Adrienne and her husband Hans have just opened an archery shop in Petaluma called Avid Bowhunter. For the fiorst time in a few years we now have an archery shop that is owned by avid hunters and Archers.
Check out their Facebook Page. Tell ‘em the Western Wanderer sent you!
Adrienne tells the story of her 2010 California Blacktail.
As the B Zone archery deer season was approaching, my husband and I did our annual organization of our hunting gear. We were getting ready to leave for the weekend when I pulled my tags out. I was PLEASANTLY surprised to find that what I thought was a regular B Zone tag was actually a late-season blacktail archery tag (since I am the reporter of tag results in our hunting group, I’m not really sure how that happened). Anyway, after I did a little dance and my husband called all of his friends, I started to prepare. Conveniently, I won a new Mathews Passion from a TV show on The Outdoor Channel a few weeks later and I knew that this was going to be a lucky season.
Two months later, we ended up at a ranch where we had done a few weeks of scouting. On opening morning, I found myself side-hilling for several hours (Western hunters know ALL about that) through the steep, oak-studded hills. We were seeing several does and a handful of bucks but it didn’t seem like they were in full rut yet. Later in the day, we came close to a buck with pretty big forks, but were given away by the does as usual.
Sunday morning, my husband and I disagreed for about 20 minutes about which side of the hill we should hunt first. As it turned out, I was right! It was just shooting time on a foggy morning when we came around the corner in our Yamaha Rhino to see a doe standing on the road. We stopped the bike and watched her for a minute. That’s when we saw something move behind the bushes and we both knew what it was. I grabbed my bow and we both knew the plan. My husband keeps driving so the buck watches him and I jump out. Just then, the buck ran onto the road, saw us, and headed down the steep, grassy hill. I ran up to the edge of the road, saw him broadside at about 20 yards, and took my shot. I heard my 1.5” Rage broadhead deploy and my husband said, “You got him!” We went down the hill looking for blood or an arrow and found NOTHING, which was quite discouraging. My husband motioned to me to stop and we heard some branches cracking. He motioned to me that the buck was going down, which was quite amusing in itself!
After waiting an hour or so (which felt like 5 hours), I stayed up on the point, overlooking the draw while my husband went around to look for him. I watched patiently for a buck to come staggering out of the trees but saw nothing. About 20 minutes later, my husband yelled, “big buck down!” and I literally jumped up and down with excitement. I ran down the hill with my Badlands pack, knives, and water, ready to get him out of the canyon (it’s funny how difficult that steep hill was to maneuver on before I shot my buck). As the fog went out again, I saw the silhouette of my trusty guide and hunting partner dragging my buck out of the treeline. We dragged him up the hill to the road and celebrated. Just for a moment, I saw a look in my husband’s eye that told me that this buck MAY be the bigger blacktail to soon be on our wall.
As all hunters know (particularly Western hunters), it is a moment that we are so thankful for when the stars align, the opportunity presents itself, and all of your hard work and dedication pay off. I now have a 4X4 blacktail buck at the taxidermist and an experience that cannot be replicated. My husband and I have spent many days in the field together, but this was a memory that neither one of us will soon forget.
