scott doe

Hunter or Prey?

By Scott Howell

Pro Staff

Bowhunting North America, LLC

Sunday November 19 began cool and windy. The high only reached the low 50’s. My cameraman Van Foster and I got settled into our stands about 2:30. We were hoping the wind would die down and the deer would begin to move. The wind was blowing about fifteen to twenty mph all evening. I’m sure this is the norm for my friends from Texas, but it is a little more than we are used to.

The wind did not seem to bother the deer since we had two different groups of does travel through the area at around 3:30. Soon after the second group of does went out of sight I could hear something approaching our set. I soon picked up movement and I realized that there were three very large hogs working their way towards us. I was pumped and ready to send a Carbon Express arrow through one of their hearts. The hogs were working on some acorns about forty yards away from our stands. For no reason they turned around and headed back the way they came. Then they turned left and circled around us. We then watched as they worked their way out of sight.

Not ten minutes after the hogs went out of sight, I noticed another group of does working their way towards us. They began to feed under the same acorn trees as the hogs were. I had several shot opportunities but my cameraman and I were not able to get on the same page so I elected to wait. I would not have to wait long. I signaled to Van that one of the does was heading to one of my shooting lanes. Once the doe entered my shooting lane, I stopped her. There was a smaller doe standing behind the one I had my pin settled on so I waited. Soon the smaller doe cleared my target and SMACK!!! The Max-1 Carbon Express arrow disappeared behind her shoulder. The deer bolted and within fifty yards we heard her crash.

We still had plenty of daylight left so we settled in to see what the rest of the evening would bring. Although we heard several deer work around us, none came within range. After dark settled in, we climbed down and retrieved my arrow. We then picked up the blood trail. We did not have much of a light so it took us a while to find her. Once we found her, we pulled her out to the road and we headed back to the camp to get the Kubota.

We recently received some rain so we needed the Kubota to get her out. After we got back to the lodge my brother had dinner fixed so we decided to fill our bellies before heading back to pick up my doe. It’s not like she was going anywhere right? Well we headed back to the woods to retrieve my doe. As we pulled up to her, Van commented that he thought we left the doe in the middle of the road. When we drove up to her she was lying on the edge of the woods. I really couldn’t remember so I just killed the engine on the Kubota and walked over to pick up the doe. When I shined the flashlight on the doe the hair on the back of my neck stood up. A black bear had eaten the doe’s entire shoulder where the arrow entered. I began to feel like we were being watched. I also saw claw marks on her body. We wasted no time getting the heck out of there. A post interview would have to be done at the lodge. After taking several pics we were able to complete the interview.

This hunt was made possible in part by our sponsors:

Mathews, Inc., Carbon Express, The Gean-Edwards Company, DoskoSport, Lumenok, Tru Fire Corp.,
Limbsaver, Huntin' Hoist, Beard Buster, Sure Grip Gun & Bow Racks, Advantage Max-1 Camoflauge, Nikon Sport Optics, Barnett Crossbows,

and Muzzy Products Corp.