I have been bow hunting big game since I was old enough to legally hunt. I live in an hunt the big woods of North Wisconsin and have taken every animal that can be legally harvested big and small. With the exception of the coyote. I have hunted with both compound and traditional equipment. Bow hunting was my business for ten over ten years. When I had an archery shop. That’s when I transitioned. Back into the traditional world of archery. I loved the simplicity of the stick and the string for getting the job done. The other thing that changed was not just getting to put my hands on that large of antlers at the end of the hunt but knowing that I succeeded in setting my self up to get stick bow close to a mature buck. For me the process to do that consistently is the hardest part of what we do. The harvest is just the climax of all the preparation that went when into the hunt. This last bow season I had hunted a new area that I had never hunted before. I had scouted it and chose a few spots that I was going to hunt on early on in the rut. I had a few large buck come by and stop at 25 yards. But had stopped with a big branch coming across his vitals and I couldn’t get a shot. I watched as he walked out of there. And I never seen him again. But I was successful in setting myself up to have that encounter with him. When I did get frustrated though was a few weeks later when I did get a shot at a buck made a good shot on him. I knew he was dead but just didn’t recover him yet. I didn’t have a light with me and I had to walk out to my truck to get it that was over a mile away. It was going to be cold that night so I decided to leave him and go get some help to recover him. By the time I got a hold of anybody that could help two to three hours had passed. So I decided to what for morning. The next morning we went in there got on the blood trail and found the buck the only problem was the coyotes had found him first and had eaten everything the shoulder blades. That was more frustrating to me than watching that big buck walking away with out getting a shot. And if you really want to experience frustration try fishing Muskies with a fly rod that will teach you a whole new level of frustration but I love it and wouldn’t change a thing. Frustration is the part of our game and it’s why there is not a lot of people that are doing it. I am going to close with this frustration is what sets trad bowhunting the greatest sport on earth. Besides if it was easy everyone would be doing it.

@Kale Leach The biggest thing I believe is getting a shot process that is yours and that you can repeat. There’s a lot of stuff online that you can find and tap into. You will have to sort out what works for you from what doesn’t. I do a lot of drills where I do not even shoot the arrow. Just working on my shot process. For me the drills just reinforce my shot process. Remember it’s supposed to be fun so enjoy it.

@Tim Zurcher yes that would be a great shirt.already has my vote. LoL

Hoyt Catori with Uka Gobie limbs 54@301/2 warming it up on rabbit this is the first of two for that night. Back to my setup bow is a Catori , arrows are carbon express heritage 250 tipped with Zwickey Eskimo 100grain brass insert 175 for a total of 675grains it’s the bow that I set up for moose. And I am thinking about going out and see if I can get it broke in on a whitetail buck this year and God willing a moose next year.

I don’t have a picture of my first deer but it was a doe. Shot her when I was thirteen years old. I shot my first buck the next year. I shot both of them with a Howatt bow. Shooting a fiberglass microflite arrow and a Ben Person broadhead . That was fifty four and fifty three years ago and I can remember it like it was yesterday. They were the beginning of a life long journey. One were I would not have changed a thing.

Thanks for sharing your experience. It is not always the harvesting of the animal that brings success. Last year I finally got to go on a moose hunt. I remember one day as I was walking along I looked down and saw the recurve on my top limb of my bow. And a memory took me back from 67 years old to a time when I was hunting whitetail deer at 12 years old in my home state of Wisconsin. I didn’t get a moose on that hunt but that one memory was a high point on that hunt for me. As far as getting a moose I am going back.