I think I am a hiker first, then I became a hunter after practicing archery all summer.
As the summer wore off, I became more interested in going hunting than ever. Something I hadn't done in 20 years. During the summer, I hiked around 10 mountains in the Chilliwack lake area, and I began to see where the wildlife tend to be. Not a day I went that way that I didn't see anything: beaver, grouse, deer, bear . . . .
September 1st.
Hunting season, yeah!!! I leave home at 6:45 and head for Mt Cheam/Lady Peak.
Just as I arrive near the parking lot, a fat grouse is waiting for me on the road, but by the time I get my stuff out, it flew away. After I parked, I start the long hike towards the shoulder of Lady Peak where I remember seeing ptarmigans. But I'm in luck as I walk up the trail, a grouse took off (thanks to my dog) leaving the other one within 20 ft from me. My heart is beating so hard (I know, it's only a grouse, nothing to get excited, but remember that I never killed anything with a bow). Judo point and whooosh, over the bird. 2nd Judo point, and same result. The bird is waiting patiently for me to hit it, my dog is ready to go and all I have to do is hit the the darn thing. I go with my snaro head and this I'm too low and the grouse takes off. I'm happy but also frustrated. My closes sight is for 50ft, which would explain the 2 high arrows, but the last one was a plain atrocious shot. Once I reached the top, I couldn't see anything because of the dense fog, so I went back that 2000ft down and called it a day.
September 2nd.
Beautiful and clear day and within 1.5h from the parking lot, I'm on the Lady's shoulder. My luck seems better with the view as it is splendid. My dog quickly flushes out one ptarmigan and the chase is on. The biggest problem there is the rocks which are really hard on the arrows. I tried a few more with the Judos, but I have no luck. That's when I switched for the snaro (I was reluctant because I missed so badly the day before). Because these birds are so close( 20-30ft), using the 50ft sight with the snaro seemed to do the trick. So I spot yet another ptarmigan on the rock 30ft away, 10ft above me, in a really awkward position to shot. Pull the string, find my sight, and relax my fingers . . . swoosh and feathers everywhere! Whoo Hooo I race uphill to see my very first kill.
I got another one that day and called it a day.
September 3rd
I thought that leaving early would mean that I'm the first one there. By the time I reached the parking lot, I was #3 - another bow hunter (big game) and a group of hikers that stayed over night. Nevertheless I was committed to have a good day. About 45 minutes from the parking lot, I was catching my breathe when I saw a flower moving, Hummm, no wind so lets investigate. I see one, then 2 oh, wait a minute 3 grouses. snaro, aim swoosh and bang. I decapitated the first one.
Picked up my arrow, and aim for the 2nd one. This time, I managed to shot over it and it took off. Upon seeing this my dog went after it and scared 2 more. Ha well. I saw 6 more and shot once more. This time the snaro caught the tall grass and never reached the target.
That's it. I am officially a (not so good) bow hunter with 6000ft of elevation gain in 3 days. Still, I'm pretty stoked about the whole experience.
Now Lets have a look at the recipe forum.
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Originally Posted by Bow Walker
