Stingray hunting with Rob Davis

8/4 - 8/6/2012 My bowhunting friends Brent, Mike, and I had the pleasure of spending the weekend hunting with Maryland bowfishing pioneer Rob Davis of Salisbury, MD. We arrived at his simple log home and property in Salisbury named "Homewood".

We arrived late Friday night after a 3 hour drive from Frederick. We were graciously greeted by Mr. Davis with his lovely wife Betty Lou. We spent the next several hours discussing hunting and getting a tour of the "hobby house" that would become our bedrooms for the next few days. The Hobby house was Betty Lou's working greenhouse, as well as Mr. Davis's workshop. The walls were filled with the relics of over 6 decades of bowhunting. We talked late into the night despite our fatigue from the long drive after a full week of work.

A tour of his trophy room made all realize how much can be accomplished with the simple bow and arrow.

We easily fell asleep on our sleeping mats as we listened to the song of the leaf hoppers and crickets outside the screened in hobby house. No AC, and still retaining some solar heat load from the hot humid august day, the summer breeze added just enough assistance for a good nights sleep. A simple accommodation, but we were comfortable enough, and excited for the following days adventures. Mr. Davis was born in 1925 and will be 87 years young this December. Despite recently being diagnosed with congestive heart failure, he still gets around with a walking stick and does what he loves to do......Share his experience and teach others how to bowfish stingrays. After we treated him to breakfast at one of his favorite local diners, where everyone seemed to know his name and say "Hi", we loaded up his 16 foot fiberglass skiff and headed out to find some rays. Saturday we had the pleasure of having his son Rob III along as mate. Rob is also an accomplished bowhunter and shared some great stories throughout the day, as he also gave us tips on spotting rays. Unfortunately the water conditions were far from optimal at spotting bottom cruising rays. The water was very murky and there was a light chop on the water which made things tough. We spotted a few rays that first day and although we got away a few hurried shots which upset our veteran guides, we were unable to see well enough to continue the pursuit once flushed. We only got glimpses of our targets and they were gone. Successively bowfishing rays requires teamwork and superb communication between the skipper and the shooters / spotters. The boat needs to be able to get within mere feet of the flushed ray in order to get a close shot. This first day we were never able to pursue a flushed ray, either because we lost sight in the murky water, or because we were too inexperienced and shot too soon scaring the ray to the next county.

We put in a long day on the water, but did not get any real quality opportunities we did not screw up. Sunday morning we were back out at it on a more southerly location, this time without Rob III as we had learned enough the previous day to assist Mr. Davis in the piloting of the craft. The weather was still conspiring against us though. This time, intermittent clouds and stronger winds combined with the murky water. Mr. Davis knew where we might have some luck and found a protected cove with some clearer water! For the first time we got a good look at the bottom of the bay and had a chance to see some rays....and soon we did! We started seeing some rays and we were able to chase within range of them. Each of the three in our party had shot opportunities at Southern rays. We even had a couple opportunities at one of the "big 'uns" Mr. Davis refers too. It was quite exciting, and I think that short time hooked all on board to the sport! Unfortunately, despite coming close on a few shots, we failed to connect on any of the shots until we had totally disturbed that area sufficiently to chase all the rays away into the murkier water.

We attempted to find other areas with clear water, but saw no more rays the rest of the afternoon. The winds increased even more, and we were forced to abandon our hunt. We had to get back and had a long drive ahead of us anyway. We were totally drenched from plowing through the chop by the time we got back to the dock into the wind.

We are eternally grateful for having the opportunity to learn from Mr. Davis and have him impart some of his decades of bowfishing experience onto us. We definitely got to learn first hand from the best. Rest assured, my party and I will be back pursuing rays in the future and teaching others what we had leaned in such a short time from this Maryland legend.

Thank you so much Mr. Davis, Betty Lou, Donnie, and Rob III! We will remember this hunt for years to come!