Today was pretty cold to say the least. I started off this morning by going to my hunting area and parking about 1/8 mile from the woods. As hard as it was to get up and out of bed in this weather, I had been chasing a particular buck and was hoping to get a shot at him. So I sat in my truck thinking about the trail cam pictures and knowing I might see him if I get out and walk to the woods.
Eventually I forced myself out of the truck and started the long quiet walk to the woods. Wow. It was cold. I was completely covered except for my around my eyes and the wind was making my eyes water and then the tears were freezing to my face. I stood on the edge of the woods waiting for the sun to come up so I could see if my buck was making his way back to his bedding area. A half hour of that and I was getting really cold. I didn't see any movement and figured he was already bedded down for the day so I walked back to the truck. That was all I had planned for the morning hunt.
I wanted to go back and sit in my blind for the last three hours of daylight that evening but I was having a really hard time convincing myself it was a good idea. I had a feeling I needed to move my blind or hang a stand or get more info on this buck and on and on but it's getting late in the season so I decided to try it.
At 2:30 I was in my ground blind wondering what in the world I was thinking. I had 4 layers on, a propane heater running and I was still cold. The cold air was going right through that blind and the heater was helping but it wasn't exactly making it warm in there. I started thinking about that buck and looking around and determined I really needed to adjust my plan if I was going to kill him this year.
I made the decision around 3:30 that if I saw a decent doe or even a smaller buck that was a shooter I was going to take it. I was of course hoping my buck would show up but knew it wasn't likely and I needed a plan for him anyway. Besides that, we needed more deer meat in the freezer.
Shortly after making my mind up on all that I said a short prayer as I do a lot, especially while sitting quietly in the woods. As soon as I looked up from my prayer I heard movement. I looked around and saw three white tails in the distance maybe 200 yards away. I grabbed my gun and by the time I had the safety off, three does were trotting by directly in front of me about 60 yards out on the edge of the field I was watching. I put the crosshairs on the biggest one and said "meh". Nothing. I yelled it, "MEH" and the one I was holding on slowed down so I fired. She was about 75-80 yards out and dropped, got back up and dropped again.
I could see her laying there so I got out of the blind and walked up to her slowly. She got up again so I stopped. She dropped again and that was it. By the time I walked the 100 yards or so to where she was then I was about frozen. I went back to my blind and tried to get warm by the heater but it wasn't cutting it. I just about jogged back to my truck to get some blood flowing and had a hard time getting my frozen door open without breaking off my only key.
When I finally started my truck my mirror said -5 degrees. With the wind I think it was about -25 or colder and that by itself was an experience. I snapped a couple pictures for the memories and got the heck out of there with my now partially frozen deer in the back of the truck and a big smile on my face. While it may just be a regular doe, that was about the wildest hunt I have ever been on and I will never forget it.
I learned something about dragging deer uphill, shooting through a "shoot through screen" with a muzzleloader and cold ass weather today too but those are all different stories.
Eventually I forced myself out of the truck and started the long quiet walk to the woods. Wow. It was cold. I was completely covered except for my around my eyes and the wind was making my eyes water and then the tears were freezing to my face. I stood on the edge of the woods waiting for the sun to come up so I could see if my buck was making his way back to his bedding area. A half hour of that and I was getting really cold. I didn't see any movement and figured he was already bedded down for the day so I walked back to the truck. That was all I had planned for the morning hunt.
I wanted to go back and sit in my blind for the last three hours of daylight that evening but I was having a really hard time convincing myself it was a good idea. I had a feeling I needed to move my blind or hang a stand or get more info on this buck and on and on but it's getting late in the season so I decided to try it.
At 2:30 I was in my ground blind wondering what in the world I was thinking. I had 4 layers on, a propane heater running and I was still cold. The cold air was going right through that blind and the heater was helping but it wasn't exactly making it warm in there. I started thinking about that buck and looking around and determined I really needed to adjust my plan if I was going to kill him this year.
I made the decision around 3:30 that if I saw a decent doe or even a smaller buck that was a shooter I was going to take it. I was of course hoping my buck would show up but knew it wasn't likely and I needed a plan for him anyway. Besides that, we needed more deer meat in the freezer.
Shortly after making my mind up on all that I said a short prayer as I do a lot, especially while sitting quietly in the woods. As soon as I looked up from my prayer I heard movement. I looked around and saw three white tails in the distance maybe 200 yards away. I grabbed my gun and by the time I had the safety off, three does were trotting by directly in front of me about 60 yards out on the edge of the field I was watching. I put the crosshairs on the biggest one and said "meh". Nothing. I yelled it, "MEH" and the one I was holding on slowed down so I fired. She was about 75-80 yards out and dropped, got back up and dropped again.
I could see her laying there so I got out of the blind and walked up to her slowly. She got up again so I stopped. She dropped again and that was it. By the time I walked the 100 yards or so to where she was then I was about frozen. I went back to my blind and tried to get warm by the heater but it wasn't cutting it. I just about jogged back to my truck to get some blood flowing and had a hard time getting my frozen door open without breaking off my only key.
When I finally started my truck my mirror said -5 degrees. With the wind I think it was about -25 or colder and that by itself was an experience. I snapped a couple pictures for the memories and got the heck out of there with my now partially frozen deer in the back of the truck and a big smile on my face. While it may just be a regular doe, that was about the wildest hunt I have ever been on and I will never forget it.
I learned something about dragging deer uphill, shooting through a "shoot through screen" with a muzzleloader and cold ass weather today too but those are all different stories.
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