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A deer story from last weekend

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    A deer story from last weekend

    Okay, I am putting off going outside to work, so I thought I would take a few minutes and tell the story of my hunt last weekend.

    It starts with the Saturday afternoon hunt. The cold front had passed, the temps were cold but not miserable. The sky was clear and the winds were breezy but fickle, they were mostly north but changing back to the south.

    I sat in what I call the back stand. It has the most traffic and last year there were always does at that stand. I believe about three were taken there last year. I am only hunting for a doe as it is after the regular season.

    Well, I am covered with bucks all night. A couple of very young spikes, a button buck, a small 6, and a two year old 8. I also had two fawns that looked like twins. No doe.

    So, during the night the wind was predicted to be out of the SE by daylight. Now, I have a choice to make. The back stand had only bucks, and I feel they will come back and even if a doe wants to come in, they will probably keep her out....but the wind is perfect for the stand.

    My other stand is the gate stand. It is set up with a tree stand to hunt with a south wind and tent blind to hunt with a north wind. My thinking here, is when it is cold the wind will be out of the north and a tent will be nice. Well, Sunday morning it is 16 degrees and everything is covered with frost.

    So, I can take the heater and hunt in the tent with a questionable wind, or I can climb in to the frozen tree stand. I debate with myself and change my mind many times. I still have not decided until I get to the location.

    I stand at the truck and use my little wind tester. It feels like dead calm, but I know there must be a bit of air movement. I really don't want in the tree, even though I know that is where I should be. Okay the to give you the picture let's say the if you are in the tent blind and looking at the feeder that is twelve o'clock. The wind is blowing to two. The deer almost always jump into the pen from the 9 o'clock positon. I decide I can hunt in the tent, and put the hand corn in the 10 to 11 o'clock positon. It seems doable if the wind holds, but this was a questionable decision. Of course, it won't break my heart if I don't get a doe.

    I get set up and as it starts to get light a deer jumps into the pen. I can tell it is not a big buck, but I suspect it might be a large button buck. I saw one here the last time I hunted and I thought, man, he could easily be mistaken for a big doe.

    The deer offers me a few perfect shots, and I have enough light to see, but can't risk it.

    Then a tall three yr old eight point jumps in the pen. He is followed my a yearling doe. I wait. The sun hits the horizon and I can see the first deer is clearly a doe not a button. The problem comes that as the sun comes up the wind picks up and starts swirling and the deer get jumpy.

    The 8 hangs out right under the feeder at 10 yards, my favorite place. the does and moving back and forth behind him picking up the corn tossed farther by the feeder. All the deer are coming and going, jumping in and out of the pen.

    On three different occasions, I pulled to anchor, for the second the doe was in the right position, but could never get her there long enough for a good shot.

    Time goes by and I think they are about to leave. The doe moves to a spot about sixteen or seventeen yards away and is quartering away perfectly looking out of the pen. The other deer are clear, and almost without thinking I bring my bow up, hit anchor, concentrate on a little white patch right at the tip of her elbow and release......

    #2
    And.......


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

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      #3
      Hopefully you didn't miss....

      Comment


        #4
        And... you shot the feeder!

        Comment


          #5
          Waiting.......


          Richard.

          Comment


            #6
            Okay, a teaser. And I have to go to Home Depot for materials.

            Gary

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              #7
              Oh come on Mark!!!!

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                #8
                OK, lets see the dead doe pic!!!

                Bisch

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                  #9
                  Reminds me of that old joke. How do you keep a mental midget in suspense?

                  Gary

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Okay, fed the dang mooing cows, I am back.

                    I released the arrow with complete confidence, and I believe it went very nearly where I was looking.....however, the doe was a blur at the shot. She spun a complete 360 and jumped out of the pen. I knew I had hit her, and I really couldn't tell what had happened until she jumped out. I saw the spot of the entry and it was back, middle middle as we say up at Big Oak. I could see a blood spot and the arrow had passed completely through. She went about fifty yards and just stood there, sort of humped up in the middle.

                    There was no doubt I had gut shot her. Way worse that a clean miss. I kept watching her, and hoping for a miracle. I was willing her to collapse. After about twenty or so minutes, she walked very slowly out of sight through some thick bushes.

                    I sat down and started giving Johnson a hard time....What were you thinking?!?!
                    You knew the wind was not right, you knew the deer was somewhat alert and jumpy, it's like you have never done this before. Stupid, stupid, stupid!!!

                    I texted the other guy hunting on the lease and we agreed to give her some time and go back in with guns and try and put a little more killin on her.

                    We did lease work for about two and a half hours and headed back to the scene of the crime. We dropped his son off a couple of hundred yards the direction I saw her go to try and get a shot if we bumped her that way. He had an open sight 30/30 and is an excellent hunter in his own right.

                    I showed my buddy where the shot had taken place and the direction the deer had gone. There was not one drop of any kind of fluid, blood, gut, nothing.

                    He also was carrying an open sight rifle and I my daughters scoped .243. I have no issues with finishing any wounded animal with any means available.

                    I mentioned to him that I was not being smart for about the forth time today. I know I should have giving this gut shot deer hours and hours. I was weighing that against having help finding and finishing her. If I wait for six or seven hours it will just be me, hunting with no trail. So we try and find her.

                    I am hoping that some way I hit something good and she is down. The next best thing would be that we see her before she see's us, next would be she gets up but is moving slowly and we can get a shot at her.

                    We move to the spot I saw her stand for twenty minutes and there is no sign. I start to go around the bush......ALL OF A SUDDEN, she explodes out from under my feet. She had only traveled about ten yards from where I last saw her. Not she is running and zig zagging at whitetail top speed. I yell, there she is and shoulder my rifle.

                    She is busting through trees and thick brush, I know from past experience that if we don't shoot her my chances of finding her are almost zero, so I fire a shot.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by Bisch View Post
                      OK, lets see the dead doe pic!!!

                      Bisch
                      I quoted myself!!! Sure hope you got her!

                      Bisch

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Thanks for 2/3's of a real good story Chunky!

                        Comment


                          #13
                          There is the distinct sound of lead introducing itself to wood. A miss, and the doe is gone.

                          Well anyone who has ever hunted with me knows, that I am the last one to give up on an animal.

                          I know the hit was bad because she was still alive after three hours, but she didn't go far at all before she bedded. I am thinking that she will not go farther than a ridge in front of me with a bunch of oaks on it about three hundred yards away. I put a big sharp snuffer through her so I know there is a lot of damage. I know the wound is not survivable, I just don't know how long it will take.

                          The other guys leave for home. I finish packing my stuff, go to Dairy Queen and eat and watch football. I kill time until about two thirty. I want to give her as much time as possible but still have enough daylight to search the area in question completely.

                          I go back to the area, armed with a GPS with fresh batteries, my binos, and the rifle.

                          I start a methodical grid search, keep track on the GPS to keep the lines as tight as possible and not missing any areas. I am searching about a three hundred fifty yard square.

                          After a couple of hours it is not looking good. I am starting to wonder if she went farther than expected and perhaps I should go check near the pond. I decide to do a few grid pass the horizontally across my vertical lines.

                          During any search you see stuff that catches your eye, you investigate and nineteen out of twenty it is just a cactus, log, rock, or something else doing a deer impression.

                          I was walking through and area I had been through at least two other times when something caught my eye in a very thick patch. I almost kept moving but instead stopped and pulled up the binos. It was only about eight yards but really thick. It was white fur. I went to the other side and it was in fact my doe....stone cold dead.

                          A very lucky break indeed. I did several things wrong on this hunt, but at least my persistence paid off with a good result.

                          When the deer jumped the string. the arrow hit not terrible far from where I was aiming. It was just a bit high and between the last two ribs on the entry side. However the deer spun so quickly that by the time the arrow had gotten to her, she was hard quartering toward me. The exit was through the front of the off side rear leg.

                          Pics to follow.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Congrats on finding her!!

                            Comment


                              #15
                              I tried to take a pic of the angle I had when I spotted the tiny white patch of fur under the deer's chin, but you can see the deer in the pic, just bushes.

                              Here is one from inside the clump of brush and a selfie.
                              Attached Files

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