I was introduced to Jimmy “on the hill” some years ago when a group of us where shooting in a 3d archery league. All of us where accomplished shooters and Jimmy was new so we joked with him all the time. To say our bunch was relentless was an understatement. We could, and most of the time were, brutal ! We liked to have a good time when we out shooting. One day at a shoot I started talking to Jimmy about bow hunting and asking him why he never tried it. The main reason it seemed was that he didn’t have anyone to show him the ropes. Well bingo , he did now!!! I quickly gave him an invite too our family cabin and hunting grounds. Told him what he needed to get and when I would pick him up to go. He sure had a big grin on his face and I assured him that I was a bit more serious when I was hunting with my bow than when I was 3d shooting with it. We had a good laugh and finished the bow course.

I picked Jimmy up around 5am and we chatted on the 45 minute ride to my cabin. I was going to put Jimmy in a new stand that me and my brother had put up a few weeks earlier. I was telling Jimmy about what to expect and just giving him some in and outs that I thought would help him on his first hunt. I could tell by the number of cigarettes he was smoking that he was nervous…But hey different strokes for different folks…I don’t smoke. Any ways we got there and I was walking Jimmy to this stand in the pitch dark. It was darker than dark this am and no way would I let some one unfamiliar with hunting and the land try to find a tree stand. We finally got to the stand and I asked him if he had his cell with him. He said no so I gave him a radio and told him “ when you press the button to talk you have to wait a few seconds before you talk. And also talk real slow so I can understand you. He said ok and off I went to get in my stand. I wasn’t that far from him maybe 300 yards so. I was just getting settled in the stand, I had just pulled up my bow, when my radio went off with that little chirp the Motorola radio’s are known for.

I …………….SsssshhhhhhOTt aaaa Buuuuuccck the radio says. So I call jimmy and say “what did you say?” Like really…I heard him I just couldn’t believe it! Once again he comes back….I ……SsssssshhhhhhOT aaaaa Buuuuuuccck….. I tell him for no reason at all should he get down and that I would be there in a few. I also asked him what direction the deer came from and where did it run when he shot at it. I didn’t want to spook it if was hit and not dead yet. He told me he would stay put up in the stand and smoke….Hey…smoke if you got them I told him..!

Well as I am walking his way I am thinking all kinds of things …the biggest I hope he didn’t just fling an arrow at this deer. I am more than anal about taking crappy shots at deer. I have done my share of deer tracking for my self and others. I hate when a hunter says It was the only shot I had!!! Oh I cringe …..Hey no one made you shoot did they?? Is usually the phrase I reply with.

Well I get to Jimmy and sure enough he is shaking in the tree. So much that the hemlock branches of the tree he is in are shaking too ! Before he gets down I tell him to describe the whole incident and how it all played out. I wanted to give him time to calm down and the woods time too. Well he says the buck came from over there and was standing right there when I shot him. I asked did he fall or run funny when he took off?

He said nope. So then I asked him what he heard after the shot? Like a whack or a hollow pumpkin sound. He said all he could remember was the sound of his bow. Uh…Iam thinking did he miss clean ? Maybe? So I go to the spot where the deer was standing and I find his arrow about 5 feet behind that spot….with blood on the arrow and vanes. The hair I saw was short and Iam thinking …maybe leg… neck…Jimmy comes over too me and stands right where he thought the deer was standing when he shot. I look about 2 feet in front of him on the ground and there is blood…not a lot maybe 2 drops about the size of a ½ dollar. I could see in the leaves where the deer had whirled around and went back in the direction it had come, but at that spot where the deer was standing when shot the blood was too far forward for a body hit and being that there was a space of about 10 inches between the 2 drops of blood on either side of the deer I told Jimmy my guess of where it was hit. Jimmy I said It looks to me that you hit this deer in the neck. That would explain the shorter hair and the immediate loss of blood on both sides of this deer.

I also told him that a neck shot with the bow usually ends up 3 different ways: an immediate kill if the spine is hit in the neck…a jugular hit which means a dead deer ahead…or a deer with a sore neck that will most likely live.

Now the total time that had passed since Jimmy shot was about 45 minutes. I saw no reason to wait any longer given what I had seen already so Jimmies “training” on trailing deer was about to begin. As we trailed it was quite evident to me that this deer was going to die and unless the deer had a trauma surgeon on speed dial we where going to find him piled up pretty quickly! We had traveled 80 yards and I looked ahead in a small clearing and saw a buck standing sniffing the ground like a blood hound. I whisper to Jimmy there’s your buck and he isn’t dead…get an arrow ready!! Well while he did that I reach for my compact binoculars and just as soon as I get that buck in view I noticed what he was smelling….A dead Buck….Jimmies dead buck!! I tell Jim this and he has got to see for himself so he grabs the binocs and just about chokes me to look through them. He says…I see it but where did the other buck go. About the same time I notice this buck is coming our way..so I tell jimmy get down..get down as quietly as you can…I do the same. In what seemed like 2 seconds this “other” buck was 30 yards away and closing. Now I have to say at this day and time I had never killed a whitetail on the ground with my bow. And this day I was going to get a real good chance at one..that was for sure!! The last thing I heard from Jimmy was what are you going to do?…I guess instinct took over…I had an arrow nocked and the release was on the string and believe me I don’t remember doing it!! I was just looking for a clear lane and when I found it he was there and WACK. Double lung and ass over tea kettle he went.

Jimmy was going nuts…he couldn’t believe what had just happened. Neither could I..!

We went over to Jimmie’s buck and it was a nice fat fork horn a great first deer for anyone. Sure enough his shot was a neck shot pass through. Jimmy was a little down on himself for the shot and I told him …Hey man you didn’t wound the deer. He was probably dead with in minutes from the time you shot him. Things could have turned out totally opposite here. It didn’t take long for a smile to be back on his face. My buck laid about 50 yards away and was a 7 pt that I still prize today. On the drags out jimmy just kept going on and on about the day and how it all played out. The one thing that he said that is still etched in my mind was Hey …are all DAYS hunting like this one??? I didn’t want to burst his bubble so I told him “What A Day” Jimmy…“What A Day”