Thursday night at The Hotel California

The weather has been tough for bow hunting. It;s been windy and warm. Not the kind of weather we bow hunters like. Though I've been out a lot, it seems the deer have been hanging around stands I'm not hunting.
Tonight I decided to hunt The Hotel California for the first time. Though it was windy, I've seen deer on the trail camera down there. I don't like hunting that stand in the evening when I'm alone as it can be tough if you hit a deer right around dark and don't have a buddy around. Well, that's just what happened tonight. This nice fork came by about 20 minutes before dark. I debated whether or not to take him but when he presented a broadside at 18 yards, I decided to shoot. I knew I hit him but decided not to wait for a half hour as it was getting dark.
When I got down I couldn't find my arrow. Not a good sign as you want a through and through so as to get a better blood trail. With my flash light and headlamp, I searched for 20 minutes and couldn't find any blood. I worked my way back towards where I shot figuring I'd have to come back in the morning and see if I could find any blood. Well, I happened upon a few specks in the leaves and started to follow, marking the trees with trail tape as I went. When I ran out of blood I decided to give it up for the night as it was dark by then and if you've spent any time in the woods, you understand what dark is out in the boonies. I decided to make one last trek up the hill and saw what I figured was another of the many downed birch trees in the area. A big white spot in the dark. Well, it was my buck. I had hit him with a through and through lung shot.
Gutting him out and dragging him to a place where I could get my ATV was yet another challenge, but I managed.
Now it's time to try and find those dang turkeys that keep eluding me. Oh, and I have go to back tomorrow and try to find my arrow. We Norwegians hate to leave valuables lying around in the woods.