30 minutes from practice to dead doe. I was running late getting to my brothers ranch, I was supposed to be there hours before to practice with his bow to see if I could worth a dang (I had never shot a bow before). They had his Matthews out and ready to go. They showed me a few tips, I got 6 practice shots, and it was off to the blind just minutes before the feeder went off. I had a doe just a few minutes later, she barley made it 20 yards before she tumbled.
"Man is still a hunter, still a simple searcher after meat..." Robert C. Ruark
Mine was with a Mathews VXR set at 70lbs this year. I got a decent 10pt. The best part about it was I made my cousin, whose property I hunt on, a believer of bowhunting. He wasn't really big on bowhunting because he didn't think you can make an ethical kill. My buck went 25 yards and dropped, while the rest of the gun hunters has had to track theirs for at least 50 yards. And then to top it off I took a nice pig the next day!
txpowhunter do not expect them all to drop inside 50 yards, some do some do not even with what looks like the same shot. I have seen well hit deer go from basically 0 yards to over 500 yards. Most are dead within 125 yards and many within 75 yards. Depends on the deer, the shot and various other factors.
lf the saying "Liar, Liar your pants on fire" were true Mainstream news might be fun to watch
First kill was a Bobcat, 10 yards, PSE whitetail edition set at 75lbs back in 2004. Still hanging in my office sitting on a log.. First whitetail kill was the following season. Just a typical Texas 8 around 115”
Diamond Marquis 70# using Rage Hypodermic. Shot a doe high in the spine. Dropped her. The Rage cut the spine in half. I have no confidence problems with expandables after that. Also i had buck fever shooting her the excitement of shooting the first deer with a bow is UNMATCHED! 2014
Hoyt ultramag set at 63# with G5 Montec in 2007. After two years of failure bow hunting, wounding one deer each year and not finding them, I shot an 4.5 year old 9 point during a morning hunt. That evening I went out to sit in the stand primarily to scout and shot a 3.5 year old 11 point 127" buck. Crazy and exciting day.
1974 Using an old 60# Browning Cobra or EX not to sure. Walked up on a little fork horn bedded down and he surprised me as much as I did him. He jumped up about 18-20 yards away and i hit him right in the neck and he went straight down. Hit him with a Satellite Broadhead on a 2117 Easton aluminum, I wasn't aiming for the neck, just missed my shot that far.
Wasn't my first deer with a bow but it was my first deer with a traditional bow. 1974 Bear Super Kodiak 50# at 18 yards. Also another first, I did it from a saddle stand. First harvest from one of those that I decided to try out this year. Probably not my last, not a die-hard saddle guy but they do have their place and time where they're useful. And it was my first pic with my little girl. She finally wanted to 'see the deer' this year. She was pretty fascinated too. lol