MESSIN’ UP – Vol. I (2006) No. 3
“Consistency is a Virtue”
By Mike Faulk

October 1, 2006

Hurrying to complete my chores Sunday afternoon might just get me into the woods in time to hunt a few hours this evening. I took the poke boat – shaped like a kayak but larger – to Strum Island. It’s much easier to handle than the Jon boat – especially so in low water, which makes trailering the Jon boat quite a chore in and of itself. The only drawback is ferrying a deer and me across the river in such a small craft.

It had been a month since I shot any arrows. My practice regimen had progressed nicely over the summer so I was confident on most any shot of 45 yards or less. But one loses arm strength as time passes. So, I thought I’d better take a few shots with some field points before mounting a tree stand.


My first shot at the full-bodied target was from 30 yards. It was precise – landing pretty close to dead center of the clearly marked vitals. I backed up to the 45-yard marker, aimed, and scored another hit within and inch of the first arrow. Since my third pin on the bow sight was set on 15 yards I thought I’d better check it, too. Sure enough, the arrow was within an inch of the other two. The three arrows were within an inch and one-half circle. Not bad.

I admit feeling both confidence and pride as I made my way to the stand hunting buddy Rick Hartley and I had erected just before the season began. It was on a well-used trail downriver a couple of hundred yards from the ladder stand that had not been so lucky for me.

At about 5:45pm my cell phone vibrated. I had remembered to disengage the ringer. Just as I felt the buzz in my chest pocket, I noticed a deer moving right-to-left at 55 yards. The deer moved into a saxophrage giving me time to check the call. It was Rick. “This call can wait,” I thought to myself.

The deer took a 90-degree turn down the trail I’d used to access this stand. Would she bust me because of my smell? I had also remembered to spray a little raccoon urine on my boot bottoms as a little cover scent. The deer kept coming.

There was time to attach the release – silently this time. The arrow was already in place in the whisker biscuit arrow tray and knocked. As the deer moved behind some brush at 30 yards I drew. There was an opening at 25 yards on the trail just in front of her.

The deer quartered into the line of fire giving me less of a shooting lane than anticipated. I put the 15-yard pin on her shoulder. It looked good. I took the obligatory calming breath and away went the arrow.

I missed low.

Seeing nothing else the rest of the evening, I dismounted the tree a little early to retrieve my errant arrow. I’d clean the dirt off the broadhead at the cabin and lament my missed shot on the 5-minute walk from stand to cabin.

As I put the cleaned arrow back into the quiver, I noticed for the first time the arrow that was most convenient in my quiver stuck out farther than the others. Maybe I didn’t seat it into the quiver as deeply as I should have. But no, it was fully seated.

Then I pulled it and another and then another from the quiver. Behold, the arrow I shot was an inch longer than the others in the quiver – and an inch longer than the arrows with field points I had shot only a couple of hours before in target practice!

Notes to self: make sure the target arrows with field points and the hunting arrows with broadheads weigh the same and are the same length, ignore Rick’s calls, and remember, “Pride goeth before the fall.”