Most bowhunters get in some practice with their bows before setting out after deer. But five years’ worth?
That’s how long Gage Beard practiced before going on his first deer hunt with bow and arrow.
Maybe all that practice explained why he was able to kill a deer on his first outing, and with a very difficult shot — standing on an upside-down 5-gallon bucket inside a wooden ground blind.
Gage is 8. He’s been an archery enthusiast since before he turned 3, said his dad, Craig Beard of Dixie Springs.
“He shoots 3-D archery competitions from Mount Hermon, Louisiana, to Taylorsville,” Craig said. “I’ve always bought him the best archery equipment available for his age. He is an accomplished archer.”
Not only that, Gage has killed 15 deer with a gun, including one with a 170-yard rifle shot last year.
Even so, Craig was reluctant when a friend invited Gage to hunt on his property in Copiah County. Despite Gage’s skill, Craig was afraid he wasn’t ready to tackle a deer with bow and arrow, especially the relatively light equipment used by children — in Gage’s case, a compound bow with maximum 30 pounds draw.
“I wasn’t worried about his accuracy because he shoots all the time. I was worried about the speed of the arrow,” Craig said.
But he relented, and they went to the spot on the afternoon of Jan. 9.
Once inside the stand, the Beards made a startling discovery: “The windows are designed for adults to be able to stand up and shoot out,” Craig said. “The windows are over his head.”
Their friend had suggested Gage stand on top of a bucket normally used for sitting. Craig had his reservations.
“We get in there and I’m trying to position this bucket,” said Craig, who had to remove the handle to keep it from rattling.
Using a bucket meant Gage could only have access to one window, since moving it around would prove too noisy.
“Once we sat down we couldn’t even see the plot because it was over our head,” Craig said.
He whittled a peephole in the plywood and, at 4:45 p.m., spied a deer 10 yards away.
“There was no wind, no birds. You could have heard a pin drop in the woods,” Craig said.
Slowly Craig stood. He whispered for Gage to put one foot on the bucket and helped him into position. To his surprise the deer stayed put.
“I thought, ‘This may happen,’ ” Craig said.
He handed Gage the bow, but the deer wouldn’t turn broadside for a good shot.
“Finally she spooks, her tail flies up, she runs to the edge of the woods,” Craig said.
A spike came out, the doe looked up, and Gage drew back, aiming at the doe 15 yards away.
“When I see him anchor, I peek around. As soon as I got my eyes on that doe, he shot, and I saw him bury that arrow in there,” Craig said.
Here’s how Gage described it:
“We were sitting in the stand and when the deer came out I got excited, and whenever I shot it I was happy.”
Then both deer ran off. The Beards went back to camp to let things settle down. When they returned to the site, they found blood, then the arrow, stained from broadhead to fletching.
“That deer hadn’t made it maybe 35 yards from where he shot it,” Craig said. “It had penetrated both sides.”
The arrow pierced both lungs, a perfect shot. Craig was impressed, to say the least.
“I bowhunted for six years as an adult before I got a deer killed,” he said.
“That was his 16th deer of his short hunting career. I’ve seen a lot of grins on his face,” Craig said.
“But the smile he had his face when he saw that arrow go through the deer was a smile I’d never seen on his face. It was a completely different experience, and he was all fired up.”
Gage has clearly become a convert to bowhunting, which he said he prefers to gun hunting.
“It’s just more fun and harder,” he said.
