1-1-10
It was 34 degrees Fahrenheit with two to eight mph gusty winds under a mostly cloudy sky when my brother Darrell and I arrived at Big Survey Wildlife Management Area around 8:30 a.m. The snow from the previous week’s snowstorm was still lying and was about three to six inches deep. It was a good backdrop for spotting moving whitetail deer in the woods. It was the fourth day of either sex days in the late muzzle loading season of Wythe County, Virginia and we were not hunting antlers.
We walked up the access trail seeing numerous deer tracks, but nothing fresh. After about a mile walk up the mountain we decided to split up. Darrell went right continuing down an access road while I walked up the main ridge towards the top of the mountain peak. We concluded that with the weather being cold and windy that the deer might not be moving much. With that in mind we thought the best method would be to still hunt and if possible to track any fresh deer trail we might cross.
A view from the top looking north.
I jumped a ruffed grouse not long after starting up the ridge. It busted out of the thick brush like a fighter jet launching off a carrier! Scared me so much I thought my heart was going to burst! The snow-covered ridge was littered in old deer tracks, but tracks don’t make very good soup. The wind was cold and sharp as a knife. So, I walked off the ridge about a hundred yards and put on more clothes and sat myself down for a rest. I sat there for about an hour. Nothing moved within sight. Then I heard a shot in the distance. I called my brother on the radio to find out it was his shot that rang out. He had missed a doe and was tracking it to be sure. That got my blood pumping! Finally some deer sighting! Perhaps going out in the cold would produce some venison! I sat for a little while longer. Still no deer came my way. I decided to move on.
I worked my way back to the ridge top, but didn’t see anything but the old tracks. However, the deer were obviously using the area. Walking down the ridge I came upon a ladder stand. It had been unused since the snow fell. It was located in a good place though; in a saddle that the deer were crossing. However, the tracks were not fresh. I decided to work my way back to the point where Darrell and I split up.
As I dropped off the ridge I saw movement in the old access road we had walked out! Two deer ran downhill out of sight, but a third, a big doe, stopped in an opening in the timber downhill about a hundred yards or so. I pulled the rifle up and fired a hasty shot. It didn’t feel like a good shot and I had forgotten to pull my glove off. I never shoot a rifle accurately with gloves on! I reloaded and went down to check for signs of a wounded deer. I found the deer’s trail easily in the snow, but nothing of a wound showed. I began tracking to make sure.
After about an hour and several hundred yards of following her I lost her trail as the snow was becoming intermittent with patches of snow and patches of leaves. The ground was frozen hard and the deer left no indentions to follow. I circled around trying to find the trail, but bumped into another hunter that I could see about a hundred yards out. I decided to back off and not disturb him further.
It was nearing time for a lunch break and I decided to try out the ladder stand up on the ridge. It was not very tall being only eight feet high or so, but it would allow me to eat lunch off the snow. Sitting in the stand allowed a good view, but the wind was moving the tree back and fourth like a rocking chair. I didn’t care for that. However, it was nice to eat lunch without sitting in the snow. About a half hour into my lunch break I heard a shot on the backside of the mountain. A few minutes later I called Darrell on the radio and found out that he killed a doe. He had walked up on her while she was browsing on twigs on the south side of the mountain where the snow had melted.
Quickly, I finished my lunch and headed for the access road where we split up earlier to help drag. I went a different way this time and dropped off the ridge and walked the side of the mountain though some laurel. Stepping out of the laurel I could see the access road and then I saw a large coyote running across the road. I yelled and I whistled to stop the coyote to no avail. Then, I heard why he was running so fast. A couple of hikers were walking up the road and talking rather loudly. I spoke to them and gave them some answers to their destination questions as to where the road led and how far they still had to travel and we went our separate way no harm done. I was glad I didn’t fire at the coyote. Those guys might have needed to change their pants!
I came upon Darrell not long after and helped him drag the doe to the point that I had saw the three deer earlier. He was confident that he could manage the drag to the truck a little over a mile since it was downhill by himself. I decided to track the two deer that went downhill.
Meanwhile, the artic cold front had arrived and the temperature had dropped to 30 degrees Fahrenheit. The two deer went downhill for a good ways, maybe a hundred yards or so then turned left towards the west, which was away from the truck. I followed them and was glad they switched course back to the east toward the truck. They continued through the timber until it turned into a pine thicket that looked like it was planted after the area was logged. The pines were not very large in diameter, maybe the size of my leg and were maybe thirty feet tall, but they were thickly planted and walking through them was going to be tough. However, the deer were following a pretty good trail with most of the branches broken off so that I only had to stoop over to make my way through the thicket. I continued following the deer.
Although the thicket was dark and difficult to maneuver in it was only thirty or forty yards wide and I was just about to exit it on the top of a ridge when I spotted a big doe walking up the side of the ridge broadside not but thirty yards away! I quickly knelt down, pulled my glove off, and cocked the rifle. Aiming at the front right shoulder I pulled the trigger. The doe took a couple of steps and looked around not sure what was going on! I had missed. It could have been the branches stopping the lead round ball in its flight or that I just wasn’t aiming very well. I quickly reloaded while laying down using the ridge as cover. I was glad that I had placed some patches inside the patch box. It sure made grabbing a patch easier! The barrel was cold and the black powder fouling was freezing inside it. I had to tap the ramrod hard several times to seat the ball. Yet, even with all my noise I could still see the doe standing over the ridge! I aimed and fired once more. Again, the doe took a couple of steps up the hill and looked around for the source of the noise. I missed again! This time she stopped with her head hidden behind a poplar tree. I quickly reloaded again. This time I could not see her front shoulder to aim at. Kneeling again I aimed as close to her from shoulder as the poplar tree would allow. I didn’t like it much, but it was what was offered. I took careful aim letting the rifle lay in my left hand without holding it with my fingers. I touched the trigger and heard the report. The third time was the charm! She lunged forward and the shot felt good. I quickly reloaded. I was getting better at reloading now. I advanced to see her laying up the hill about twenty yards. Knowing the shot was not in the lungs I was ready to fire once more. She looked at me and jumped up. I followed her with the rifle and when she stopped after about twenty feet I settled in on her front left shoulder and fired. She immediately fell down the hill and was stopped by a large rock. She was still alive and I reloaded. She was moving her head as if to lick the wound in her side. So, I fired at her head, but again I missed. I reloaded. She didn’t get up, but she was trying. This time I used a tree to rest the rifle on and aimed at the base of her skull and backbone. I squeezed the trigger and the doe’s neck went limp. I reloaded again. It wasn’t needed. It was 2:30 p.m. Upon examining her I found that she was a he and that he had already lost his antlers! I was happy and all was good even though some of my shooting was blocked by limbs or was probably just lousy! The buck weighed 70 pounds and did not have any fat on him.
Me and my ugly Mad Bomber hat.
It was 34 degrees Fahrenheit with two to eight mph gusty winds under a mostly cloudy sky when my brother Darrell and I arrived at Big Survey Wildlife Management Area around 8:30 a.m. The snow from the previous week’s snowstorm was still lying and was about three to six inches deep. It was a good backdrop for spotting moving whitetail deer in the woods. It was the fourth day of either sex days in the late muzzle loading season of Wythe County, Virginia and we were not hunting antlers.
We walked up the access trail seeing numerous deer tracks, but nothing fresh. After about a mile walk up the mountain we decided to split up. Darrell went right continuing down an access road while I walked up the main ridge towards the top of the mountain peak. We concluded that with the weather being cold and windy that the deer might not be moving much. With that in mind we thought the best method would be to still hunt and if possible to track any fresh deer trail we might cross.
A view from the top looking north.
I jumped a ruffed grouse not long after starting up the ridge. It busted out of the thick brush like a fighter jet launching off a carrier! Scared me so much I thought my heart was going to burst! The snow-covered ridge was littered in old deer tracks, but tracks don’t make very good soup. The wind was cold and sharp as a knife. So, I walked off the ridge about a hundred yards and put on more clothes and sat myself down for a rest. I sat there for about an hour. Nothing moved within sight. Then I heard a shot in the distance. I called my brother on the radio to find out it was his shot that rang out. He had missed a doe and was tracking it to be sure. That got my blood pumping! Finally some deer sighting! Perhaps going out in the cold would produce some venison! I sat for a little while longer. Still no deer came my way. I decided to move on.
I worked my way back to the ridge top, but didn’t see anything but the old tracks. However, the deer were obviously using the area. Walking down the ridge I came upon a ladder stand. It had been unused since the snow fell. It was located in a good place though; in a saddle that the deer were crossing. However, the tracks were not fresh. I decided to work my way back to the point where Darrell and I split up.
As I dropped off the ridge I saw movement in the old access road we had walked out! Two deer ran downhill out of sight, but a third, a big doe, stopped in an opening in the timber downhill about a hundred yards or so. I pulled the rifle up and fired a hasty shot. It didn’t feel like a good shot and I had forgotten to pull my glove off. I never shoot a rifle accurately with gloves on! I reloaded and went down to check for signs of a wounded deer. I found the deer’s trail easily in the snow, but nothing of a wound showed. I began tracking to make sure.
After about an hour and several hundred yards of following her I lost her trail as the snow was becoming intermittent with patches of snow and patches of leaves. The ground was frozen hard and the deer left no indentions to follow. I circled around trying to find the trail, but bumped into another hunter that I could see about a hundred yards out. I decided to back off and not disturb him further.
It was nearing time for a lunch break and I decided to try out the ladder stand up on the ridge. It was not very tall being only eight feet high or so, but it would allow me to eat lunch off the snow. Sitting in the stand allowed a good view, but the wind was moving the tree back and fourth like a rocking chair. I didn’t care for that. However, it was nice to eat lunch without sitting in the snow. About a half hour into my lunch break I heard a shot on the backside of the mountain. A few minutes later I called Darrell on the radio and found out that he killed a doe. He had walked up on her while she was browsing on twigs on the south side of the mountain where the snow had melted.
Quickly, I finished my lunch and headed for the access road where we split up earlier to help drag. I went a different way this time and dropped off the ridge and walked the side of the mountain though some laurel. Stepping out of the laurel I could see the access road and then I saw a large coyote running across the road. I yelled and I whistled to stop the coyote to no avail. Then, I heard why he was running so fast. A couple of hikers were walking up the road and talking rather loudly. I spoke to them and gave them some answers to their destination questions as to where the road led and how far they still had to travel and we went our separate way no harm done. I was glad I didn’t fire at the coyote. Those guys might have needed to change their pants!
I came upon Darrell not long after and helped him drag the doe to the point that I had saw the three deer earlier. He was confident that he could manage the drag to the truck a little over a mile since it was downhill by himself. I decided to track the two deer that went downhill.
Meanwhile, the artic cold front had arrived and the temperature had dropped to 30 degrees Fahrenheit. The two deer went downhill for a good ways, maybe a hundred yards or so then turned left towards the west, which was away from the truck. I followed them and was glad they switched course back to the east toward the truck. They continued through the timber until it turned into a pine thicket that looked like it was planted after the area was logged. The pines were not very large in diameter, maybe the size of my leg and were maybe thirty feet tall, but they were thickly planted and walking through them was going to be tough. However, the deer were following a pretty good trail with most of the branches broken off so that I only had to stoop over to make my way through the thicket. I continued following the deer.
Although the thicket was dark and difficult to maneuver in it was only thirty or forty yards wide and I was just about to exit it on the top of a ridge when I spotted a big doe walking up the side of the ridge broadside not but thirty yards away! I quickly knelt down, pulled my glove off, and cocked the rifle. Aiming at the front right shoulder I pulled the trigger. The doe took a couple of steps and looked around not sure what was going on! I had missed. It could have been the branches stopping the lead round ball in its flight or that I just wasn’t aiming very well. I quickly reloaded while laying down using the ridge as cover. I was glad that I had placed some patches inside the patch box. It sure made grabbing a patch easier! The barrel was cold and the black powder fouling was freezing inside it. I had to tap the ramrod hard several times to seat the ball. Yet, even with all my noise I could still see the doe standing over the ridge! I aimed and fired once more. Again, the doe took a couple of steps up the hill and looked around for the source of the noise. I missed again! This time she stopped with her head hidden behind a poplar tree. I quickly reloaded again. This time I could not see her front shoulder to aim at. Kneeling again I aimed as close to her from shoulder as the poplar tree would allow. I didn’t like it much, but it was what was offered. I took careful aim letting the rifle lay in my left hand without holding it with my fingers. I touched the trigger and heard the report. The third time was the charm! She lunged forward and the shot felt good. I quickly reloaded. I was getting better at reloading now. I advanced to see her laying up the hill about twenty yards. Knowing the shot was not in the lungs I was ready to fire once more. She looked at me and jumped up. I followed her with the rifle and when she stopped after about twenty feet I settled in on her front left shoulder and fired. She immediately fell down the hill and was stopped by a large rock. She was still alive and I reloaded. She was moving her head as if to lick the wound in her side. So, I fired at her head, but again I missed. I reloaded. She didn’t get up, but she was trying. This time I used a tree to rest the rifle on and aimed at the base of her skull and backbone. I squeezed the trigger and the doe’s neck went limp. I reloaded again. It wasn’t needed. It was 2:30 p.m. Upon examining her I found that she was a he and that he had already lost his antlers! I was happy and all was good even though some of my shooting was blocked by limbs or was probably just lousy! The buck weighed 70 pounds and did not have any fat on him.
Me and my ugly Mad Bomber hat.
