Slayed it.

Well, as our country decides to dismantle itself, I've been spending time out in the woods hunting for whitetail on foot with my bow. A feat in which I assumed would be easy for me, then found it to be a huge challenge. Tyler was able to join me on a few hunts. The weather was a bit too warm. Mosquitos still out and about. We had found several great spots, seeing deer everyday but never really having a great shot at them.

I was still staying in town so I'd wake up early and drive 30 minutes to the national forest. Sit for a few hours, then I would quietly walk around with my bow ready to draw, trying to find deer moving. I would then rush home for school, lunch and head back out to the woods for the evening hunt. Alot of time and effort was made during these 5 day hunts. Instead of paying for a non resident annual hunting license I was able to buy a native non resident 5 day license that was a lot more affordable and could renew when I was free for a few days. Unfortunately, with Louisiana's weather I was unable to pre scout before hand. My dad had found a nice clearing that we were able to scout a bit the day before opening for archery. I hunted that area opening day and then explored some of the trails and found more promising spots with bigger and more abundant deer tracks. Tyler and I ended up exploring and finding a great spot where we made a blind next to a creek bottom.

Everytime we went out it seemed we'd learn something new. Things like being patient. We had heard some deer one morning in our other blind. Eager to see what we were hearing we tried to slowly move out of the blind and down towards the horse trail in front. Doing so, we kicked up a decent sized doe that was bedded down about 40 yards away that was laying in downed trees. That's when I realized this is more than just being accurate with a bow. Every decision I made during these trips was instinctual. I've obviously watched hunting shows and countless hours of YouTube, but nothing is quite as substantial as cold, hard, first-person learning experiences.

Regardless of how challenging these past few weeks have been, I did manage to get my first chance to shoot a 4 point buck that was chasing some younger doe. Tyler and I had been walking on a road with some downed trees. As we were focusing on quietly manuvering around those tree we heard a commotion, not knowing what it was we froze. Soon the deer were in sight, the does never stopped running. I drew my bow back as they crossed the road right in front of us but I did not have a lead yet to shoot. Remained drawn back, anticipating the bucks crossing, he froze and stared at Tyler. Finally he dashed up and went to cross, Tyler made a grunt sound and he stopped perfectly, text book moment. I missed him about 6 inches too low. Without feeling any regret I just mumbled " at least it was a clean miss". Nothing to feel down about because the arrow had been lined up and would have hit right in that sweet spot behind the shoulder blade if only I would have aimed a little higher. This took place at the beginning of my hunting extravaganzas so I knew I'd get another chance. I was completely wrong. Nonetheless, I enjoyed my time out in the woods, especially once the weather cooled off a bit.

I did however manage to get my first kill with a bow. Though it was not venison it was still a huge release of stress for me. I tend to hold myself to an unrealistic standard when it comes to things I'm passionate about (I'm desperately trying to work on this bad habit, which hunting has came to be very humbling experience) . I had missed that buck a few days earlier and was doubting my bowman skills. This shot did not miss and dropped a young boar that died peacefully 10 feet from where he was grazing just seconds before. It really is amazing how fast events go by when your brain is analyzing everything and making split second decisions. Not only did I get my first kill and it was executed well, my dad had joined me and got to watch the whole thing. He doesn't have many chances to join me on the trout streams so this was extra special that he got to experience this with me.

I am so thankful to be given the opportunity to learn so much and walk away with more knowledge than I had before. I'm happy to see Louisiana's public lands flourishing with wildlife after decades of poaching and poor management. There is still hope for Sportsman's paradise.

"Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure... than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat."-Theodore Roosevelt