I've never posted stories about any of my hunts. But after have a great November I figure why not!
I had two friends come up over the Remembrance Day long weekend. Both are new to hunting and one was lucky enough to draw an LEH Doe tag for my region. On the thursday we headed out early to a spot that always produces does. We were lucky and got on to a group of 5 does, but none were nice enough to give my buddy a clean shot. So the next day we headed up mountain and settled in against a tree looking up hill into the timber waiting. At 730am I heard a noise behind me, I turned and was face to face (2-3 feet) with a deer. With a steep moss covered 8 foot step down behind me I never thought a deer would come up that way. We moved out from behind the tree, the deer took a few steps and looks over its should....boom shot in the back of the neck at maybe 20 feet. She rolled out into a clear which made the gutting nice and easy. First deer down. I took a crappy picture to send the wife, but didnt realize it was the only one I took till we got home!! The pictures do get better.
On the sunday a friend took us to one of his spots he calls the a$$hole. The name suits the difficulty of the terrain. Leaving the truck at 6, we hiked up steep nasty shale rock and blow down until 730 where we broke off in two groups. Me and my friend hiked the lower part of the mountain. After climbing/crawling up a mossy rock face I looked to my right and saw my buddy raise his rifle. In my mind I said Jesus its been 3hours of hard hiking please pull the trigger and end this suffering. Ten seconds later Ka-boom. Thank god....I walked over and he said I think I just shot a spike. I look 50m away to see a beautiful deer doing some crazy break dancing moves. Bud that aint no spike its a 3x. Had to tell him to reload and get ready cause that deer is going to get back up. Sure enough it got to its feet....hit him again. Boom oh oh. Now the deer is cartwheeling down the mountain. We get lucky as it smashes into a tree breaking its free fall and spins out into some bush. We settle down and watch, while he reloads. After 10 minutes I go over to where the deer first shot, no blood no hair nothing. I move around to get a better look at where its currently laying down and it starts pulling itself up. I take a neck shot on it at 30 feet and watch it slide out of site. We head down and find it lights out and half over a small cliff with one of its hind legs pinched in a rock preventing it from falling. This was a hard but rewarding hunt.
A few weeks later I was on Vancouver Island hunting with family just outside of Port Alberni. Around 10:30 I was walking a path, heavy timber on one side and an over grown field on the other. Looking down the path I see a deer walking towards me head down and completely unaware I was close by. I watched him walk and he didnt stop until I knelt down to get into a better shooting position. By that time we were 25-30 feet apart and I took a shot at him. I aimed at the white patch just below his chin and the bullet went right down his nostril. I think he was dead before he hit the ground.
A few things I learned this year. It was my first season hunting with a winchester model 70 in 7mm-08 and I think this is going to be my go to rifle for deer from now on. A framed back pack is on the to buy list before next season. And the more I think I learn about blacktails and there behaviour the more confusing they become!
I had two friends come up over the Remembrance Day long weekend. Both are new to hunting and one was lucky enough to draw an LEH Doe tag for my region. On the thursday we headed out early to a spot that always produces does. We were lucky and got on to a group of 5 does, but none were nice enough to give my buddy a clean shot. So the next day we headed up mountain and settled in against a tree looking up hill into the timber waiting. At 730am I heard a noise behind me, I turned and was face to face (2-3 feet) with a deer. With a steep moss covered 8 foot step down behind me I never thought a deer would come up that way. We moved out from behind the tree, the deer took a few steps and looks over its should....boom shot in the back of the neck at maybe 20 feet. She rolled out into a clear which made the gutting nice and easy. First deer down. I took a crappy picture to send the wife, but didnt realize it was the only one I took till we got home!! The pictures do get better.
On the sunday a friend took us to one of his spots he calls the a$$hole. The name suits the difficulty of the terrain. Leaving the truck at 6, we hiked up steep nasty shale rock and blow down until 730 where we broke off in two groups. Me and my friend hiked the lower part of the mountain. After climbing/crawling up a mossy rock face I looked to my right and saw my buddy raise his rifle. In my mind I said Jesus its been 3hours of hard hiking please pull the trigger and end this suffering. Ten seconds later Ka-boom. Thank god....I walked over and he said I think I just shot a spike. I look 50m away to see a beautiful deer doing some crazy break dancing moves. Bud that aint no spike its a 3x. Had to tell him to reload and get ready cause that deer is going to get back up. Sure enough it got to its feet....hit him again. Boom oh oh. Now the deer is cartwheeling down the mountain. We get lucky as it smashes into a tree breaking its free fall and spins out into some bush. We settle down and watch, while he reloads. After 10 minutes I go over to where the deer first shot, no blood no hair nothing. I move around to get a better look at where its currently laying down and it starts pulling itself up. I take a neck shot on it at 30 feet and watch it slide out of site. We head down and find it lights out and half over a small cliff with one of its hind legs pinched in a rock preventing it from falling. This was a hard but rewarding hunt.
A few weeks later I was on Vancouver Island hunting with family just outside of Port Alberni. Around 10:30 I was walking a path, heavy timber on one side and an over grown field on the other. Looking down the path I see a deer walking towards me head down and completely unaware I was close by. I watched him walk and he didnt stop until I knelt down to get into a better shooting position. By that time we were 25-30 feet apart and I took a shot at him. I aimed at the white patch just below his chin and the bullet went right down his nostril. I think he was dead before he hit the ground.
A few things I learned this year. It was my first season hunting with a winchester model 70 in 7mm-08 and I think this is going to be my go to rifle for deer from now on. A framed back pack is on the to buy list before next season. And the more I think I learn about blacktails and there behaviour the more confusing they become!
