Julie Caddick is well-known to us at Prois Hunting Apparel.  She is an avid archer and resides in Scotland.  She often pens great updates from the Scottish world of archery.  We find it fascinating to learn more about the European forms of the sport and look forward to Julie’s updates.  Julie’s update on the Scottish Open Championships follows. 

“We spent the Easter weekend at the Castle Douglas for the Scottish Open Championships.  The weather was superb, wall to wall sunshine.  People came from all over Europe.  There were two courses of 36 targets set out on a hillside that contained the remains of an old slate quarry, giving lots of opportunity for good uphill and dowhnill simulated hunting shots.  We took our youngest dog, Bruce, and apart from getting into a slight scuffle with a large husky, he enjoyed himself.  We could not take our older dog, Crow, as the ground would have been too much for him over two days.” 

“I managed to take third place in ladies Bow Hunter and came away with abronze medal.  My husband, Paul, took second place in Gents Hunting Tackle and got a silver medal.  We came home quite happy!”

“We took this photo on the Sunday morning before going to the shoot.  It is a Roe Buck.  Sorry about the quality of the picture, but we were looking almost straight into the morning sunrise.  If you look closely you will see that his antlers are in velvet.  There was a doe with him, but we did not manage to get a photo of both of them!”

Kim is well known to us here at Prois!  She harvested her first doe with a bow this year and wanted to share her story.  As Kim put it to us, “Although my story is a bit candid, maybe another ‘newbie’ or veteran hunter can learn from my mistake”.  We believe this attitude is what makes a real hunter…a hunt is not always a success.  It is not always perfect.  But it is still hunting and it is a craft that we all continue to perfect…   Here’s Kim’s story~

2008 was my very first year bow hunting – in fact, hunting at all.  I can’t tell you why I choose archery – it seems more like it choose me.  For some time I have felt drawn to learning this sport/artform.  I finally asked my cousin, Tony, to take me to an archery range to see if I would really like it or not.  I knew he had bow hunted for years.  So in April we ventured out to Adams Archery in Milan for an afternoon of ‘Archery 101’.  That was it – I was hooked!   It was one of the most relaxing things I had done in a long time.

Then came the task of learning as much as I could about bows, arrows, archery terminology and bow hunting.  What a wonderful tool the internet is!  Once I began to express my interest in archery, I found other casual acquaintances and family members who were experienced to one degree or another.  Every archer I met was friendly, helpful and enthusiastic about my interest in it and the camaraderie was comforting.  I found that each had their own opinion of what equipment or techniques worked for them - yet each let me find my own fit.  That just made me love the sport all the more!

After much research and shopping, I spent an afternoon at Van’s Archery in Brighton.  That’s where I met Ron Hardaway, a long time employee and long time competitive archer.  He travels around the United States with his fiancée participating in various meets and promoting the sport.  He let me know how great it was that I was taking up the sport and that “more women should hunt”.  Everything I purchased that day was completely my decision with my mind set on going bow hunting this fall.  Ron set me up with just about everything I needed.

My husband (also named Ron) has been hunting for over 25 years annually with a deer camp made up of friends and family.  However, he rifle hunts and has no interest in bow hunting.  I think there may have been a combination of support and “lets just see if she is really committed to this” that had him watching me every time I practiced shooting in our yard.  He helped me set up targets, measure out distance, pull arrows out and bring them back to me, and tell me if I was ‘high, low, left or right’ when I couldn’t see where the arrow hit.  He would let me use his ground blind for my first year hunting just to see if I was really going to like it.  While practicing inside the blind in the yard, I accidentally put a hole through the window.  I also had a couple of misfires and even put a hole in my steel compost bin.  I just kept practicing.

After months of practice, shopping for camo clothing (I had to buy men’s to accommodate my 2x size), research on everything from broad heads to scent control – I was ready!  Our dear friends, Robert & Pattie, have 32 acres near our cabin in Tawas with a small observation cabin near a planted rye field.  They offered to let me hunt on the property since deer were seen there regularly.  Robert said, “I’ll bring the deer to you!”  Sounded great - a guaranteed successful hunting season!  Ron would watch for any possible deer out of my sight from the cabin.  I set up the blind at the end of the rye field about 80 yards or so away from the cabin and within his sight.  If he saw something, he would ring my cell phone once (on vibrate, in my pocket) so I could be on the ready.  This method worked great as I learned what to expect during my hunts – deer can come out of any direction.

My first day out we got up at 4:30am.  Of course, my anticipation kept me from sleeping much, so coffee was a necessity.  However, my first lesson was “don’t drink so much”!  Within an hour of being in the blind, I HAD TO GO!  Lots of other lessons followed like things that made noise – my nocked arrow as it touched the sight ring, my swivel desk chair squeaked, my protein bar wrapper, etc.  Every outing gave me another opportunity to tweek the bugs out.

My first opportunity to score came at barely daybreak.  A doe came across the rye field with another, stopped to eat about 20-25 yards away.  It was a great broadside shot, but I couldn’t see well enough to take the shot.  If she would have just waited 5 more minutes I would have had her!  But she casually wandered off along with her companion.  I felt good about not taking that shot.  I saw a few other deer that weekend, but none I could get a shot at.

Next time I hunted, I though I would try something new.  I felt confined with the small 10”x12” window I was shooting out of.  So I tried opening the larger window of the blind that was about 3 feet x 1 ½ feet.  I also decided to bring an empty coffee can just in case I need it from drinking too much.  BIG MISTAKE!!!  As four deer made their way into the rye field, the two yearlings walked across and began eating.  A smaller doe wandered to the far end and the ‘alpha’ larger doe stopped 12 yards directly in front of me.  As she starred at me, I sat perfectly still and only blinked.  She stood her ground, stomped her front leg twice signaling the others to leave.  As they all retreated back from where they came just out of sight, the ‘alpha’ doe snorted so loud it scared me!  As if to say, “You ain’t foolin’ me sister!”  I had to laugh!  Later I realized that not only could she see me, she had smelled the leftover coffee in the can that was left unlidded!

Another opportunity came when the same two doe stopped by another weekend.  This time the ‘alpha’ doe kept her distance as the other doe came across for a bite of apple about 20 yards in front of me.  I was surprised as I could barely pull the bow back for my excitement.  As her head went down behind a tree with her body exposed for a perfect broadside shot, I let the arrow go!  I heard this horrible noise – it was the bow hitting my clothing as I shot.  Well, she heard it too and it was enough warning for her to turn away from me as the arrow hit.  I watched dumbfounded as she leapt away with her hindquarter lit up like a Christmas tree from my Lumenock!  No blood trail – nothing!  It was dark within minutes so we waited until the next morning to do a full scale tracking.  After five of us swept the woods for over an hour and about ½ mile, I found my arrow intact, bloody, but no sign of the doe.  I felt really bad about the shot and vowed to practice, practice, practice.

My last chance to hunt came with 10 inches of snow and 0 degree temps.  Ron had shot his first deer in 25 years, a doe, on opening day of rifle season on public land a few miles away from our cabin.  So on Friday evening we set up the blind near the same spot some 500 yards or so off the two-track down a ravine.  It was not far from a creek and in the middle of a ‘deer freeway’ intersection.  The woods were beautiful as it snowed all day Saturday.  He dropped me off in the dark around 7am and would pick me up at 9:30am.  My cell phone didn’t work out there, so I was on my own.  I didn’t see anything more than a couple of nuthatches.  Ron picked me up right on time.  After visiting our friends, lunch and a nap, he dropped me off again around 3pm.  It stopped snowing about 4:30pm and the woods got very quiet.  On instinct, I looked to my right and saw two deer standing 30 or so yards out looking at my blind.  I kept perfectly still reminding myself to “breathe deeply & slowly”.  I watched them for 20 minutes or more as they walked around in front of me.  Finding something to eat, the doe stood facing me directly 15-20 yards away looking up, eating, looking up.  Sunset was upon us when she finally began to change her stance away from me for the broadside shot.  As her head went down behind a tree, I drew, looked in my peep, checked her again, looked in the peep and shot.  I hit her!  I watched as she struggled dragging her hind legs crawling up the hill.  No one could have prepared me for that!  She had ‘jumped the line’ resulting in a spine shot.  It was gut wrenching as I watched for 10 minutes before Ron beeped the horn to pick me up.

By then it was dark but I knew the doe was in the path I was supposed to take to get out of the woods.  I didn’t want to push her out, so I packed up and made my way toward the headlights of the truck off the path.  I was so excited and distraught all at the same time that I ended up falling into snow up to my chest.  I climbed out and made it to the truck so out of breath I could barely speak it: “I got one!”  Ron was totally elated and so proud of me!!!!  I told him she was still alive, but he opted to come back in the morning to get her.  I thought about going back for a ‘completion’ shot, but was afraid I would push her out or miss.

I couldn’t sleep all night listening to the cold wind blow, thinking about that second shot I should have taken.  When four of us came back for the harvest she was in the same spot, still alive.  I felt horrible!  Ron took a ‘kind cut’ to her throat and walked away.  We all said a prayer and went to the task of taking down the blind, gutting and dragging her to the truck.  It wasn’t until a couple days later as I watched Ron process the meat that I was able to forgive myself for the bad shot.  Again I vowed – learn from my lessons and practice, practice, practice till next season!

GHOSTS OF THE DESERT

                                                                       By Sue E. Berfield

My husband, Larry, introduced me to archery about 15 years ago. I bought a used bow for $100 affectionately known as the “Green Weenie” due to its pee-green colored riser.  I enjoyed shooting a bow and shot well.  The sport grew to become something Larry and I enjoyed doing together, going to archery shoots locally and out of state and as members of the local archery club, serving as officers. 

Little did I know that, thanks to my husband who wanted to take me hunting, I would eventually become addicted to archery hunting too!  In 2005, my first hunt was in Colorado for elk and deer.  I managed to harvest a cow elk and I was hooked!  Then after three years without harvesting an animal, I drew a Nevada antelope tag.  The tags are not plentiful (476 archery tags state-wide) and the hunter who is lucky enough to get a tag is not eligible to put in for another antelope tag for five years.   Larry didn’t draw a tag this year so he was relegated to taking me.   I couldn’t help but think in five years I would be that much older and even then, would I be lucky enough to draw an antelope tag again?  The pressure was on!  I felt at my age, this may be my only opportunity to hunt and hopefully, harvest an antelope.

We had done some pre-season scouting and a number of good bucks were spotted. The excitement began to crescendo. We packed up the fifth wheel with supplies and our ATVs and traveled north to the draw area.  Late afternoon pre-opening day, we set up a ground blind after riding around and checking out two other hand-made blinds.

 I was somewhat uneasy that perhaps we had waited too late to put out the ground blind.  Would there be enough time for the antelope to get used to this strange object around their water hole?  But, we did have an entire week set aside to hunt so we would just be patient. 

Opening morning, we set out to the blind before sun-up. We rode our ATVs about seven miles from camp and even at 4:30AM, a buck ran across the road in front of me and we chased out two does before we made it to the blind.  We should have gotten up at 3:30, not 4:00; we should have been in the blind by 4:00 and here it was almost 5:00 and the sun was going to be up any minute!  We parked the ATVs about one half mile from the blind and started to walk in….it was more like a trot…we needed to hurry!  A rattle snake slithered off the path in front of me with a slight rattle warning.  It seemed everything was against us from the start.  If we spooked these antelope away from their area, they probably won’t be back!

                We got situated in the blind; me on my swivel stool and Larry in his comfortable camp chair.  We were prepared to be there until sundown.  It wasn’t long before the sun was up and a doe wandered in.  She stopped short of the water hole and ran off.  She didn’t go far but circled around us for about an hour, snorting, which sounded like a cross between a sneeze and a ricochet!  If nothing else, this was a thrill to see antelope so close.  Eventually, the doe felt comfortable enough to come to water even though she stomped her foot and shook her head to try to get movement out of that strange new object in her territory.  She drew in another doe and they grazed in the area for a short time.  Then they were gone.

                Maybe less than an hour passed when I spotted another doe.  Was it the same one coming back?  There was another one, then two, three and four!  They were like desert ghosts….suddenly appearing from nowhere.  There were seven including a small buck.  But as I looked to the right, I spotted another buck on the ridge with tall black horns that seemed to gleam in the hot sun.  I said, “Oh my  gosh, look at that buck…he’s huge!”  I could feel my heart pound! The big buck, the lesser buck and the does came to within 58 yards of the water hole but were too nervous to come any closer. The buck stood broadside looking at the ground blind!  The sun was hot and it was getting hotter by the minute.  They really wanted to drink.  I just needed to be patient; eventually they would come in.    But then they all ran off pell-mell.  Maybe that was the excitement for the day.  Wow, I couldn’t believe how special that was!

                I could hear the antelope snorting all around us.  They were on the ridge about 100 yards away to the left, then behind us, then out of sight.  Wait!  Here they come again! This time the big buck came to within 52 yards and stood broadside at the water hole looking at us.  I was not comfortable trying a shot at that distance and there were several does and two yearlings around him.   I couldn’t help but look at those horns, tall and fairly straight with ivory tips.  I kept telling myself to forget about the horns and concentrate on the nice bodied animal.  He went behind a bush and the does tried to go to water. Either something spooked them or he just didn’t want them in the water because they ran off again!  This activity went on for about an hour or more and each time the buck came closer:  45 yards, then 27 yards! I wanted to pull my bow back but all of those eyes were looking at us.  Could they see me move inside the blind?  When should I make my move?  Having only harvested a cow elk in 2005, I am far from an experienced hunter!  Larry kept telling me to be patient.

                Finally, the buck disappeared one more time behind that bush and the does were spaced such that they were not in direct view of the blind windows.  I told Larry,”I’m going to take him!”  I slowly pulled my PSE X-Force back, knowing I would have to hold at full draw until he presented himself again at the water hole, broadside.  This time, he seemed to stay behind that bush for what seemed to be an eternity.  Finally, just as he had patterned previously, he presented himself broadside.  Larry ranged him at 35 yards.  I held between my 30-yard and 40-yard pins and let the arrow fly through the shoot-through screen.  The arrow hit its target, but not where I had intended!  The shoot-through screen fell after the shot and I wondered if that deflected the arrow to hit the antelope toward the back!  This didn’t look like it could turn out good. These animals run at least 60 miles an hour full out and if he took off, it was very likely we may never find him.  Larry continued to watch him through his binoculars.  I got a play-by-play account.  He didn’t run off, but trotted about 30 yards, walked around in a circle, wobbled and fell over.  He was down!!!  We watched to see if he got up.  He attempted to raise his head and couldn’t.  He was done and had gone only a total of about 65 yards!  I slowly approached him and at 20 yards, knocked another arrow just in case he got up.  There was no movement and there was good sign that he was dead. 

                High fives, a hug and kiss from Larry proclaimed I had harvested my first antelope!  It was surreal! The animal was field dressed and loaded onto my ATV.  Seven miles back to camp, we skinned and quartered the antelope, putting him on ice.  By 12:30 opening day, it was all over. 

                I felt like I was living in one of those hunting videos where the conditions are right, the animals show up as you hope and the animal is taken without a lot of drama.  We were home by the next evening and the following day we made a trip to the taxidermist.  My antelope will make one nice mount with a green score of 70.75 points.  Net score will be less but still makes him eligible for entry into the Pope and Young record book.   How could I be so lucky? I have to give credit to Larry for his encouragement, bow tuning, training, willingness and patience to take me hunting; something I had wanted to do since I was a young girl.  Who would have thought that in my senior years, I would be hunting? Not me, but I’m sure glad I’ve had the opportunities and look forward to more hunts for as long as possible.

Not your typical grandmother!

NEVADA PRONGHORN ANTELOPE - TAKEN BY SUE BERFIELD, AUGUST 1, 2008