| Shannon's First Deer |
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| Written by Jason Amaro | |
| Thursday, 16 October 2008 | |
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Hey Everybody.... If you guys have been keeping tabs on my blog you know that I love to post about first time hunters. It doesn't matter if it is a kid or an adult, there is something awesome about a first bowkill. Shannon killed her first doe this year and she is hooked. She sent me the story and pictures below. GREAT JOB Shannon!!!! J- ____________________________________________________ I did not grow up in a hunting household like most huntresses. I grew up in San Diego and spent my time showing horses and hanging out at the beach. I always wanted to learn how to hunt but I did not have anyone to show me or take me. I did express interest to my father, and he taught me how to shoot and take care of firearms, which drove my passion to learn more. I attended Oregon State University where I majored in Public Relations. For elective classes I took forest management, animal sciences and other agricultural classes. My passion to learn more about hunting and game management grew. After college I was blessed to land a job in the hunting industry. I was recently invited to hunt with Vicki Cinaciarulo and her Posse members for an episode of Archer’s Choice TV.
I was so pumped when I received my Hoyt Kobalt for the hunt. I practiced every day for the hunt. I made sure everything was ready to go, and spent many hours at the local archery shop. When I arrived in St. Louis I was meeting up with three other Posse members from Archer's Choice Media. When I got to baggage claim they were already filming! I probably had the deer in headlights look, but they were very welcoming. We drove about 2 hours Eagle Lakes Outfitters in the legendary Pike County. When we arrived Vicki and her film crew was there. Ralph had been there a few days before and decorated the girl's bunkhouse with witches hats and broomsticks they also got scream masks and other goodies. Every huntress got her own cameraman. The huntress line-up included myself, Vicki, Dusty Perillo (Posse member), Meegan Turnbeaugh (Posse member) and Tina Sprague, the outfitter's wife. I was teamed up with cameraman Zendal. Zendal wanted to see me shoot before we got into the field. He totally turned my bow upside down from what I am used to. He upped my poundage, changed my release, added a D-loop and switched me to the 100 grain Hell Raiser broadheads. I thought he was nuts changing so much before a hunt, but my groups proved that he knew what he was doing. I went from 5-inch groups to nearly taking the fletching off my arrows they were so close! Throughout the week I learned from him how to identify scrapes, judge the size of buck's racks, judge the age of a deer and how to move about my stand in a stealth way. Tuesday it POURED rain on us! We had flash flood warnings. What was nice about the rain was that it brought a cold front and the deer really started moving. I saw a lot of 2 ½ year old bucks that would have scored around 115-120. The outfitter required that you can only shoot bucks 130 and over. I learned a lot about whitetail management. I am excited to go back to Eagle Lakes in the next few years. The 2-½ year olds I saw were very healthy and I can only image what they will look like in a year! I went to this amazing spot on top of a mountain one night. I saw the biggest whitetail I have ever seen in person. He was at 130 yards, his back was to me, when he put his head down to feed all I saw were antlers on both sides...he was huge! I got pretty excited, but it was 45 minutes until camera light would be out and I knew he wouldn't feed that far. I was stoked to find a spot where shooters were hanging out (there were other nice looking shooters feeding with the monster). My master plan for bagging a big buck crashed when Dusty hunted that same spot and shot a buck, they searched for it that evening with no luck. They found it mid-morning the next day about 100 yards from where she shot it. However, the guides were ALL over that spot, guaranteeing that the big boys will stay in hiding for about a week. Still, I was so happy and excited for her because it was her first buck with her compound bow! It was a huge celebration for the entire group! If we could, we would probably do back flips for her! The camaraderie between us was unlike anything I have ever experienced. By the middle of the week, I saw plenty of deer, but they were either at the other end of a food plot, camera light ran out before legal shooting light or too small of a rack to shoot. Thursday morning I was sitting on the edge of a clover food plot. Zendal was looking into the woods while I looked into the food plot. A doe came in at about 7 yards, Zendal slowly creeped the camera around the tree and was like "Shannon get ready!" Once he was locked on the doe he goes "Shannon ready....Shannon?" I was asleep!! He woke me up and pointed at the doe. I was alarmed/shocked/tired so I quietly got up and drew my bow. The doe saw me draw and decided she needed to go to the other end of the food plot. AHH!!! We got a pretty good laugh about it! Thursday night a pack of wild dogs ran through where I was sitting, putting all the deer on edge. I was pretty bummed because at this point everyone but me has shot something. Friday morning was a bust, so I changed my flight since the outfitter offered me to stay longer. Friday afternoon I sat on a special food plot. Only Tina, the outfitter's wife hunts that spot. It was overlooking more clover and neighbored a cornfield. An hour before sundown a doe comes in eating the acorns at 14 yards. I didn’t need to use my Nikon Archer’s Choice rangefinder; I knew the deer was close! Zendal said, "That deer better have spikes or it is going down!" Sure enough it was an older doe. I drew back and waited for her to step in my shooting lane and let my arrow fly. I cannot describe the flood of emotions I had when I saw my arrow hit her. As I watched her sprint away into the field and across the street I was a shaking heavy breathing mess! I had to sit down my adrenalin was so intense! I think one of the first things I said was "That felt amazing!" I have never big game gun hunted, but I don't think I could get the same rush as I did with my bow! It was such an intimate experience! I glassed the field for my arrow, and Zendal was like, "look down." My arrow went right through her and rested where she once stood! So glad I switched to the Hell Raisers! We looked at my shot and saw that I was about two inches behind the lungs and that we will wait until morning to track her. Most people would be up pacing all night worrying about finding their deer. I was so emotionally drained I slept like a rock! I also had a lot of confidence in my guides and just knew we would find her in the morning. The next morning we found a good blood trail. She was about 125 yards from where I shot her. I was so happy!
With TV, I learned that shooting isn't the hard part, but having to reenact the events was work. I had to reenact talking with the guide about waiting to track my deer (even though we found her and I was excited about it). I'm not good at acting, so we had to do a few takes. Archer's Choice came into this hunt planning for one show, but they decided it is going to be a 2-part episode because every girl got a kill on camera. I still have my buck tag and one more doe tag. Vicki and the Eagle Lakes Outfitters said I can come back sometime in November when the deer are moving to try my luck again. I am so pumped about going back! Eagle Lakes and Archer’s Choice will hold a special place in my heart. This was my first big game AND bow kill. I find myself wanting to chase that rush I got when I shot my doe. I’m hooked for life! For more information about Archer’s Choice go to www.archerschoicemedia.com For more information about Eagle Lakes Outfitters go to Trackback(0)
Comments (4)
  written by JCima, October 17, 2008
Awesome job Shannon, to you too Jason for gettin' this out there!
Ralph and Vicki are some great people! report abuse
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 written by aroney, October 17, 2008
Congrats Shannon!
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 written by Field-N-Water, November 06, 2008
I love seeing the ladies getting involved in the outdoors. Congrats to Shannon. Thats a big doe !!
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Say, Jason - if you like first timer stories you need to swing on over to our site for a second and check out my mom's first kill she got this year. We're all pretty excited for her!