After surviving a massive heart attack in June, this fall has been special. When you realize that everything came close to being over you tend to appreciate life in a different way. During this deer season I have valued my time in the field much more. From the time being spent with hunting buddies, scenery and fauna, everything is amplified.
This year I won a draw for a doe tag, with the stipulation that the doe be shot before the buck. In other words shoot the buck first and lose the doe tag. Since opening day I have been waiting on that chance to shoot a doe. Seen many but they were always too far, too small or moving too fast.
Yesterday I was the only one hunting in the morning and I had my chance. It was nice and cold with a good covering of frost on the ground. Deer were on the move big time, I saw 12 does and 2 little spikes. We hunt a grain farm with about 100 acres of corn that hasn't been harvested yet. My stand overlooks a clearing that separates about 15 acres of woodland from the cornfields. This doe came out from the woods heading for the corn at a brisk walk. She was about 175 yards from me broadside. I lipsqueeked a few times to get her to stop and when she did I took my shot. My 243 barked and she bolted for the corn.
I waited a bit, brought my pack to my truck and after a good half hour I went to search for the blood trail. Right where she had jumped a ditch to get to the cornfield I found the blood. Followed the zigzag trail for 5 minutes and spotted her legs in one of the cornrows. She was down and dead only about 25 yards from the edge of the field. I got lucky; I had pulled the shot a little and hit her a bit far back but got her liver and missed the guts, phew. I dragged her out, took a few pictures and got her into the truck. As I told a friend of mine, I hadn't felt so alive since the heart attack! Best therapy I could ever have......she’s not the biggest doe I’ve ever shot but she’s quite special.
Now I just have to find her boyfriend to finish the season.........
The woods on the right that she came out of and the clearing where I shot her......this pic is from my stand
The beginning of the blood trail
Where I found her in the corn
And the final pic
This year I won a draw for a doe tag, with the stipulation that the doe be shot before the buck. In other words shoot the buck first and lose the doe tag. Since opening day I have been waiting on that chance to shoot a doe. Seen many but they were always too far, too small or moving too fast.
Yesterday I was the only one hunting in the morning and I had my chance. It was nice and cold with a good covering of frost on the ground. Deer were on the move big time, I saw 12 does and 2 little spikes. We hunt a grain farm with about 100 acres of corn that hasn't been harvested yet. My stand overlooks a clearing that separates about 15 acres of woodland from the cornfields. This doe came out from the woods heading for the corn at a brisk walk. She was about 175 yards from me broadside. I lipsqueeked a few times to get her to stop and when she did I took my shot. My 243 barked and she bolted for the corn.
I waited a bit, brought my pack to my truck and after a good half hour I went to search for the blood trail. Right where she had jumped a ditch to get to the cornfield I found the blood. Followed the zigzag trail for 5 minutes and spotted her legs in one of the cornrows. She was down and dead only about 25 yards from the edge of the field. I got lucky; I had pulled the shot a little and hit her a bit far back but got her liver and missed the guts, phew. I dragged her out, took a few pictures and got her into the truck. As I told a friend of mine, I hadn't felt so alive since the heart attack! Best therapy I could ever have......she’s not the biggest doe I’ve ever shot but she’s quite special.
Now I just have to find her boyfriend to finish the season.........
The woods on the right that she came out of and the clearing where I shot her......this pic is from my stand
The beginning of the blood trail
Where I found her in the corn
And the final pic
