No horns, but still a good time!
Feb 12, 2009 23:16:05 GMT -5
Post by younghunter86 on Feb 12, 2009 23:16:05 GMT -5
I posted this on the other board a while ago. I'm already in withdrawl from hunting so I fixed some of the errors and figured I'd post it on here as well. If anyone has any that they want to share that would be great! It's a long time until deer season....
Boooom!!!! I was less than 100 yards away, but due to the lay of the land I couldn’t see what Liz had shot at or what transpired after the shot. However the 5 deer that were 90 – 100 yards away from me came to the conclusion that the sound they just heard couldn’t be good and so they bolted an additional 40 yards away from me and then decided it would be a good idea keep on eating. ….
It was a fairly mild day compared to much of the weather that I had been hunting in recently. Temps were in the upper teens at 3:30 that afternoon when we had headed out and only dropped a couple of degrees since then. We were set up just off the road on the edge of a hayfield. The hayfield was bordered by a brushy hillside opposite of the road. This particular hillside collected deer during hard (actually all) winters due to its high concentration of cedar trees, thick cover and rough terrain.. The deer had really been hitting this particular alfalfa field hard lately. And so with a northwest wind, I figured the timing couldn’t be any better. Please see Figure 1.
Figure 1. Aerial map of hunt location
(yellow arrows represent typical deer movement)
Liz was set up behind a round bale that I knew was great place to be. On the north side of the bale was a CRP field and on the south side was the alfalfa field. I was set up further south, behind a long row of round bales. The deer would hopefully emerge from their day time bedding grounds and head towards the east where we would be waiting.
It was about when 4:30 I noticed a nice sized doe had emerged from the timber and was heading towards Liz. Yes!!!! Over the course of the next 30 minutes the doe worked her way closer to Liz. The distance was only 50 yards away when a pickup drove by, saw the deer and slowed down. Immediately the doe bolted and took off below the crest of the hill where I couldn’t see here anymore….
It was only 20 minutes later that I heard the Booom! What the h___? No way had Liz shot at the deer that I could see! The group of 5 deer would have to be 250+ yards away from here. Either way, after the shot they didn’t go that far…and I only had 3-4 minutes left of legal shooting time. I wish the closest one would just turn broadside…. but to no avail. The distance was 140 yards according to the rangefinder. Standing behind the bales on a hard packed snow drift and the gun draped across top of the round bale, my rest couldn’t have been better. It felt like I was at the range. Well it’s now or never… Booom! Again the sound echoed within the valley. Instantly the deer dropped. Yes! But how about Liz?
I ran, well let’s face it, I jogged slowly over to see what had transpired below the crest of the hill. Apparently 2 more deer had emerged from the timber and were working their way towards the road. Because they were down below the crest of the hill I couldn't see them. Liz said she shot and felt confident about it. I figured it to be about a 70 yard shot and so I had little doubt that the aim was true. We walked down and found lots of blood 20 yards from the east edge of the timber. YES! We walked another 5 steps and there she was… only her head was up! The doe was laying down only 10 yards away from the edge of the field, just inside of the timber but upon seeing us she had enough “gumption” to keep going. After seeing the blood and knowing she bedded down so close to the field we backed out and decided to go pick up my deer and then come back. This would have been a much easier decision if the coyotes would have quit howling!
Fast forward two hours. We had gone back to the house and gotten our coon hunting headlamps and were back on the trail. I knew roughly where the doe was bedded down the first time and so that is where we headed. We found the pool of blood where she initially bedded down. Standing there, I gazed into the dark, brush laden hillside. Using the powerful headlamp I thought I saw something …”Hey! I think I see her,”… less than 30 yards away there she was! She went up through the ditch and laid no more than 50 yards from the edge of the hayfield. Sweet!!!! I was glad that we backed out and didn’t push her. Later, during the autopsy it was determined she wouldn’t have gone much farther, but every yard down a brushy hillside, is another yard I have to pull her back up that brushy hillside.
Liz’s doe is in front. It weighed 120# and was probably from last year. My spike buck ended up weighing 85#. Nothing spectacular, but we sure had a good time. I was using my Savage and Liz was using a Knight Disc Extreme.
Boooom!!!! I was less than 100 yards away, but due to the lay of the land I couldn’t see what Liz had shot at or what transpired after the shot. However the 5 deer that were 90 – 100 yards away from me came to the conclusion that the sound they just heard couldn’t be good and so they bolted an additional 40 yards away from me and then decided it would be a good idea keep on eating. ….
It was a fairly mild day compared to much of the weather that I had been hunting in recently. Temps were in the upper teens at 3:30 that afternoon when we had headed out and only dropped a couple of degrees since then. We were set up just off the road on the edge of a hayfield. The hayfield was bordered by a brushy hillside opposite of the road. This particular hillside collected deer during hard (actually all) winters due to its high concentration of cedar trees, thick cover and rough terrain.. The deer had really been hitting this particular alfalfa field hard lately. And so with a northwest wind, I figured the timing couldn’t be any better. Please see Figure 1.
Figure 1. Aerial map of hunt location
(yellow arrows represent typical deer movement)
Liz was set up behind a round bale that I knew was great place to be. On the north side of the bale was a CRP field and on the south side was the alfalfa field. I was set up further south, behind a long row of round bales. The deer would hopefully emerge from their day time bedding grounds and head towards the east where we would be waiting.
It was about when 4:30 I noticed a nice sized doe had emerged from the timber and was heading towards Liz. Yes!!!! Over the course of the next 30 minutes the doe worked her way closer to Liz. The distance was only 50 yards away when a pickup drove by, saw the deer and slowed down. Immediately the doe bolted and took off below the crest of the hill where I couldn’t see here anymore….
It was only 20 minutes later that I heard the Booom! What the h___? No way had Liz shot at the deer that I could see! The group of 5 deer would have to be 250+ yards away from here. Either way, after the shot they didn’t go that far…and I only had 3-4 minutes left of legal shooting time. I wish the closest one would just turn broadside…. but to no avail. The distance was 140 yards according to the rangefinder. Standing behind the bales on a hard packed snow drift and the gun draped across top of the round bale, my rest couldn’t have been better. It felt like I was at the range. Well it’s now or never… Booom! Again the sound echoed within the valley. Instantly the deer dropped. Yes! But how about Liz?
I ran, well let’s face it, I jogged slowly over to see what had transpired below the crest of the hill. Apparently 2 more deer had emerged from the timber and were working their way towards the road. Because they were down below the crest of the hill I couldn't see them. Liz said she shot and felt confident about it. I figured it to be about a 70 yard shot and so I had little doubt that the aim was true. We walked down and found lots of blood 20 yards from the east edge of the timber. YES! We walked another 5 steps and there she was… only her head was up! The doe was laying down only 10 yards away from the edge of the field, just inside of the timber but upon seeing us she had enough “gumption” to keep going. After seeing the blood and knowing she bedded down so close to the field we backed out and decided to go pick up my deer and then come back. This would have been a much easier decision if the coyotes would have quit howling!
Fast forward two hours. We had gone back to the house and gotten our coon hunting headlamps and were back on the trail. I knew roughly where the doe was bedded down the first time and so that is where we headed. We found the pool of blood where she initially bedded down. Standing there, I gazed into the dark, brush laden hillside. Using the powerful headlamp I thought I saw something …”Hey! I think I see her,”… less than 30 yards away there she was! She went up through the ditch and laid no more than 50 yards from the edge of the hayfield. Sweet!!!! I was glad that we backed out and didn’t push her. Later, during the autopsy it was determined she wouldn’t have gone much farther, but every yard down a brushy hillside, is another yard I have to pull her back up that brushy hillside.
Liz’s doe is in front. It weighed 120# and was probably from last year. My spike buck ended up weighing 85#. Nothing spectacular, but we sure had a good time. I was using my Savage and Liz was using a Knight Disc Extreme.
