"BOWHUNTER'S CURSE"

Every veteran bowhunter can easily relate to one horror story or another which has cost them a deer at full draw. That's considered a given that automatically comes with the territory. All are well aware that a draw opportunity doesn't necessarily entitle them to a shot opportunity, that's a separate issue. Every bowhunter will eventually discover their inherited "Achilles heel", so to speak. Unfortunately, it will rear it's ugly head only when the hunter fully commits to full draw, thus rendering them almost totally helpless at a most critical stage of their hunt. Deer don't always do what we wish they would at the moment of truth, or what should have been. A few contortionists are able to redeem themselves with the help of their grunt'- tubes, a few others will practically lose their heads when the lanyard of the grunt tube becomes entangled with the bow string upon release. As for the rest of us, we can count on our reeds freezing-up in cold weather, or in our excitement, some of us will inadvertently blow too hard into our call, causing the dreaded "Dead Duck" serenade, which means the hunt is over. I was no exception to the rule. Four years ago I was on-to a monster of a 12 point buck who I was sure had the Potential of becoming a new Michigan record, gun or bow. His presence had been known for almost 3 years, (with only one sighting) and as with most bucks of this caliber, he too was virtually nocturnal. My one and only hope was that he make a critical mistake by forgetting his nocturnal ways for just a few minutes... and that's exactly what he finally did late one November evening. I had no sooner lowered my bow after checking my peep sight for the remaining day light, when I heard a twig snap from my left and slightly down wind of my stand (I wear a Scent-Loc suit because you cannot always get a favorable wind direction). The first movement I caught was antlers, big antlers, I was stunned when I realized that it was the man' himself. He still carried the same 12 points from the year before. My heart was in my throat, and my hands were shaking like hell. Only when his head went behind a tree was I able to regain some semblance of control. I slowly drew, aiming a foot beyond the tree. Everything now was in my favor, he was 15 yards away. I envisioned a double lung shot, he need only take one small step and he would be mine. I could see his ears moving independently of one another searching for the slightest hint of danger, he would be denied confirmation from both his eyes and his nose, I had all of his senses beat. Yet, he just stood there, time was rapidly running out for me, my arms were fading faster than the remaining light. Finally, I tried to relax the bow's tension, when the wheels turned over it caused a very slight jerk. The buck must have caught the motion, he spun around and was gone, just like that. Unknowingly, I must have been locked in by his peripheral vision.


Pain alone could not have made me cry like that helpless frustration was able to do. Sure, on hindsight, maybe I should have chanced a grunt with my mouth, and possibly gained the inches
needed. Then again, in the excitement during the heat of battle, would I have suffered a long term, or even a permanent penalty if the volume didn't quite come out as SUBTLE as it must be in
such close quarters ?, and give my advantageous position away ? Trophy class bucks do not choose certain routes or travel patterns by intelligent reasoning, that trait belongs only to humans, instead, travel patterns are determined by repetitious safe passage, and they will continue to faithfully follow suit until they detect otherwise. As it so happened, I would never make visual contact with him again, and within 3 months all fresh physical sign of him would completely vanish as though he were just a figment of my imagination. I could only, sadly surmise that he more than likely died of natural causes, had some lucky hunter been able to harvest him I surely would
have heard about it). the rodents, as is usually the case, will have eaten the proof. It would take me months before I was able to erase the instant replay of our very brief encounter from my mind. But the lingering questions would continue to haunt me, what could I have done to change the outcome ? and worse, was it inevitable that I would relive this very same horrible scenario with yet another trophy class buck in due time ? As long as that probability existed, I would now become more driven to control my own destiny at full draw. The loop-hole that existed between a
full draw opportunity, and then the shot opportunity must be plugged. Each had always been a separate issue that would enforce itself on unsuspecting bowhunters from time to time, the end
results are always the same, lost opportunities. As fate would have it, the inventing and patenting of the "Bowgrunter" would become a mission brought about as a direct result of losing this
magnificent, once in a lifetime buck. The concept for Bowgrunter came easy enough because my needs seemed simple. Create a 100% HANDS FREE call (I don't consider a call inserted in my mouth, by my hands, HANDS FREE) that was just there without any movement whatsoever, then, heaven forbid, would I be asking too much for a-- call to actually sound like a real deer, and last, eliminate EVERY pitfall known in every other call that has, and will, continue to cost bowhunters deer ? Evidently, because unknown to me at the time, I was attempting a feat that every major game call company has failed to accomplish, and even at that, I would not be satisfied until I took it a giant step further by duplicating the very subtle tones based on the social nature of deer, not your usual run of the mill rutting buck calls. Those work fine for gun hunters., but not for bowhunters who rely on stealth. Witness the many times that we called out to a deer only to have him refuse to take a step closer in our direction. He didn't see you, nor had he scented you, otherwise he would have been gone. What took place, despite muffling the call, was in reality, you were shouting at him, his hearing is at least 10 times better than ours, and that's what alarmed him. During considerable time spent a field I had discovered just how vocal and social, deer really were, and that socialization continued throughout the year, especially during the rut, where it escalated. But more importantly, deer are extremely subtle at times in their communication with one another. So subtle in fact, that if I hadn't witnessed a fawn and doe bedded directly under my stand communicating together, I may never had made the connection. It was this exact subtle tone that I was hoping to duplicate. The questions flooded my mind, could I communicate or socialize with deer as near as 5 yards away convincingly enough to turn or stop them, if I were to duplicate that subtle tone ? Would they respond without looking up ? Would a rutting buck respond ? The answers took two years in the making, but we were finally able to develop a "Social Call" that will probably become a standard in the bowhunting industry, and the answers were YES, to all of the above. Gone are the frozen reeds (inhale tone), gone is the dreaded "Dead Duck" call, gone is EVERY PITFALL known to a hunter. Now even a child or novice caller becomes equal with an expert. Time spent a field is always an advantage, but unfortunately the vast majority must work for a living, and with their limited time they must accept whatever comes their way, unless they turn to technology. Today, a bowhunter with a draw opportunity now has the means to follow through with a shot opportunity, good hunting, and good luck.