3 Bow Deer In 30 Minutes

Some hunters will stay at home on a windy day, believing that deer don’t move much. I was recently convinced otherwise.

My sons came home over the holidays, and two of them, Jackson and Jared, are currently in the U.S. Army. They love to bowhunt, and I looked forward to hunting with them.

It was really windy on Dec. 29 when we all arrived at the property in Forsyth County to begin bowhunting. The winds were swirling real bad when we headed to the stand. Deer have a sense of smell about 300 times stronger than humans, and they rely primarily on it to avoid predators. However, when the wind is swirling around, it’s hard for them to pick up the direction of the scent.

At 4 p.m, Jared called to tell me that he just shot a doe. He said that he didn’t even make it to the stand. He had just crossed a creek when he saw the doe. A quick nock of an arrow and a smooth release made for a solid hit.

My phone rang again about 10 minutes later. It was Jared again, who told me that our friend, Dalton, had just shot a doe. He said it dropped near the creek not too far from Jared.

My other son, Jackson, and I had bowhunted a lot during the early fall but had not arrowed one yet. Well, my phone rang again about 15 minutes later. It was Jackson. He had just shot an 8-pointer! I told him to stay put, and that I was on my way.

From left: Dalton Keys, Jared Schuster and Jackson Schuster with three bow-killed deer taken in Forsyth County on Dec. 29 within 150 yards of each other and within 30 minutes.

As I hustled into that hollow, I saw all three of them standing beside the buck, just grinning. It was nice 8-point. I helped Jackson drag him out to begin the field-dressing. When we got to a nice spot and he pulled back his jacket, he exposed a knife in a black sheath. It was the Buck Ranger knife that I gave him many years ago. It was the same knife that I had used to skin my first buck many years ago. I had recently cleaned up the brass and wood grips and sharpened the blade. I can’t tell you the pride that I had as he grasped the blade and made the initial cut into the deer. Good stuff.

Well, should you hunt deer when it’s windy? Three deer down within 30 minutes and about 150 yards from each other says absolutely!

This Month’s Quick Quiz Question: This story covered the details of a hunt that killed three deer. What is the daily limit for the number of deer that one hunter can kill in one day?

The winner will be picked at random from all correctly submitted answers, and he or she will win a prize package. We’ll print the answer next month.

Remember that the answer to the questions are always located within each month’s Outdoor Outpost.

Last Month’s Quick Quiz question: What are your hunting goals for 2017? Congrats to Corbin Scarborough, 7, of Monroe, for providing three great answers: 1) Take my first turkey this spring with my new shotgun that I got for Christmas. 2)Take my first dove with my new shotgun. 3) I have killed my first deer already, and it was a doe, but I would love to take my first buck this fall. For providing the correct answer, Corbin wins a prize package from GON.