Went up to the region I got a doe draw for over the long weekend. Never been to this zone (although been to 3-37 directly to the south before), but the odds were good so i put in anyways.
The trip took a disappointing turn before we even left. Last week my buddy got his arm crushed at work, broken wrist and arm swollen to twice its size. Needless to say he bailed. Luckily he let us borrow his truck anyways (and even threw down for gas money!).
We went up in two groups. Two guys headed up to a friend's house Thursday then set up camp for us Friday. The rest of us got up there at almost 2am Friday night/sat morning. We decided there was no way we'd be up for the morning hunt, so we slept in a bit, got up around 10, made a good breakfast and finished setting up camp.
Headed out for the afternoon to do some exploring and maybe find a spot to sit. Saw a decent buck, but not a 4 point so he got to walk. We were on the way back towards camp with 5 minutes left in legal shooting light when the front truck comes on the radio to tell us there's a doe running down the road infront of them. We take the lead, follow the doe for a little bit then i decide to get out. She was small, probably a deer of the year, walking /running (depending on how much pressure we were applying) away.
Bad shot presentation, bad light, small deer, and it had just been running full tilt with a truck following it. All those factors combined to make me decide to let it go.
That was the only doe I saw. I'm not upset about letting it go, I know it was the right decision given the circumstances, but man I keep thinking about "don't pass on the first day what you'd be glad to have on the last"...
The trip took a disappointing turn before we even left. Last week my buddy got his arm crushed at work, broken wrist and arm swollen to twice its size. Needless to say he bailed. Luckily he let us borrow his truck anyways (and even threw down for gas money!).
We went up in two groups. Two guys headed up to a friend's house Thursday then set up camp for us Friday. The rest of us got up there at almost 2am Friday night/sat morning. We decided there was no way we'd be up for the morning hunt, so we slept in a bit, got up around 10, made a good breakfast and finished setting up camp.
Headed out for the afternoon to do some exploring and maybe find a spot to sit. Saw a decent buck, but not a 4 point so he got to walk. We were on the way back towards camp with 5 minutes left in legal shooting light when the front truck comes on the radio to tell us there's a doe running down the road infront of them. We take the lead, follow the doe for a little bit then i decide to get out. She was small, probably a deer of the year, walking /running (depending on how much pressure we were applying) away.
Bad shot presentation, bad light, small deer, and it had just been running full tilt with a truck following it. All those factors combined to make me decide to let it go.
That was the only doe I saw. I'm not upset about letting it go, I know it was the right decision given the circumstances, but man I keep thinking about "don't pass on the first day what you'd be glad to have on the last"...
