know what to think. There's another big doe hanging behind another house about 60 yards out. The six takes an interest in her and mosies over. He gets on her trail and his tail points straight out. He's rutting big time. They slowly circle each other in the woods about 60 yards to the west.

I nock a third arrow, but my heart is hammering in my chest. Whew. I don't know how much more of this I can take. Pivoting 180 degrees in the stand again I turn my attention back to the four does behind me, and they are about 30 yards away. Scrutinizing them it turns out to be a big nanny, two button bucks, and a fawn doe. I decide that if I'm gonna shoot again, it's gonna be the big one.

For 20 minutes I wait her out. They are nibbling on ground vines. One of the button bucks cavorts in the creek. I rest the bow on the bar across the front of my stand and watch the show. Finally the three smallest deer browse inside my 20 yard tree, and the big nanny reluctantly follows, slowly, step by step. I have deer in front of me at 5, 8, 15, and 20 yards, and then behind me 3 more at 60 yards. The doe is now right behind my 20 yard tree and making agonizingly slow steps, and her vitals slowly become exposed. She turns off a little, another perfect quartering away shot. Quickly I scan the deer in front of me. One is looking past my stand, two is feeding, three is scratching it's side with it's left back leg and the big nanny just turned her head away. Now! I smoothly draw, line her up, and let the pin settle. The arrow zips through her and sticks in the ground. She runs off 50 yards to the north, slows, wobbles, and crashes to the ground beside a downed tree.

Splash three!

The other deer in front of me scatter up the north slope. The deer 60 yards behind me are still clueless. MY heart is pounding in my chest from the continuous adrenaline rush. I can't take any more. There's no way I can shoot another deer. I don't even have the seat in my stand set up, so I hang the bow and lean against the tree letting thudding of my heart slowly fade. I nock another arrow but knowing it's ludicrous I unknock it again. I don't have it in me to kill another one. After 15 minutes I decide to climb down so I start whistling a tune, making noise, and humming to myself. There's no hunter here, I'm telling them, just a big oaf in a tree. The six, spike, and big doe watch me climb down an walk east to recover my first deer. A long night is in front of me...

[GF.]

Man! I would've been outta arrahs at that point!:eek:

But I know you had more - both because you said so, and because I know you'd never use your last sharp broadhead on a first shot.

3 deer down with a total 160 yards recovery distance? That's some mighty good shootin' there, Tex! The only thing that could've made it sweeter would be if that cripple had been among the fallen.

Anyway, here's hoping that the outfit you're donating meat to is doing most of the butchering for you!

[Waidmann]

Twanger,

Great shooting.

What do you do with all the meat?

Waidmann

[dave-t.]

Great shooting. I think I'd have a hard time shooting multiples back to back. It's hard enough keeping your cool for one shot. I can't imagine trying to ease the nerves for the third shot.:eek:

[Altjaeger]

I do not know if I would be dead of asphixiation from holding my breath or my heart might have exploded first!!! Congratulations.:D

[Twanger]

GF - yes, I generally carry 5 broadheads and 1 field point, and was last night. Sometimes I'll carry 4 broadheads if I want to take a potshot or two at squirrels, but in that case I will also carry spare broadheads in the pack in case I get into a melee and need more. I shoot myself out of broadheads maybe once a year, and have to go digging in the pack to make up another one... just in case.

Waidmann - we donate a lot of meat to those less fortunate. I usually either give it to FHFH or will quarter the deer and give it to the DC Central Kitchen. Also, my secretary knows people in a local town that are on hard-times and can use the meat.

I spend almost as much time butchering deer as I do hunting. :rolleyes:

Dave-t - It's very hard for me to get settled down after the shot ... to be calm enough to make another one. That's why I called it quits after three, even though I was only 30 minutes into a two hour hunt. My nerves were screaming, and my heart was pounding in my ears. Plus, with the prospect of dragging 3 deer uphill 100 yards back to the truck, I didn't relish the possibility of more.

My goal this year is to kill one deer a week, and we're about 7 weeks in and I've killed 11 deer, so way ahead of the curve.

God help me, I'm going out again tonight.

[dave-t.]

Good for you. Go get'em again.:D

[Waidmann]

Twanger,

Are you a licensed meat processor? Reason I'm asking is that I was told that soup kitchens in Michigan can't accept veinson unless it's processed by a licensed processor. I think that's new (assuming it's even true). But I can believe you spend a lot of time butchering. If I'm working alone, it takes me probably 5 or 6 hours to do a complete deer.

Waidmann

[DaveHawk]

Man it's about time. Darn your shooten in a fish bowl LOL

I have done it twice once NC got the deer and once 2 doe's and a buck. To much friggen work if you as me for one hunt.

[dave-t.]

I shot 3 on a gun hunt, all within 2 minutes or less. That was about as many deer as a guy needs hanging and to butcher at one time.

[Twanger]

Waidmann -
FHFH takes the whole deer.
DCCK takes quarters. Honestly, I don't know the legalities behind what happens there.

I don't feel particularly fast but can butcher and vacuum pack a small deer in 2.5 hours and a big one in 3.5 hours. This does not include grinding the 10-20 lb of scraps. Those go into the freezer and are done at a later time. Takes about an hour to pick through and grind it.

Davehawk is faster than I am, but if you watch him work he seems slow. But... You look away for a minute and look back and he's done! Like magic.

[GF.]

I think I bought myself an insurance policy on that one... I've only got one sled, and I don't dare cart a deer home in the back of my little wagon without a full-coverage catch-basin..... Too much tan carpet.

I almost did double once - when I still had my truck. Shot a nice buck with the roundballer and he went down so fast (DRT) and stayed so still that I waived my usual policy of never approaching a downed deer with an unloaded weapon. It's a gunfire-sensitive area, so I wanted to save myself having to shoot again - and fer nuthin' - before I could clean the rifle that night.

And when I walked up to him, there stood his girlfriend at 10-15 yards - and me with an empty gun. I put a cap on and saluted her with it :cool:

[GF.]

... if you watch him work he seems slow. But... You look away for a minute and look back and he's done! Like magic.

My 4 year-old eats that way. And we don't even have a dog!

[DaveHawk]

Dave-t I took 5 one day with my shot gun. Starting a push I had 6 deer jump and shot 2 in their beds and 2 at about 10 and 15 yards. 5th one died 200 yards away after she had passed under a stand hunter. All happened under 3-5 seconds with a pump.

[Waidmann]

ABout a decade or so ago, I did a double with the shotgun. I moved my treestand to a new location, and shortly after the season opened, a doe came down off to my left. I shot her, and she took off running. About 15 seconds later my ear bud went off, and my cousine asked "Did you just shoot a doe"? I said, "Yes, did she run past you"? He said, "No, she ran up to me, stopped, then fell over. She's laying 10 yards in front of me." I said, "Just a minute, there's another doe standing off to my right looking at me". I then pivoted, and shot her, too. She went down where she stood. So that was my only on-purpose two-fer. (I got an accidental two-fer once in Germany, but that's another tale.)

I've taken so few deer with the bow and arrow that I consider myself fortunate to get any. While I love archery, and shoot in a couple 3-D leagues yearly, I'm a marginal shot with the bow, and produce most of my venison with shotgun or rifle.

Waidmann

[purple heart]

Congrats Twanger. It's hard to even imagine 3 deer in a few minutes.
Here we're allowed 3 total for the year and there's very few hunters
that get the limit. I've only done it twice and I hunt on posted property.

I don't envy you all that butchering. For me that's the least enjoyable part.

What happens if you shoot a deer and it dies on someone else property?
Like an animal rights/I don't like hunting type person? Does it happen
Often?

[Twanger]

PH -

I don't mind the butchering, particularly if one of the buddies comes over and we do a couple or three deer at once, drink some beer, nick some fingers... :D
It IS work though.

Once in a while a deer will run to a location where we don't have permission to recover and we have to stop there, or if it's an isolated property we can go around. Interesting, it seems that if we get runs farther than, say 300 yards, and if we can't find the deer there's a decent chance that it's still alive and we'll get another chance to finish the job. It doesn't happen very often, but it does happen.

I got another one last night...it's gonna be a busy Sunday.

[45seventy]

Quick question Twanger. Am I correct in assuming you are hunting properties that have houses and some acreage. If so, how large are these lots? Reason I'm asking is that there are some community's around here that have really expensive homes on 3-5 acre lots, and they have a really, really bad deer problem. Unfortunatley, the owners all fight amongst thmselves on how to solve the problem, and bowhunting isn't very high on their list. They would prefer to waste their money on sterilization techniques, or capture and release. Methods that have never been successful. A bowhunting association such as yours would be the most effective, and cost effective. But, I think these people have more money than sense. Keep up the good work.

[Twanger]

45/70 -
We hunt places with 2-5 acre lots. This is about the minimum.
In a place with a bad deer problem perhaps 1 in 6 people will outright be anti, 3 will let you recover a deer on their property but not hunt, and 2 will let you hunt. We knock on about 120 doors, get 100 people on board, and have perhaps 8 huntable locations when the dust settles.

The key thing we have found is to find out who the anti hunters are
and to alert them as little as possible. Some a-holes will actually illegally threaten the owners that want deer hunting just so they can stop your legal hunt. Keep a low profile!

[ncboman]

There are some places here that would fit your description but I have other hunting avenues to pursue, although not as productive.

I think I'd tire quickly of all the bs and red tape you endure. :D

You could come down here and hunt wild deer with me some. :)

[Twanger]

Bowman - I'm very sick of the BS and red tape. There's nothing that can replace the magic of hunting the wide open woods and hills. I cherish those opportunities, when I get out, and should do more of it.

I would not be doing it if the goal was just to hunt deer for myself.

I'm considering the possibility of going in on a bowhunting lease on 300 acres 10 min from my house that butts up to the 500 acres I can hunt at Izaak Walton. That would be sweet!

[GF.]

Like I told somebody just a while back... It was awfully good to be out hunting in the mountains where you can catch a buzz just looking out across a valley. Knowing there's a HausFrau somewhere just off your left shoulder isn't quite the same deal :rolleyes:

[willhunt]

That is a lot of action in one day, for sure. Three deer in one sit is quite an accomplishment. And especially with a bow. Kudos, my friend.

Good for you, and also good on you for donating to a worthy cause.

My best is two in one morning, which started off badly.

Got 3/4ths way to my stand, and the lump in my right pocket that I was sure was my release, was not. Double-timed it back to the house (I CANNOT shoot without my release), and was back in the tree-stand just at shooting light. Big momma and two kids show up 5 minutes after I got settled in. A little high on the shot (spine), and down she goes. Not the way its supposed to go, but quickly get down to finish the job.

Still a lot of morning left to hunt, so back up I go. A nice fat six comes in behind me. I have one small window to shoot, and he steps into it perfectly. Double lunger, and and a quick recovery.

My best as of yet. Congrats on your triple.

[DaveHawk]

There is a lot to be said for big woods. I cherish the 2.5 hr drive to Va to hunt the farm. Sometimes 1 , twice and 3 times a week to visit Jake and or hunt. Most of the time to pick Jake up for a hunt. It's taken me 3 years to learn the property and deer movement but I think I got it down now.

SO I can see why NC is have his long spell between deer with his traveling to hunting places and leaning the areas. Keep at it bud.