So, my deer hunting lately has had to take a back seat to family the last couple years. This year has been no exception. But I do still find time to get out with a couple buddies during gun weekend and do a handful of drives. The last couple years, Adam (redcloud) has gone as well.
This year, we made it out on friday...
We had to sit and wait till almost noon for the fog to lift enough to be able to safely hunt. When we did finally get started, we found ourselves at a small farm just north of killefer plains wildlife.
We were with my buddy I used to work with, his brother and his dad. The five of us met up with the landowner and his friend. When we pulled in, I wasn't sure what we were doing... we were in the middle of a vast cut bean field as far as I could see. There was some corn stubble across the road with a little standing corn about a half mile behind that. The only "woods" were 2 postage stamp sized wood lots about 600 yards behind this guys barn. When I realized we were going to push those woods, at first I thought they were crazy, but then I figured if there are any deer within 2 miles of this place, that Is literally the only place they can be.
I asked where they wanted me, i was told to go across the road to a thin little fence row between two cut fields, go about a hundred yards down the row and face back towards the road. When i got to that spot i could see everything. The land owner was going to push from the south to the north, through the first wood lot and then into the second. My buddy was in his truck on the road to the south and his dad was in his truck on the road to the north. Their job was to act as road dogs. If anything ran toward those roads, they were to head it off, get in front of it and turn it around. The land owners buddy, Mark, was positioned about 300 yards too the north east of the 2 wood lots, (which put him to my 1:00 and about 5 to 6 hundred yards away) Adam was at my 11:00 on the other side of the road and my buddies brother was about another 100 yards or so to the south of him.
The trap was set...
As I said, I could see everything from my vantage point. As the driver stepped into the woods on the south, a single deer ran out from the opposite side of the north woods. That deer started running directly towards the guy over there. I watched as that guy knelt down to one knee to get into a more comfortable shooting position. The deer must have seen him move and stopped dead in its tracks about 250 yards short of him and just stood there. After a couple of minutes, the deer turned and started running again. That guy went ahead and shot. The deer was so far away I couldn't tell at first whether it was running toward me or away from me. It took a minute but I realized it was running straight to me! Probably about 500 yards and closing.
Once the deer got to about 150 yards I raised my gun and got him in my scope. It was a small buck, running directly to me on a string.
At this point, a little angel appeared on one shoulder and a devil on the other. The conversation went something like this...
Angel... that buck is awful small...
Devil... hes gonna be delicious...
Deer is now about 125 yards.
Angel... guys are gonna poke fun for shooting such a small buck...
Devil... never cared what they think anyway...
100 yards
Angel... not gonna score much...
Devil... didnt know we were keeping score...
80 yards, now on my side of the road.
Angel... you put your buck tag on him, your season is pretty much over...
Devil... this season sucked anyway. Gonna be getting cold soon...
Deer is now about 60 yards and has spotted me. He has adjusted his course so he will pass to my right at about 20 yards or so.
Long pause...
Devil... ever wonder what a copper solid does to a deer from front to back?
Angel.... good point.
BOOM!!!
On impact, he almost snowplowed but managed to get his front feet back under him and continues running. I got the scope back on him as he was passing to my right. At the time I wasn't sure how, but he had a huge wound on his right side, right behind the shoulder that was absolutely dumping blood. He was clearly done, but I went ahead and put another one in him just the same. Once he got past me, he angled back towards the fence row i was in and crossed it. I stepped to the opposite side and looked back to see him stumbling about thirty yards behind me. I turned back towards where Adam was stand and saw him fist pumping cause he watched him drop.
3 more ended up coming out and actually gave Adam an opportunity, but a car stopped on the road and kinda messed that up.
I skinned the deer the next day and figured out what happened with the first shot. As I said the deer was very slightly angled, I aimed at the shoulder closest to me and didnt figure I really needed to lead him. I guess I should have led him a little, because instead of hitting the point of the shoulder, the sabot hit just behind it at a really steep angle. The entry wound was a 3 inch gash. The sabot caught the back of that lung, punctured the diaphragm, took out half the liver, graves the stomach, and ended up lodged on the inside of the opposite thigh. The second shot hit just below the first entry and took out the other lung.
Yup, small buck, but a lot of fun.
This year, we made it out on friday...
We had to sit and wait till almost noon for the fog to lift enough to be able to safely hunt. When we did finally get started, we found ourselves at a small farm just north of killefer plains wildlife.
We were with my buddy I used to work with, his brother and his dad. The five of us met up with the landowner and his friend. When we pulled in, I wasn't sure what we were doing... we were in the middle of a vast cut bean field as far as I could see. There was some corn stubble across the road with a little standing corn about a half mile behind that. The only "woods" were 2 postage stamp sized wood lots about 600 yards behind this guys barn. When I realized we were going to push those woods, at first I thought they were crazy, but then I figured if there are any deer within 2 miles of this place, that Is literally the only place they can be.
I asked where they wanted me, i was told to go across the road to a thin little fence row between two cut fields, go about a hundred yards down the row and face back towards the road. When i got to that spot i could see everything. The land owner was going to push from the south to the north, through the first wood lot and then into the second. My buddy was in his truck on the road to the south and his dad was in his truck on the road to the north. Their job was to act as road dogs. If anything ran toward those roads, they were to head it off, get in front of it and turn it around. The land owners buddy, Mark, was positioned about 300 yards too the north east of the 2 wood lots, (which put him to my 1:00 and about 5 to 6 hundred yards away) Adam was at my 11:00 on the other side of the road and my buddies brother was about another 100 yards or so to the south of him.
The trap was set...
As I said, I could see everything from my vantage point. As the driver stepped into the woods on the south, a single deer ran out from the opposite side of the north woods. That deer started running directly towards the guy over there. I watched as that guy knelt down to one knee to get into a more comfortable shooting position. The deer must have seen him move and stopped dead in its tracks about 250 yards short of him and just stood there. After a couple of minutes, the deer turned and started running again. That guy went ahead and shot. The deer was so far away I couldn't tell at first whether it was running toward me or away from me. It took a minute but I realized it was running straight to me! Probably about 500 yards and closing.
Once the deer got to about 150 yards I raised my gun and got him in my scope. It was a small buck, running directly to me on a string.
At this point, a little angel appeared on one shoulder and a devil on the other. The conversation went something like this...
Angel... that buck is awful small...
Devil... hes gonna be delicious...
Deer is now about 125 yards.
Angel... guys are gonna poke fun for shooting such a small buck...
Devil... never cared what they think anyway...
100 yards
Angel... not gonna score much...
Devil... didnt know we were keeping score...
80 yards, now on my side of the road.
Angel... you put your buck tag on him, your season is pretty much over...
Devil... this season sucked anyway. Gonna be getting cold soon...
Deer is now about 60 yards and has spotted me. He has adjusted his course so he will pass to my right at about 20 yards or so.
Long pause...
Devil... ever wonder what a copper solid does to a deer from front to back?
Angel.... good point.
BOOM!!!
On impact, he almost snowplowed but managed to get his front feet back under him and continues running. I got the scope back on him as he was passing to my right. At the time I wasn't sure how, but he had a huge wound on his right side, right behind the shoulder that was absolutely dumping blood. He was clearly done, but I went ahead and put another one in him just the same. Once he got past me, he angled back towards the fence row i was in and crossed it. I stepped to the opposite side and looked back to see him stumbling about thirty yards behind me. I turned back towards where Adam was stand and saw him fist pumping cause he watched him drop.
3 more ended up coming out and actually gave Adam an opportunity, but a car stopped on the road and kinda messed that up.
I skinned the deer the next day and figured out what happened with the first shot. As I said the deer was very slightly angled, I aimed at the shoulder closest to me and didnt figure I really needed to lead him. I guess I should have led him a little, because instead of hitting the point of the shoulder, the sabot hit just behind it at a really steep angle. The entry wound was a 3 inch gash. The sabot caught the back of that lung, punctured the diaphragm, took out half the liver, graves the stomach, and ended up lodged on the inside of the opposite thigh. The second shot hit just below the first entry and took out the other lung.
Yup, small buck, but a lot of fun.
