I finally got my first buck bow kill! After a tough week of hunting I was getting a bit discouraged. My week started off missing not just one but two bucks! It was the second week of muzzleloader season and I hadn’t killed any deer with the gun yet so I was feeling some pressure. I was just about to get out of the stand one morning and call it quits when out of nowhere a little spike walks out about 40 yards away. He was a goner…BOOM! ….what, I had missed the deer! I have never missed anything in my years hunting. After going through every excuse in the book I just decided it might have just been me. The next day I was hunting a different stand and almost the exact same scenario took place…I missed a buck again! I was so discouraged and disappointed in myself. The following Saturday morning I had the opportunity to get back into the woods and try again. It was a perfect morning, nice and cold. A big doe stepped out right in my shooting lane, I lined up the iron sights of the muzzleloader on her vitals and pulled the trigger. I had hit her but long story short, I never found her. Looked for hours and not finding her broke my heart! I knew for sure that the gun had to be shooting way off of its sights…missing two deer and making a bad shot on another doesn’t sound like me; something had to be wrong. I decided to give hunting a rest for awhile because of the bad luck I was having but I knew I couldn’t give up something I love so much…those who know me well have come to realize that it’s hard to keep me out of the woods. With my trusty bow in hand I creeped into the woods on Monday afternoon. The trees were still and everything felt right. I put out Bust-A-Buck Doe N Estrus deer urine in hopes that a buck would stop by to check it out. At 5:15 he came in…straight to me! I eased my bow into position and drew back. Thoughts of missing the previous deer and buck fever on top of that had my adrenaline pumping! “Swhackkk!” He kicked his 
back legs up and took off…I knew I had hit him! After letting him lay for awhile I eased down the stand and began the 200 yard track job. I knew I had hit him a little too far back but a kill shot nonetheless. On hands and knees I crawled in the dark with my little flashlight following tiny specks of blood. I wasn’t about to give up tracking and lose my first bow buck kill! It was like Christmas day when I finally found him! After a tough week of misses and heartbreak I couldn’t be happier with my second bow kill of the year! He’s not a huge buck but I was tickled to death to have taken him with my bow!
~Katie Helms
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