I have been bowhunting since I was 12 years old, with my father and brothers.  I guess it was about 12 years ago when I got my first bow after prompting from my brother Tom who had been archery hunting for a number of years before that.  I used to go with him and sit at the bottom of the tree and just watch and he suggested "why don't you try it, you like going with me so much I think you would like it".

It took a couple of years to finally get a deer with a bow, a doe.  Since then I have been successful in taking eight bucks and numerous does with my bow.  In the meantime I also became hooked on 3D archery and have been pretty successful at that - 1995 2nd place at the IBO World Championship.  I took a year off to have a baby - Morgan.  In 1997 1st place World, 2nd place Triple Crown, 1998 1st place Triple Crown, 6th place World and several other accomplishments.  3D shooting has made me a much better bowhunter, more confident in my abilities as an archer.

I harvested my first Pennsylvania black bear with a rifle in 1997.  I love to Spring gobbler hunt and have called in and harvested several gobblers over the past ten years.  

After passing up sever 4pt, 6pt and smaller 8pt bucks, I finally spotted this buck the 5th week in archery here in Pennsylvania which is the first week in November on a Saturday morning around 8:30am - He strolled by me at about 25 yards and never stopped for a good shot so I watched him go along with two 4pts. In tow both of which stopped and offered good shots.  Monday morning found me in my stand, after dropping my daughter off and preschool at 7:30am, I figured had enough time to get settled.  Sure enough I was in my tree by 8:30am, and 10 minutes later he came strolling across the hillside on one of three deer tails directly above my stand site.  The trail he chose took him too high on the hill for a clear shot and he kept on going, once again.  I decided to stay there for the day and hope he would come back in the evening.  Two hours later I saw movement coming from the same direction that the buck had come from but I saw bobbing white heads - a flock of turkeys coming directly towards me.  I waited until they got 15-20 years away and waited for a chance to draw with ten sets of eyes looking all around.  I had an opportunity and drew but had to wait until one stopped.  One did stop but when they finally did they were far off to my right and shooting left handed when I release the arrow my string slapped my coat and the arrow slide just over the turkey and missed.  Oh well.  I watched them continue to feed and disappear into the woods behind me.  Later that afternoon about 4pm-last hour of light-I saw a buck coming from the direction my buck came from.  When he was about 40 yards away I looked through my binoculars but found that this buck had only 5pts and watched as he bedded down directly behind my stand at 4:14pm.  

The next morning found me scurrying to get to my tree stand site after dropping Morgan off at preschool-was up and ready by 8am.  Just like clockwork 8:45am-I faintly heard something coming through the brush, it was him.  Before I had climbed up, I took the time to trim a few branches and only climbed to a height of 15-feet which would offer a better shot if he took the same trail as the day before.  In a matter of a minute or so he was coming across the hillside and was directly above me on the same trial as the day before, I waited until his head went behind a tree and drew, he wasn’t going to stop so I grunted and he stopped, made the shot and saw that it was good.  I watched him turn and go back where he came from and heard him crash.  It was 8:45am.  He went 50 yards and collapsed.  When I found him, he wasn't the typical 8pt I thought he was, but with 2 kicker points at the base of each brow tine, he was a bonus 12 pt.

JaneAnne