I scared her really bad. :redface:
My first couple of days of deer hunting I could not do the full day. On neither occasion did I see even one deer. The first day was 48 degrees and rain with moderately high winds. We got there about 40 min. before shooting light. Buddy saw three does but they made him and circled around behind me and I never saw them. I had to leave at 10:30.
1st lesson: 48 is really cold when you are setting on the wet ground. Note to self; more clothes next time.
The second day I had to go by myself. I could still only stay till 2PM. No rain this time but still windy. Even with more clothes on I still got so cold that I had to get up and walk around after 10am. I was set up on the lee side of a gully with a creek running through it with a clear view of several trails. By the time I got up the wind had shifted slightly and was running down the gully so I "still hunted" as best I could (not as patient as I should be). I went back to the car to warm up and get a snack. By then the wind had shifted 180 degrees so I circled around a pound crawling through brambles on my hands and knees at times. At the far end of the pond I sat for about 20 minutes against the dike where I could see down a couple of cuts then went back up the gully in the other direction. Saw lots of squirrels, no deer.
2nd lesson: Deer are much larger than squirrels but much harder to see.
3rd lesson: I simply don't own enough clothes.
A week later I can finally stayed out all day (about time as it was my last available day this season). I got up at 4am and was in the field more than an hour before shooting light. Today is much colder with temps in the low twenties but thankfully calm winds. I set up under a couple of trees with some extra cover provided by an old building foundation. A couple of hours of nothing and then I hear a tremendous crashing noise coming my way. Surely it must be a deer in an awful hurry. I search frantically without moving my head when suddenly, a mere 2' from my head flashes Kamakazi chipmonk. Yep, I guess things sound different out in the woods.
4th lesson: a lot of enjoyable things happen in the woods even when your quary doesn't show.
By 11am my inadequate wardrobe and a strong need for colorectal releif sends me to BK for coffee and a pit stop. After a snack and long session with the car heater at full blast I head back out. I check for tracks leading into the feeding area that I expect the deer to head to this afternoon and find a promising site.
There is a tree with lots of thorn bushes around it that looks like a likely spot with three trails on the upwind side within 35 yards. I mashed down some of the bushes to provide a clear shooting lane and settle in by 2pm. Nothing but forest sounds until 4:50pm, then I saw the flags. No sound even though they are bouncing around like crazy. Unfortunately they are using a trail farther out; range looks to be about 50 yards.
As my heart rate jumps to 600 I slowly start bringing the rifle up. One of the four huge does pops her giant head up and looks right into my eyes. I freeze on the spot. She stares apparently sure that something is there but not clear as to what. Each time she looks the other way I bring the rifle a little higher until I am on the sights.
There is a pile of brush between me and the trail that they are using but it looks like it will be low enough to provide a shot if she moves out from behind that tree. She steps out and looks right at me. When she lowers her head it looks like I have a clear path to the lungs so I take the shot.
After the smoke clears and I come down out of recoil I hold the rifle steady in the shooting position without moving. Rather than imediately running off the does jump around a bit and keep looking my way. After about 15 seconds they bound of the way that they had come. I sit there motionless (except for that pounding in my chest) for what seems like five minutes and see no further movement. So I reload and wait a few minutes longer.
With only 20 minutes of shooting time left I move to the place where she was standing as fast as my quivering legs will take me. No evidence of a hit at all. Not totally unexpected based on the deer's reaction to the shot. Never the less I spend the remaining minutes of light scouring the area for any evidence of a hit. No blood, no hair, nothing. I walk several increasing radius circles around the spot just to be sure. The only unusual thing is one very deep track where one of the does must have come to a screeching halt at the shot.
I suspect that either the fading light affected my aim or a twig that I didn't see deflected the shot. When I get a chance t go back to the range I will recheck the sighting to see if they may have gotten bumped out of alignment.
I feel bad about taking a bad shot by I thank the Lord that it was a clean miss.
5th lesson: Thumping heart, fading light, forest environment with flesh and blood target is different than shoot-n-see targets on a clear sunny range.
6th lesson: You don't need a buck to get buck fever.
7th lesson: Those big beautiful does are like nothing else on earth.
8th lesson: you can't get too much practice.
9th lesson: The journey of 1000 miles begins with ne step and this journey is far from over.
mike
My first couple of days of deer hunting I could not do the full day. On neither occasion did I see even one deer. The first day was 48 degrees and rain with moderately high winds. We got there about 40 min. before shooting light. Buddy saw three does but they made him and circled around behind me and I never saw them. I had to leave at 10:30.
1st lesson: 48 is really cold when you are setting on the wet ground. Note to self; more clothes next time.
The second day I had to go by myself. I could still only stay till 2PM. No rain this time but still windy. Even with more clothes on I still got so cold that I had to get up and walk around after 10am. I was set up on the lee side of a gully with a creek running through it with a clear view of several trails. By the time I got up the wind had shifted slightly and was running down the gully so I "still hunted" as best I could (not as patient as I should be). I went back to the car to warm up and get a snack. By then the wind had shifted 180 degrees so I circled around a pound crawling through brambles on my hands and knees at times. At the far end of the pond I sat for about 20 minutes against the dike where I could see down a couple of cuts then went back up the gully in the other direction. Saw lots of squirrels, no deer.
2nd lesson: Deer are much larger than squirrels but much harder to see.
3rd lesson: I simply don't own enough clothes.
A week later I can finally stayed out all day (about time as it was my last available day this season). I got up at 4am and was in the field more than an hour before shooting light. Today is much colder with temps in the low twenties but thankfully calm winds. I set up under a couple of trees with some extra cover provided by an old building foundation. A couple of hours of nothing and then I hear a tremendous crashing noise coming my way. Surely it must be a deer in an awful hurry. I search frantically without moving my head when suddenly, a mere 2' from my head flashes Kamakazi chipmonk. Yep, I guess things sound different out in the woods.
4th lesson: a lot of enjoyable things happen in the woods even when your quary doesn't show.
By 11am my inadequate wardrobe and a strong need for colorectal releif sends me to BK for coffee and a pit stop. After a snack and long session with the car heater at full blast I head back out. I check for tracks leading into the feeding area that I expect the deer to head to this afternoon and find a promising site.
There is a tree with lots of thorn bushes around it that looks like a likely spot with three trails on the upwind side within 35 yards. I mashed down some of the bushes to provide a clear shooting lane and settle in by 2pm. Nothing but forest sounds until 4:50pm, then I saw the flags. No sound even though they are bouncing around like crazy. Unfortunately they are using a trail farther out; range looks to be about 50 yards.
As my heart rate jumps to 600 I slowly start bringing the rifle up. One of the four huge does pops her giant head up and looks right into my eyes. I freeze on the spot. She stares apparently sure that something is there but not clear as to what. Each time she looks the other way I bring the rifle a little higher until I am on the sights.
There is a pile of brush between me and the trail that they are using but it looks like it will be low enough to provide a shot if she moves out from behind that tree. She steps out and looks right at me. When she lowers her head it looks like I have a clear path to the lungs so I take the shot.
After the smoke clears and I come down out of recoil I hold the rifle steady in the shooting position without moving. Rather than imediately running off the does jump around a bit and keep looking my way. After about 15 seconds they bound of the way that they had come. I sit there motionless (except for that pounding in my chest) for what seems like five minutes and see no further movement. So I reload and wait a few minutes longer.
With only 20 minutes of shooting time left I move to the place where she was standing as fast as my quivering legs will take me. No evidence of a hit at all. Not totally unexpected based on the deer's reaction to the shot. Never the less I spend the remaining minutes of light scouring the area for any evidence of a hit. No blood, no hair, nothing. I walk several increasing radius circles around the spot just to be sure. The only unusual thing is one very deep track where one of the does must have come to a screeching halt at the shot.
I suspect that either the fading light affected my aim or a twig that I didn't see deflected the shot. When I get a chance t go back to the range I will recheck the sighting to see if they may have gotten bumped out of alignment.
I feel bad about taking a bad shot by I thank the Lord that it was a clean miss.
5th lesson: Thumping heart, fading light, forest environment with flesh and blood target is different than shoot-n-see targets on a clear sunny range.
6th lesson: You don't need a buck to get buck fever.
7th lesson: Those big beautiful does are like nothing else on earth.
8th lesson: you can't get too much practice.
9th lesson: The journey of 1000 miles begins with ne step and this journey is far from over.
mike
