Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting First "archery" kill

Got my first deer using a "point-ed stick" (as they used to say on Monty Python) this morning with an Excalibur crossbow. That thing is a hammer. Nice adult doe at 35 yards took a 125 Muzzy just behind the right shoulder with an exit out the left flank. She didn't start to bleed until she'd travelled about 50 yards so I had to follow tracks at first. Made it maybe 100 yards down a steep, brushy hillside before piling up against a log. That Muzzy cut a perfect triangular hole. Nasty!

My old, fat, azz is dragging, but it was a good day.

LOL, nice, Congrats! my first bow kill was a doe too, around 1988, Martin Lynx Magnum with the limbs cranked all the way down, a 125 gr Thunderhead screwed to the end of an Easton 2117 Gamegetter II, I'm looking up at that arrow as I type this, still have it after 30 years, that old bow flung that arrow so hard into that does shoulders it bent it.

IIRC, the shot was less than 10 yards.

On the public land I hunt, if you see one, any one, you better shoot it because you may never see another.

Saw a nice basket 8 cross the road in front of me into the WMA on my way in. I'm thinking the magic time is about to start here. My cousin grunted a big one in yesterday nearby in MD, but no shot.

Good job! I have two of them in the freezer so far this year with my Matrix 330 and will put two more in there before I am done. Maybe one tonight yet!

Well good luck! I gotta take a couple days off to let the cramping in my legs and forearms subside. Still have three weeks of archery before rifle season opens, then rifle doe, ML, more doe. Can actually use the crossbow through 12/31, but have other toys that need airing out. Besides, is there anything more clumsy to carry around than one of these things? Heavy too, but look at that hole! It was still bubbling and burping when I took the pic.

Looks like you hit it where your supposed to,congrats should eat mighty fine.

A little higher than I prefer actually, and illustrated my theory, in reverse, that low chest shots make for quick bloodtrails. I had ranged my shooting lanes when the light allowed, and had to take a quick, almost snap shot at her as she turned and was about to go behind a tree. Total time from when I first saw her to arrow impact couldn't have been more than three seconds. I aimed at the point of her near shoulder and her turn put it just behind. I have no doubt this thing will penetrate well from any reasonable angle, barring a glancing hit on the largest bones. The tip on these Muzzys looks like something they would have used against armor once upon a time.

A couple tips you might find handy:

There are 4 screws that hold the scope base bracket in place. The Matrixs used to come with pan heads and that allowed the base to move a little due to the slop in the holes in the base. Take one screw out, get 4 replacement flat head screws to match at the hardware store and the countersink the hole in the base a little. Pot in the new screws with blue loctite and it won't move.

Use as large a cut broad head as you can get. I am using NAP Spitfire Doublecross heads that are 4 blade heads and they start to bleed MUCH sooner. I have used the Muzzys and they kill well but where I am hunting I only see deer very close to the end of legal shooting time in the evening. Never in the morning and very rarely in the hour before sunset. Maybe one out of ten in the hour before sunset and 8 out of ten in the last 15 minutes of the 1/2 hour after sunset. More blood sooner when you are dead dark before you get to start looking for them is way better! Even with 2 inch Rage heads I have had them make 30 yards before I get any blood. That heart has to pressurize the chest with blood before it starts to come out decently, and if you heart shoot them they may not be able to pressurize the chest which just lets them run further before you get blood on the ground and then it may not be good blood. Shooting them with arrows is a much less certain proposition than with a rifle. I had one make it just over 200 yards shot almost identically to yours. She bled in such huge spurts I could see them with my flashlight across almost 100 yards of mowed area. This year one managed right on 700 yards before she went down. Last year one made it a little over a mile (double lunged) bleeding well the entire way. With the crossbow you have power to throw in the toilet. It will easily drive an arrow all the way through. Spend that power on more cut, there is no downside to that approach with a crossbow. If I could find a sturdy head with four one inch blades (any more than 2 inch width is not legal here) I would buy them.

I found that the scope that came with mine would not get me to the end of shooting time before I lost the ability to tell for certain the angle of the deer and see well enough to shoot them when under heavy canopy. At best I could count on getting to 15 minutes past sunset.

Do not be afraid to save the leg/shoulder bones and take them to the range and pin them up on a target and shoot them with your broadheads. You have the accuracy to hit them and you need to see for yourself what they do to the heads.

For what it is worth, most people advise letting a deer be for an extended period before you go look for it. The theory is that it gives them time to lay down and bleed out. Out of twenty some deer I have killed with the crossbow, only one ever got up after it went down, and that deer is the one who made it over a mile, she went down just past a mile into the trail. She managed about 100 yards and went down again. I jumped her again and she manged another 50 yards, but that was as far as she was going to go. Every single one of the rest went down once and that was the end of them. I do not wait after I shoot them. It takes me 10 minutes or so to put the bow away and get my flashlight and stuff for tracking ready. That's all the longer I wait. Mostly they are dead inside 200 yards, and they can manage that in less than 30 seconds. My experience with many times that number shot with a rifle agrees with that. A poorly hit animal is about as likely to clot up and stop bleeding altogether as is is to bleed out. It probably explains why archery losses tend to run almost one out of three.

I use lighted nocks on hunting arrows. They will show you where the arrow hit which can be very important because deer can and will jump the string.

Thanks.

I've been checking my screws regularly and none have budged yet. Also check my sighting when I get home as a way to decock. My scope is the top Excalibur model, an upgrade by the dealer from the package model. It's been good so far but eats batteries. I plan to replace it eventually with the top model from Hawke, which seems to have a good rep. I have four of their rifle scopes bought on clearance from Doug, and not a hint of trouble so far. I hunt almost exclusively in the morning on my local WMA, partly because it's my preference, but also because I don't want to have to trail (and drag) in the dark; been there, done that as they say. Over the years, the afternoons I've spent on this ground have been mostly deerless anyway, except very late in the season when human traffic is nil.

After I shot this deer, I quietly gathered up my stuff (I was using a tree seat on the ground), then slowly and quietly stalked over to where she was when I shot to look for blood. When I didn't find it, I went back to my seat and sat down to go over the shot in my mind, then added the seat to my load and went back to pick up her trail. At first there were only disturbed leaves, but soon I had plowed earth as she started downhill. Then, a little bright blood, then bigger splashes as the trail zig-zagged downhill through the nasty brush. Wouldn't surprise me if the total trail was only 100 yards. Kinda hard to measure in those conditions. Anyway I expect I waited 10 minutes before I first looked for sign, then ten more before I found blood, maybe another 15 working it out until I found her. If the trail had looked like it was going to be a long one, I'd have sat down at that point and waited a bit, same as with a rifle-shot one (except on a weekend, when the woods are crowded!).

No doubt, as you said, with this 380, I've got no penetration worries. My son, a compound guy, advised me to consider a heavier arrow, but this shot was at about 2/3 my max range, and penetrated at least 18", maybe more, and kept sailing. I'll be looking at other head options, and lighted nocks for sure. I'll stick with fixed blades, as I have a nice expandable head and chunk of a crossbow bolt I pulled out of a buck two years ago. That head didn't expand, and he carried it for a year before I shot him with my Knight.

Thanks again.

The screws on mine remained tight even after they let the sight base slip. I got lucky, it caused a clean miss. Twice. I did what any normal person would do, I checked everything the first time including the screws. I resighted it, wrung it out good, and wrote the miss off to the cheap scope. The second time it happened I had already changed out the original scope to a Zeiss Duralyt so I began going through the mounting and found that even with the screws tight the base could move. I have heard they changed the base attachment design to fix it but I have never seen that. In my case the base moved enough to cause a clean miss. Twice. I got lucky. If it can move that much it can move less and cause the problems that come with a bad hit. Mine never moved left to right, just up and down, and the vertical movement was only barely perceptible. It's a bad design, I'd check if those are pan head screws and do the mod if so. Keep an eye on it, if they are pan heads it will slip at some point.

glad you enjoy your x-bow and they are kinda neat to play with too. but now at the age of 65 years both shoulders rebuilt,neck surgery and 3 back surgeries ,I have to make a decision soon if I want to hunt with a x-bow. I have drawn , shot and hunted now for over 55 years recurve,longbow and compounds have killed many animals, won a state title or 2 in the state free style classes, so its difficult for me to switch to a x-bow. we hunt in Montana to bowhunt x- bows are 100 % illegal to use to hunt with also in that state no matter if your handi capped or not. so I have been struggling trying to use a drawn bow again and its been hard almost impossible ,second year no bowhunting deer in my home state too. will I buy x-bow ? this next year will determine what I will do ? good luck ,Pete53

The Bulldog has the 4 panheads, but also 4 larger countersunk screws as well up front. Don't think it's going anywhere.

I'll be 67 in January. I've shot recurves and compunds, currently have a 45lb recurve for fun (and maybe rabbits!). There's no way I could practice enough with a hunting weight bow to be as proficient as I'd want to be for big game. I can cock this thing manually, but not for long, so I have a crank I use for practice and to ready the bow before I go out to hunt. I carry the cord in my backpack for follow-up shots. Cocking effort with the cord is 130lbs; with the crank 12.

The choice for me was whether to use a crossbow for extra time in the woods and a better chance at a public land buck, or stay home, so not a choice at all. The challenge remains the limited range and high trajectory, but not so much shooting skill, and that's enough. Our wildlife situation in the East is one of way too many deer in most places, and often limited access to places to hunt. When I read about guys out West that can't even get a deer tag, it makes me appreciate what we have, even with access problems and crowded public land. Where I hunt, there are deer, turkeys, the occasional bear, and lots of squirrels, with waterfowl for those who want them, and varmints.

If you have a place to hunt where crossbows are legal, I recommend you choke down your old prejudices and just go for it. It's the hunt that matters. I know a couple of guys who are hard-core bowhunters facing physical issues that are looking into switching so they can continue to hunt.

Congrats on the doe. That’s a heck of a hole you put in her. Exit or entrance?

Edit: just reread your op that’s the entrance wound.

Number 2 came home today.

Yesterday afternoon, the China Doll and I dragged a hang-on and some strap-on ladder sections to the WMA and set it up. This morning, I almost stayed in bed because I was tired and sore, but the weather was good, so I crawled out and went to the new stand. About 11:00, I saw a head and antlers above the weeds a couple hundred yards away, moving towards me. He walked right down the main trail to a spot I had lazed at 32 yards. He was still walking when I tripped the trigger and I didn't allow enough, so the bolt took him through the liver. Went about 50 yards and dropped. Thankfully, I had left the deer sled nearby, because the drag was about 3/4 of a mile. Tough work for an old fat man. Decent sized body and a tiny little 8-point rack.

Gonna take a week off.

Congrats! I have 2 crossbows myself at the moment. I went to crossbow as the result of a freak hit on a doe that was part Olympian gymnast. She jumped the string on a recurve and intercepted a boiler room shot with the back of her head. It did not penetrate enough for a kill and it made for a very long and time consuming tracking until I eventually lost her on land that we could not access.(anti-hunter). I still bow hunt, but when I'm serious about it, the same hit with my compound will give 1 and sometimes 2 holes. The crossbow will leave 2 holes and nothing in the wound channel to block the blood flow. Crossbow has 3 times the poundage as the compound. It makes for short blood trails, and easy tracking.
Well done on the two kills.

A longbow hunter we met on the way in to hang my stand said that if you bowhunt long enough, eventually you will wound and lose one. I think that applies to every sort of hunting implement. He lost one in the rain just this season. All you can do is practice until you're as good as you can get, exercise restraint when taking shots, and learn to track, which takes time, interest, and patience. Still, sometimes stuff just happens, even when you do everything "right". Every time I've lost game, even small game, it's galled me for days, even years.

Lost doesn't always mean dead, especially with an arrow vs bullet wound... I"ve seen plenty "lost" deer later on... a few within a day or two

Agreed. I once clipped a buck with a .44 mag rifle; even found a bone chip. Jumped him up, but foolishly passed on a Texas heart shot to finish him off. Went back the next day and found him running with a herd of does, still looking for love.

Got a crossbow head and piece of shaft I cut out of a buck I killed with my ML. He carried that for a year with the head cutting his hide from the inside with every step. Was fat and sleek in spite of what had to be a painful wound.