bdidaho
New member
Several years ago my bow hunting buddy moved away and I did not know anybody else to bow hunt with so I started rifle hunting with some friends but that has since turned into more of a party than a hunting trip. I joined an archery club in an attempt to find some hunting partners but my wife said she would like to start shooting a bow. Last year, she got a bow and liked it and wanted to try hunting. We hunted elk near some property we own but only saw one elk in a week. We decided to try antelope this year in Wyoming but did not get a shot there either, although we learned a lot about hunting antelope and hunting out of state in general. We saw alot of animals but could not get a shot off. We went deer hunting last week near where I rifle hunt in SE Idaho,but in a unit I have never hunted. We scouted it a month ago and found one area that was not overrun with cattle and saw quite a few deer. She got excited to go but when we got to the spring to set up a blind, we found the cattle everywhere. We set up anyway but did not have anything come in that night. The next morning we returned to the blind and found no cattle and in no time , we had a cow moose and calf 20 yards from us with no idea we were there. A small bull moose followed them but no deer came to water so at about 11 am we took a hike to see if we could find 3 other springs that were 1-2 miles away. We did manage to find water at 1 of the 3 and set up a second blind there. There had been cattle there but not for quite a while. We sat that night at the new sight and put a camera at the first spring. A half hour before dark we had a 2 point right on top of us before we knew it and Callie could not get a shot even though the buck was only 8 yards from us. She spooked him trying to draw her bow but she was excited to be seeing game. We have never hunted out of a blind before and made some placement mistakes. We stopped and checked the camera at the first spring and had deer hitting the spring even though the cattle had returned. I told her we needed to make some changes with the second blind so the next morning we hiked some ridges and did some glassing but did not see much. By 3 pm we were back at the blinds. She wanted to try spllitting up so we had both spots covered so she dropped me off at the second spring while she returned to the first blind. I changed the position of the second blind and brushed it in well and put the Moo Cow decoy we had in front of it. We had nothing at either spring all night but it was so warm they weren't moving until well after dark. I tried to stay positive and told her the next morning was going to be her day. We switched blinds and she dropped me off at the first blind on her way to the second. She was to pick me up at 11am if she had no luck but if she shot something and needed help tracking it I was only a mile away. When I heard the truck at 9am, I knew she had arrowed something. She said "it's just a doe but I got it!! I actually shot something with my bow! She had a 25 yard broadside shot so the changes to the blind did the trick. She saw the deer run off with her arrow but could find no blood trail. We found the deer about 80 yards from the blind.
In the meantime I was having encounters of my own. At first light, a lone cow moose came in to my spring and hung out for about 20 minutes, then just after that, this big guy walks right past my blind and stands in the water hole for half an hour broadside at 20 yards. He decides to leave and walks in front of me at 15 yards, turns and walks right towards the blind, The last picture I took was at 10 yards, and at 5 yards I made a bad imitation of a cow to keep him from stepping on me. He wheeled and trotted off about 50 yards, then went on up the hill.
I think it's been more fun listening to my wife than if I had shot something . It is now "her blind" and she is already planning next years hunt!! And I still have my tag!
In the meantime I was having encounters of my own. At first light, a lone cow moose came in to my spring and hung out for about 20 minutes, then just after that, this big guy walks right past my blind and stands in the water hole for half an hour broadside at 20 yards. He decides to leave and walks in front of me at 15 yards, turns and walks right towards the blind, The last picture I took was at 10 yards, and at 5 yards I made a bad imitation of a cow to keep him from stepping on me. He wheeled and trotted off about 50 yards, then went on up the hill.
I think it's been more fun listening to my wife than if I had shot something . It is now "her blind" and she is already planning next years hunt!! And I still have my tag!
