Why I bowhunt
Quiet glimpses of nature
WHEN I WAS JUST 12 YEARS OLD, my dad gave me his recurve bow—a 45-pound Browning Nomad. He had hunted with it for many years, and by passing it down, he gave me not just a hunting weapon, but also all the stories he told me when I was too young to hunt. Many of those stories came from Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, where I hunt now and have for many years. I still have his bow, and I plan to use it this season after a rest of nearly 30 years.
People have often asked me why I bowhunt. “How can you sit in a tree all day and not see a deer?” they ask. The answer is simple in my mind, but often less understood by those who ask. My response to them is enthusiastic and quick. I can’t wait to tell them the many reasons why I choose to hunt with a bow—to explain to them all the benefits you get from being alone in the woods, experiencing nature going about its day as if you weren’t even there. Here is just one of many examples.
Years ago, I was hunting in a swamp here in Kentucky. The tree in which I hung my tree stand was situated directly over a small creek that had been backed up by a beaver lodge. I expected to see beavers, but I got a pleasant surprise just after sunrise. An otter emerged from its den directly below me. The otter startled me as it swam so quickly from its den entrance beneath the water’s surface. The water was crystal clear, so it caught my eye instantly.
It wasn’t long before the otter began catching small minnows from the undercut in the creek bank. It swam up and down the deep pool and disappeared under the cut banks to run minnows where it could catch them more easily. I watched as the otter sat on the bank to enjoy its breakfast before diving in to get another. This all transpired right beneath me, so close I could see and hear it eat. I had an overhead view of something few will ever experience.
This spectacle went on for several days, and I couldn’t wait to return each morning to see the otter. I watched several deer follow a trail across the swamp each morning at daylight. Normally, I would have moved my stand within range of the deer trail, but I could not give up my ringside seat to an experience that I knew might never come again.
This hunt occurred in January—one of my favorite times to be in the woods. The air is crisp, and there are few other hunters braving the cold, if any. I don’t harvest many deer in January with my bow, but the late season has provided me with some of my most memorable hunts. With the leaves gone and wildlife movement increased due to the cold, it’s a great time to bring in the new year while relaxing in nature.
KEN MCBROOM, an outdoors writer/photographer, created RamblingAngler.com. McBroom grew up in Lynchburg, Tennessee, and now lives in western Kentucky.
