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Wade Nolan's Writers Camp And Whitetail Bowhunt!

Lisa Prices - First Time For Expandables

"After watching dozens of deer Monday night, I couldn't wait to start hunting Tuesday morning. I was so pleasantly surprized when Bruce pointed out the buck I could shoot, an older buck with a dark head, and a fine eight-point rack with very long tines."

"Before the hunt, I'd been told we'd be hunting 'management bucks.' I imagined that to mean we'd be after cow-horned spikes and lopsided, dinky-racked youngsters. But at the Bar None, the management bucks are older deer with racks on the decline, or deer with obvious flaws in their racks - like no brow tines or an odd rack caused by an injury."

"I never did get to sit down in the stand that morning. About 20 deer showed up immediately, and Bruce pointed out my management buck. But it didn't present a good shot angle at first, and when it did, other deer were in the way - either in front of it or behind it, where they could be hit with a pass-thru arrow. But that was a good thing because I had time to concentrate on making a good shot."

"I'd never shot an exandable broadhead at a live animal before that moment, although I'd shot the Grim Reaper just once into a broadhead target while practicing before the hunt. I'd been pleased with the way it flew, but I didn't know how it would perform shot into a deer. I was using a Fred Bear Instinct bow, set at 53 pounds, and a Gold Tip arrow tipped with a 100-grain Grim Reaper."

"It's a set up I'll be sticking with for a while! I got the shot I wanted at 15 yards, and the impact made the deer stumble to its knees. It got up and lumbered in the other direction, but fell before making it very far at all. I got my little Nikon rangefinder on the deer and it had died just 32 yards from the stand."

"The morning entertainment wasn't over. Turkeys had been gobbling on both sides of us, and soon I saw my first Rio Grande. The group of jakes and toms gobbled like the wave in a football stadium, and the toms went into full strut. I got lots of pictures as Bruce and I giggled at the antics of the jakes."

"During the rest of the hunt, I shot more pictures than I typically shoot in a year. After hunting at the Bar None I'm ruined now for hunting any place else. We stayed in rustic cabins, pre-Civil War era, that were moved to the Bar None from Virginia, ate incredible food and hung around the campfire at night. I thoroughly enjoyed being in the presence of big bucks so much - I never heard so many snort-wheezes. I also enjoyed being with so many great people!"