What a ride this season has been. Like any other "serious" deer hunter, I began taking inventory of deer and setting goals for myself. Shooting a mature buck was and will always be on my list. However, this year, that goal got bumped down a few slots. Returning home safe to my family is always number one. Secondly, having fun while deer hunting has taken a bigger spot in the scheme of things. I've caught myself getting frustrated season after season, this one included, while chasing mature deer. Some years I connect and that's always a great feeling of accomplishment. Nonetheless it still puts more pressure than necessary on me, as a hunter. Deer hunting is supposed to be fun, right? Unlike recent years, I did not put any doe meat in the freezer before gun. That resulted in me pulling the trigger on a very young buck during gun week. And you know what, I had a blast doing it. I was hunting with good buddies, and the high fives still happened. MAN THAT WAS FUN! Having meat on the hanger, buck tag filled, now I'm starting to enjoy myself. I take yet another young deer with my bow the weekend before Christmas. Called a buddy to come track and get it loaded up. High fives and beer were had yet again. Damn this shits fun! Now its Friday night and muzzy season eve. I had no plans on hunting, if I did, it would be behind the house with the bow. I was having a few beers in the garage, tunes on, and I decided to call Dave and shoot the shit. We get to talking about the weekend, and says his dad, Michael and him were heading to camp. He tells me, "come on down". I thought about it, and it didn't take long before I was calling the wife for permission. I get the thumbs up and now I'm scrambling to get my shit together. Dave and I both almost didn't take our guns at all, I almost just brought my bow. That was until I remembered that I still had my grandfathers ML that I have been wanting to shoot a deer with. What better place to do it, Dave's slice of heaven in Athens. 2:30 am came quick, don't think I slept much, but I was on the road coffee in hand. I arrived just after light broke the horizon, and Dave's waiting for me (didn't have to do that bub, but glad ya did). I bumble fugg around, finally get dressed and loaded up. Dave and I drop down into a steep bowl to do a still hunt. Having other hunters from camp in the area, nice wet morning, it just seemed right. Dave spotted 3 deer not long after we dropped down onto a shelf. We slowly worked our way after them in hopes of getting a crack at one. As we slowly worked we eventually made it to the start of a thicket and decided to set up there for awhile and just watch nature do its thing. We stood for awhile, shared some stories, did some laughing and probably farted a few times. Just having fun, enjoying the morning. Dave let out his second sneeze of the morning and It couldn't have been long before we had 5-6 does working the ridge above us. We picked out the lead doe to be the biggest and contemplated the shot. After a short time, we decide to let them work the bowl and possibly present a better shot across the saddle. 10 minutes or so go by, and Dave looks back up and spots another little one working the ridge. I immediately knew after glassing her that she was young. I told Dave it was just a little one, he replies "well how many are we going to let walk, we came down to kill one didn't we?" He settled the shooting stick and I hear the hammer cock. Yup, go time. BOOM! I watch the doe look around with a WTF look on her face. Seconds pass, and all of a sudden she starts wagging her tail and starts a steady trot down towards us, bleating with every step. The smell of gun powder, the trotting deer closing quickly on us has me fired up. Dave hands me the shooting stick. "Dave, shes close enough I could shoot her in the head!" Dave being Dave, says "betcha ya won't!" I grunt to stop the deer in her tracks at a mere 14 steps. I have the crosshairs between her eyes, I decide against it and move them down to her throat patch. BOOM! She drops where she stood. Dave and I immediately start laughing and high fiving. We walk up to her and recap what the hell had just happened. More laughs and high fives come out. MAN THIS IS FUN! Dave reloads and we sit for awhile before we take care of the dirty work and head back to camp for the quad. While gutting her, we find the wad laying past where she took her last step. We laughed some more and headed to camp. The rest of the day was just good ol leisurely type fun. Met up with the elusive Gordo in town for a beer. Went back to camp and did some walking for the other hunters. I got to see Dorthy's grave site and Dave showed me some awesome ridges that provided stunning views. We sat and bullshitted for the remaining hour or so before last light. We hear a shot ring out, surely Dave's sister or dad just got a crack at one. Get back to camp to find out it was Dave's dad who had taken a nice doe. That night we sat around the camp fire and had some more beer with Gordo and the rest of the hunters in camp. And like that, my season is over. One deer with a gun, one with a bow, and one with grandpa's muzzy. All three deer were young, and definitely not what I had intended when the last weekend of September rolled around. Funny how perspectives, goals, and your overall outlook on hunting can change during a season. MAN I HAD FUN! As I recap last night, I think this is the most fulfilling season I can remember and I didn't even shoot a big deer! Big thanks to Dave and his family for having me this past weekend, a great one for the memory bank.
