Bowhunting
With Zano
in
the Suburbs of San Antonio
Digital
Logs Of a Bowhunt With Zan Christensen - by Robert Hoague
2003
Hunt:
Day
1 | Day 2 Morning | Day
2 Afternoon | Day 3 | Day 4
About
Zan Christensen (Zano)
BOWHUNTING
WITH ZANO 2003
An Online Bowhunt
Zan
Christensen and I are bowhunting deer at Rancho Zano on the outskirts of
the suburbs of San Antonio.
Day #4 - January
5
Big Boy
Morning: This is our last hunt, Zan's county has a special
doe and spike season after the close of the regular season. It was cold
with gusting winds, which always makes it colder.
An hour after daylight the wind lay and I saw the first deer. A doe
walked past me on a trail 10 yards away. Two more deer were behind the
doe but along the edge of the woods (15 yards). The doe stopped at the
edge of the small clearing to my left (12 yards) and checked out the area.
The other deer joined it there, 2 does and a button head, I picked the
largest doe. A crooked tree obstructed my view and I needed a couple of
steps to get the shot I wanted. When I saw the doe flick it's tail I figured
it was gonna move soon and I drew. This time there was no noticeable sound
under my clothing. The doe took one step. Not enough. I held.
Another step. I put my pin on the kill zone, held solid, and released
the arrow. It went perfect and all the deer ran straight away. Half an
hour later I got down, picked up my bloody arrow, and walked in the
direction the doe had gone. It was 50 yards away.
That's Zan Christensen
on the left. (I shot the doe with a Grim Reaper expandable broadhead
and it definitely did the job. The wound was impressive and the deer went
only 50 yards from where I shot it.)
Once again the hunt with Zano is at it's end. Zano is a gracious host
and makes me feel like I'm part of the family while I'm there. He is a
very knowledgeable bowhunter and he really is up on scouting and managing
the deer in his area. I had a super time, the whole time. It was all good.
And Here is ZANO:
 Well,
our annual "End-of-Buck Season" bowhunt turned out to be most exciting;
and honestly, I'm very surprised. Only because the weather turned
so sour two days before Robert's arrival.
With the exception of Sunday evening when a cold front finally arrived,
we hunted in weather that rivaled that of the Amazon rain forest - hot,
humid, still, and VERY muggy. The amazing thing is that the deer
continued to move well during both our morning and even hunts, and
not just the does, but some really great bucks offered themselves up as
well.
Unfortunately, Robert didn't get to harvest, err...tag, err...bag, err...kill
one of the several bucks he saw. Typical reasons included those outside
our control, i.e.., shot angle, limbs in the way, distance, and scent control
(impossible to prevent sweating). But, there was one thing that ruined
a couple of good opportunities for him -- he had a clothing noise problem
(untested new products), and we didn't figure it out until after the morning
hunt on the next to last day. Then on that evening hunt, he zipped.
Amazing. We won't make that mistake again, ever! Thus, if
you can't explain why the deer are reacting negatively when you hadn't
had a problem in the past (and all other conditions are right), start asking
yourself the questions, "why now, and what have I changed or added since
this problem began" ?
Yet, we had a great time, shared some good stories and had many laughs.
You'll have to ask Robert to tell you his "squirrel story" next time you
see him. His animated gestures describing how a male squirrel engaged
his lady friend is most hilarious!
And, to have him get to use the "Lazy
Boy" stand (where he shot his doe Monday morning) was worth the trip.
Last year, after hunting the Meadow Grove
site, he told me that he would really like a comfortable swivel seat stand
in a very large branched live oak, so he could spend more hours comfortably
there photographing all the deer that utilized that high traffic area (plus,
he saw a very large, wide, heavy racked buck with a weird drop tine which
he dubbed the "Stob Buck" that he really
wanted a shot at).
So, a couple of months before our hunt this year, I installed a very
comfortable, generously sized high backed bucket seat swivel stand, complete
with foot platform so he could stay all day if he wanted. Plus, he
had a 270 degree shooting radius around him. I named this stand "Robert's
Lazy Boy" stand. Although he didn't get a buck there, he loosed an
arrow which found its mark and put some great venison in his freezer.
You really couldn't ask for any more than that.
About
Zan Christensen (Zano)
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