| November 17, 2003 ( Deer Season Update # 2 ) |
| Well, deer season has come and passed for 2003... it ended at sundown yesterday. Thursday was pretty good... started out pretty dull. Didn't see anything all morning, and the evening wasn't looking good either around 4pm. Then, as Brent was making a drive up through a little brushy swamp, he kicked up a little doe. As he pulled up to shoot, it took off, and behind it came a big buck. They ran by me, but all I saw was the little doe, and I didn't have a shot. Jerod took a shot at the buck with his 6.5mm Jap, but he missed. Bill popped one at the doe as it ran by him, but he also missed. Tim fired twice, and took down a very, very nice 8 pointer from about 200 yards with his 32 Winchester, which is an amazing feat. Those guns are about the same as a 30-30, which means the bullets drop like rocks after about 125 yards. Both shots were right in the lungs, and it was dead before we even got down to it. Friday was not a very good day at all. Didn't do any hunting in the morning because I had classes, but we all got together and went back out to the farm that evening. I did a drive down the fenceline to the south end of the woods, but I didn't see or hear anything. Nobody even saw a deer that night; it was quite discouraging. Saturday morning we went out to the Sandhill, which is a swamp about 10 miles from town. We had Brent, Jerod, and Bill posted up on the hill, while Tim and myself did a sneak drive through the woods. Man, sneaking down through a swamp is incredibly tough, but fun as hell. Nobody heard me, so I thought I did a pretty good job... the only downside to doing a sneak is the off chance that someone would shoot you. I kicked one deer up out the swamp, but nobody could get a shot because it went behind some trees. Tim pursued it while the rest of us posted, but he couldn't catch up to it, and we went home for lunch. That afternoon was good for me... Tim was on a drive, and kicked up a little button buck from the same swamp that Brent kicked the big 8 pointer up out of. I fired twice while it was running and missed, but then I got lucky. The goofy thing stopped right in the middle of a clearing, and I nailed it with my 3rd shot; it ran about 100 yards and dropped when it hit a fence. By the time I got it gutted, and drug out of the woods I was tired. It was even smaller than my first button, but I was still pretty pleased. Sunday was our last stand... we had 2 tags to fill left, one for me and one for Brent. I was out at the meadow by Tim's place, while Brent and Tim went back out to the farm. I blew my last chance to fill a tag that night... it was extremely foggy, and nearing dark when a nice sized deer came in through the brush about 50 yards from me. I pulled up to shoot, but I lost it in the brush... I waited, but saw nothing. I whistled, adn there was no movement, so I thought maybe it had left and I hadn't seen it for the fog. Just as I sat back down, it took off from behind a fallen tree. I shot 4 times, hit 2 trees, and missed anything with the other two.... it was a rather disappointing way to finish off season. Me and Brent finished cutting out meat later that night, and all I have to do now is bring it home. I know I'm pretty happy with having 2 deer, but I'm rather disgusted with my shooting... I shot 16 times and only got 2 deer on 5 hits. I think I'm going to retire the 44 from deer hunting... I'm going to look into some sort of flatter, longer shooting gun. I'll probably wind up with either a pump .270, or a lever 308, a lever 7mm-08, or a lever 300 Savage. Not sure yet, but I have until next deer season to get something figured out. On a completely unrelated note, I've finally bought a new pair of boots... my old Dusters had holes the size of quarters through the soles. They're the most comforatable boots I've ever had, but getting wet feet all the time sucks ass. I went to buy a new pair, but they've discontinued them, so I had to get a newer Duster-II. I don't like how they lace up, and they don't breathe very well either, but at least they have some tread on them. Guess that's all for now... |
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| Tim with his buck... this guy is a deer hunting demi-god. |
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| Me with my 2nd deer Saturday. |