selfbow buck
My hunt starts back in august when I decided I wanted to make an Osage self bow.
A friend of mine on leatherwall, “Capesmith" from Tennessee said he had a good piece
of Osage he would send me. Less than a week later I had it and was ready to begin.
But not really knowing where to start I turned to a local bow builder and friend by
the name of Tim Hamblen. Tim gave me instructions and I was on my way. after about
2 weeks time and a lot of help from the guys on leather wall, I had a new Osage bow.
The bow came out on the heavy side at 68# @ 27".
My tiller looked good, so fearing I might mess it up I decided to leave it alone.
In no time I was shooting it good enough to win local 3D shoots, but the best trophy
was yet to come.
The bow is 64"NTN and is the sweetest shooting thing I have.
Well maybe I just think that because I built with my own hands, all of you who have made
your own bows will know what I mean.
On October 27th "the first day of my vacation" I hunted a small private farm.
I had put a stand up a week earlier after seeing a promising rub line between
two corn fields.
My stand was in a white oak with lots of limbs and leaves keeping me well hidden, and only
15yds from a patch of willows that had been getting a lot of use.
The morning was cool and windy with a light rain and pasted without seeing anything more than a
fox squirrel.
After getting down around 10:00am, I went and loaded some firewood for my friends attending
the 1st annual self bow fest at Jackson/Washington State Forest, near Brownstown, Indiana.
When I arrived at the forestry I found two fellow members of the Indiana traditional bowhunters association (ITBA) at the shelter house . they already had a small fire going so we unloaded some of the wood from my bronco to keep it going while we waited for others to return from hunting. What a day! Two guys came all the way from New Jersey to hunt ,one from Pennsylvania . And there was even a guy from Germany .as the day went on we shared stories and talked of bow making. I even scraped on a piece of Osage part of the time. Some saw deer but no one had shots at any that day. Most of the others were going to hunt the public ground at the forestry that evening but not me. I was sure from the sign that deer were staying on the small farm and I was going back for another try. I was having such a good time that before I knew it , it was time to leave for the evening hunt . As I was getting ready to leave I jokingly told the others to help me unload the rest of the wood I had brought, because I would need the room to haul my deer out later after I hunted. We laughed and got it unloaded. but not because I needed room for a deer, but because I didn’t want to haul it back and I knew they could use it. We wished each other luck and I was on my way.
After stopping by my house to shower and change into my hunting cloths I arrived at the farm around
4:55pm.
The area I was hunting is not very wooded, It is really just a large Y shaped thicket that divides 3 fields. All of which had standing corn in them at the time. The thicket is about 100 yards wide, 200 yards long in 2 directions and maybe 400 yards in the other direction. And it is thick , instead of trails the deer have tunnels in a lot of places.
The wind is still blowing pretty hard as I walk the lane that leads to my oak tree, but it is blowing in my favor. It’s an easy walk but takes about 10 minutes to get to it. Then I see the willows, I’M TO LATE !!!
The buck has worked the rubs since I had left earlier that morning. Disappointed but still glad to see fresh sign I climb into my stand.
I was just glad to know the buck hadn’t fell victim to the EHD outbreak we had in the area and I had no idea as to his size, but from the look of things it was a good one!
At around 5:15pm I see a doe 50yds in front of me in the thick stuff, and having never killed a deer with my self bow I stand up and let out a couple short grunts hoping she will turn my way. But it’s not to be and she heads on out of sight into the thicket. Again disappointed but glad to have at least seen a deer I start to sit back down , but first I take a quick glance to my right and then my left. THERE HE IS!!! He’s up wind in the willows but offers no shot . I slowly turn while he breaks the saplings only 15yds away from me, all the while wondering if this is really going to happen. When he finishes he starts heading almost straight at me.
At about 12yds I pick a spot between both legs at the base of his neck ,hit anchor and watch as my woodsman tipped cedar arrow buries deep in his chest. He spins and crashes through the same willows he just tore up moments before and heads up into the farm lane. As I watch I can barley see though the leaves as he stands there wondering what has just happened to him not more than 60yds away. Then in a flash he is gone. Now I start shaking so bad I fear I may fall from my tree! I hang my bow on a small branch and sit back down to check the time. It is 5:20pm. My mind starts to fill with unsure thoughts. Did my arrow really hit good ? Why did he stop in the farm lane? Will I be able to track him in the thick stuff ?
After gaining my composure a bit I call my wife, and she knows from the excitement in my voice that I have shot a deer. When she asks me how big it is I tell her I don’t know, but it looked like a good one. Then I call my sons and tell them the story as I wait. After 30 minutes I can wait no longer and climb down. As soon as I get to the spot he stood I see part of my arrow lying in the willows. Then I see that the willows are painted red with his blood and I know he is mine. As I knell to pick up my broken arrow I close my eyes and thank god for letting it fly true. After following his trail a short ways I see him lying in the lane not more than ten feet from the place I last saw him standing. He is mine!!!
