The roe buck rut is almost done and I've only been seeing does lately, so I slipped into a spot not far from the house that they like. It was a small field of alfalfa about two feet high and there is an ancient stone building with an opening toward the field. When I was walking in I saw a deer run out of the alfalfa, but it never barked at me so I set up anyway and after 10 minutes started to call. 5 minutes later I saw a buck on my left coming toward the decoy I made this year. He was suspicious of the decoy, but couldn't stop looking at it. He eventually walked toward it and gave me a good broadside shot.



I usually get a clean pass through on these small deer, and usually can't find my arrow, but I made a good shot in the boiler room but I could see the arrow leave on a different angle that looked odd and a bit delayed. I found the arrow and knew it was a good shot, but later saw that it went into the ribs and came out through the hind hip.



Anyway, it was a nice buck, not a monster but pretty good for around here, and another one for the barbecue.



Good luck.

Pete

Killing any animal with a bow is an accomplishment. Congratulations!

Jim

Nice!
Getting deer with my bow is my favorite way.
Doing it with your decoy had to be great

Looks like an old Mathews MQ1?

Awesome!

WTG!

Love to see the start of hunting season on here, even across the pond.

Great story, shot, and deer! Congrats!!

Congrats Pete, nice story and good shot!
What kind of call do you use for them?
Zim

Congratulations

super Congratulations

very nice , never seen a decoy like that , but I could see why they might be curios

Good stuff!!!

Bowhunting is a rush! I love it.

Hi Zim

There are a few calls here. Some are open reed and the one I like is called a Buttolo made in Germany. It is basically a rubber bulb that you press with your thumb and the air goes through a reed.

The calls can all make fawn, doe and estrus sounds. If too many guys in an area use them they don't work so well but I'm the only one around here that bow hunts during the rut.

Pete

How does the taste compare to white tail or mule deer? Small as they are that was pretty cool you did it with a bow.

Danny.... they taste very good. I mostly just take the backstraps and de-bone the hind quarters and shoulders. No gamey taste, even during the rut, but you only get about 20 pounds of meat off the average one.

On the barbecue a de-boned leg eats almost as well as the backstrap. I like a marinade with soy sauce, rosemary, sesame oil, garlic and olive oil, plus half a beer, (you can guess where the other half goes). But only for about a half an hour. Then we eat them as rare as you would a ribeye. Over the years I've had people tell me they thought they were eating beef.

I've eaten some fine Wisconsin whitetail and plenty of mule deer from Montana and California, but deer season in California is still hot and if you are on a multi-day hunt it is a challenge to do the right thing with the meat. Here, I can get the thing back to the house in no time and have it cut up and in the fridge within two hours or less and do the boning the next morning.

We shoot so many wild boar, red deer and roe deer between September and February on the driven hunts that meat is never a problem. The only problem is finding somebody who still wants it after December.

And yes, they are a small and skittish target, so I keep my shots under 25 yards. This guy was only about 10.

Pete

Right on! Cool animal!

Got four sets of them racks dad killed in Germany I presume after ww2

should of give it one more year LOL LOL I'll say it first . Great shot !!! Anyone can hit them 250 lbers from IOWA . Takes great skill to hit one size of a beagle....