Tonight we had a company get together and I told Megan (my wife) that we weren't going to be staying very long because I was going to go "chase" (that is mostly all I've done is chase) deer. Jokingly I told Megan that there was a buck waiting for me that had my name on it and I didn't want to be late for our date.
So, we drove the five minutes it took to go home, I changed into my camos, grabbed my bow, and we were on our way.
We got to my "little spot" and from the vehicle I glassed to see if anything was out in the open. Well, I didn't see anything and it appeared that this night, the last night of the general season, the deer were going to give me the slip one more time. I told Megan to let me out and I would hike down the hill aways and see what I could see. I started to hike down and got right behind some trees so that I could glass and hopefully not have the deer "glass" me. I sat down and pulled out the trusty binoculars and scanned the hills. I quickly saw a small doe making her way up and over a little ridge. This doe, however, kept looking back like she was waiting and expecting something to come up behind her. At first I thought nothing of it being as how I though she could be looking for a fawn since there are a lot of does with fawns in the area. I kept watching her, sure that something was going to come up into view and I wanted to know what it would be, even if it was going to be just another doe or fawn.
I was about to give up when this 3x3 popped up out of bushes. I glassed him and guessed him and the doe to be about 350 yards away. They had no idea I was around and continued to feed up and over the ridge. I waited for five minutes or so and guessed that from the looks of it they were headed to a specific spot and there probably wouldn't be any chance that those deer were going to come back over the ridge to the side that I was on. So, I made a quick decision and started out. I figured that since the deer didn't know that I was close by I would be able to climb the small ridge myself and possibly intersect the two as they were feeding along and down the other side. I had tried this tactic before thinking that I could "cut deer off" and it had failed me in the past but I figured that since this was the last day in the area I would give it a shot and see what came of it. I very quietly followed the game trail that led over the ridge. I come up and over the ridge and....nothing. I didn't see a thing. I continued to follow the game trail I was on and very quietly snuck up and over a small berm in hillside I was walking. As I came up over the berm I spotted the doe...and she spotted me. She bounded off a little ways but stopped and looked back. I pulled out the binoculars and glassed her guessing to be about 40 yards away. As I was glassing I saw a slight movement in the sage brush in front of her and I saw some antlers sticking up. My blood started pumping and I started to get excited since I knew that it was probably that same buck that I had seen on the other side of the hill. I quickly guessed him to be about 25 yards away. He was bedded down on the other side of the sage brush and I had no shot. The doe kept looking at me and I thought she would bust me any time and head for Dodge. However, she never took off. She just kind of paced back and forth not quite sure what to think of me. I thought however that the doe was going to bust me and that buck would stand up at any minute.
I got down on my knees hoping it would be less conspicuous and drew my bow back and held on the sage. I moved a bit and snapped a twig and that buck all of a sudden stood up and ran about five yards and stopped. I held still trying not to move a muscle and to keep my bow steady on his vitals. He had run about five yards so I moved to my thirty yard pin. The buck calmly walked in front of some sage brush and stood still. He walked a little bit more finally out of the brush and giving me a broadside shot. I made sure my aim was true....and I let 'er rip.
It all seemed slow motion. I saw that arrow head straight for the kill zone.... and BANG!!!!!! I knew my shot was true! I heard the hit and heard and saw that buck take off. I waited five minutes or so not wanting to be too anxious. I walked up to the spot I thought the buck was standing when I shot him and...I saw nothing. No blood, no arrow....just nothing.......but then I kept walking and noticed all the blood! I had hit the buck perfect. It was an awesome shot. I continued walking the blood trail, being as how the sun was fading fast and if I wanted to recover that buck in the light I knew I would have to move. A blind man could have followed the blood trail. About 30 yards from my shot I found my arrow....soaked in blood from tip to tip. I kept walking and about 60 yards from where I had shot the buck...he was DOWN! I couldn't believe it. He had gone no more than sixty yards before piling up in the sage.
Well, the fun part was over and I got down to the dirty work of gutting the little bugger. I didn't have much light left and it was not too fun finishing up in the dark but finally got the business taken care of and started the HIKE. It was all UP hill. It wasn't just some little tiny hill either but a whole lot more steep than I thought it would be! After dragging that bugger up hill about 1000 yards or so I was ready to never shoot anything ever again....ha ha ha. But I finally made it to the road and called my wife to pick me up!
Now, keep in mind that I don't currently own a truck! So, Megan picked me up in the good 'ol trusty Nissan Maxima (that I have dubbed our 4x4 Maxie) and stuffed the dead body in the trunk! Got the deer home, out of the trunk, and hung in the garage! For my FIRST deer, I couldn't have asked for a better night! He's not KING KONG or anything, but to me he's perfect!
WHAT A NIGHT! ! ! ! ! !
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