A Fresh Start
Do you remember your first ever deer hunt?
I'm not talking about the first time someone took you out in the woods, I'm talking the first time you had a weapon with you and you were the hunter...
Was it a successful hunt? How many deer did you see? Who was sitting by you/hunting with you?
Regardless of what happened during your first ever hunt, I'm sure you can remember just about every detail from it. I know I can.
Fast forwarding nearly 10 years from that hunt, I recently got the opportunity to experience that scenario for a second time.
Growing up, I was interested in basically all things hunting. I followed my dad on his quests for white-tailed deer and eastern wild turkeys, and have since been most interested in pursuing those animals.
If you know me personally, you know that I have not had a ton of success in filling my tags, with just four deer and one turkey to date. Yet, that has not stopped my passion and love for hunting and being outdoors.
Early this year, my family purchased a plot of land in northwest Wisconsin, fulfilling a dream I've had since I was a kid to be able to study, build and hunt a property.
Another dream of mine was to someday bowhunt, and that was how I was hypothetically able to hit the restart button on my hunting career.
The thought of someday bowhunting the new property had come up, but was more a future plan than a present one. So, when I received a call from my parents saying the old bow had been properly set up, you can imagine the emotions I felt.
Instead of getting the bow prepared during the spring or summer months, where I would then have to wait a number of months before even carrying the bow into the woods, I was only afforded a week of pure excitement and anticipation. I think that was maybe a strategic play on the part of my parents to only have to hear me talk their ears off for a week about bowhunting...
Anyways, after a gear-gathering trip to DICK'S Sporting Goods, I was ready to embark upon my first ever bowhunt.
But first, a final tune-up before things got real, which meant a countless number of practice shots. I didn't keep track of how many arrows I let fly the morning before my evening hunt, but it had to be near 70. I would have kept shooting, but at that point, both of my arms were shaking... I may never know if that was just my body's way of telling me to rest or if it was nervousness for the upcoming hunt.
As the minutes slowly ticked down to my first ever bowhunt, I began to have a feeling I haven't felt in nearly a decade. Yes, I've gone deer hunting with a gun a number of times in the last 10 years, but the thought of hunting and potentially harvesting a deer with a bow seemed completely foreign to me. It was as if I'd never experienced a hunt before. The thought both intimidated and thrilled me.
Finally, it was was time to leave. I packed up my gear and set out on my first ever bowhunt, a sport that would immediately become a new passion.
To be continued... Check back frequently this fall as I will keep an archive of every hunt I embark upon.
