I had my 12-year-old boy, Aidan, write the story of his first bow kill with the new Mathews Stoke. He’s killed a handful of deer with a rifle and crossbow, but this would be his first year to deer hunt with a compound bow. It would also be his first year to hunt on his own. As hard as it was for me to allow him to strike out on his own, I knew this was part of him becoming a man. It was a rite of passage. To say I’m proud of his efforts would be quite an understatement. He missed a doe and a little four pointer his first couple times out, yet he remained focused and determined. He had a great attitude, relentless in his drive to kill his first deer with a bow. Here’s his story…
By Aidan Swisher
It was the day before Thanksgiving, and I went to lunch with my dad, my brother, Easton and our friends, Carter and Blair Moody. We talked about hunting during lunch and that’s when I told them I was going hunting with my bow later that afternoon. About an hour later, I took a shower and used the scent free shampoo.
I left the house at 2:52, but before I got to the blind, I sprayed Nose Jammer over everything I could possibly think of. I sprayed my backpack, my bow, and my clothes. But the most important one was the hunting blind. The wind wasn’t really right so I was wondering if the deer would even come in.
Aidan gets his Mathews Stoke dialed in.
I knew it would get cold around 5:00 so I brought my black hoodie. I got to the blind around 3:05 and that’s when I sprayed the Nose Jammer on the blind. I was praying that I could just see a deer – not praying to kill one. I started to play Tetris on my video game and was wondering if the deer would come, because they usually come at 3:30.
I was in the Duck or Bleed blind. It’s not the best blind, but I have killed 2 turkeys there, and I’ve seen a lot of deer there before. It’s the blind where my brother, Easton, killed his first deer, and where me and Dad doubled on fall turkeys a few years ago with our bow and crossbow.
Good times and great memories have been made in the Duck or Bleed blind.
I started to hear sounds like leaves, but it was just a squirrel. I started to think the deer weren’t even coming. That’s when I heard leaves rustling like someone walking. I thought it was the baby deer we have seen because she always came out at 3:50.
Then I looked out and saw a big buck. I got really nervous, and I started shaking really bad. He walked right in front of me at 22 yards, and I bleated at him. He stopped and I drew back. I waited 5 seconds and aimed the pin right at his heart, and I shot. I saw the arrow stick in him while he ran, and then I went out to check for blood. I went back home and waited for Dad to get back. When he did we went out to see if there was any blood. There was one spot of blood, and that’s all we saw. So we decided to come back in the morning to look for him.
The next day we went hunting for our annual Thanksgiving hunt, trying to get my sister, Avery, a deer, but we didn’t see anything. Avery went back to the house and me and Dad went to the other side of our farm to look for my deer. As soon as we got on the trail I saw a white belly. I thought, “My goodness!” I said to Dad, “There he is!” He told me to go walk up to it and say what I thought and how it happened for the camera.
Aidan was determined and focused to kill his first deer with a bow. This beautiful Tennessee 8-pointer was well deserved.
I told him how it all went and we took a lot of pictures. We went home to get the tractor to get my deer out, then we took another hundred photos. When we got back to the house, we cut the deer up. And that’s the story of how I killed my deer with my Mathews Stoke.
Compact and delivering plenty of punch, the Mathews Stoke is the perfect bow for youth shooters.
Gear List:
Bow: Mathews Stoke
Sight: HHA Single Pin
Broadhead: Swhacker
Release: Trufire Spark
