Dan the Man
Member
I got up to the lease late Friday night. There was no one
else there. It was cold. I slept fitfully (the heater ran out of propane
about 2 AM) until the alarm went off at 5:30. I decided it would be best
to get an extra 30 minutes of sleep, so I got up at 0600.
I dressed quickly and headed out to the stand. It was cold. I decided
to use the 'Jerry Townsend' strategy, and get out to the stand just as it
gets light. I don't have any working feeders, so no need to be ready when
a feeder goes off. I parked the truck, and it was nice and warm in the
truck, so I stayed there for 20 more minutes. I arrived at the stand
about 7 AM.
As I walked out to the stand, I noticed that the woods were much
thinner. Apparently a lot of clear cutting had occurred along the wooded areas between my stand and the main road. Happily, they were cutting farther west of me this particular morning. In addition, a colony of wasps had moved into my stand. Since it was cold, they were quite sluggish. I killed about 12 of them. It was self defense.
Once I got settled in, I noticed some branches had been bent over during
the clear-cutting and were blocking my view. Sheesh. I climbed down and
broke them off. Came back and settled in. Again.
About fifteen minutes later, a deer crossed the path about 150 yards down.
'Deer' I hissed and threw up my rifle. By the time I had a sight picture,
its head was obscured and I didn't know if it was a doe or buck (its buck-only season now in my county). But I waited. Deer #1 moved into the woods, and Deer #2 stepped out. Deer #2 was a small doe or anterless buck. Then Deer #3 stepped out. Deer#3 was a buck for sure, and I whispered 'buck' to myself. When he turned his head my direction, I saw nice brow tines. 'Pow' the gun goes off, and he jumps and runs off. From first deer to shot was about six seconds.
I wait a couple minutes and then walk on down. I'm still pumped with
adrenaline, and I find a little blood. Its only a small drop (1/4") but
its bright red. Well, not much, but the color is good. I knew I had hit
him well--the sight picture was good. But the lack of blood was
disturbing. I looked carefully around the ground and found some more
blood drips, but nothing bigger than a nickel. The area had been cleared of
underbrush, and the tree lines were sparse, so visibility was pretty good.
After a tense 30 seconds of tracking, I look up, and sure enough,
there he is, 25 yards from where I shot him.
The wound profile was a bit strange. The bullet hit him right on the
shoulder and blew a large entrance wound (1 1/2" diameter). The exit wound
was small and well back (just in front of the diaphragm). I found bullet
fragments when I skinned him. I believe the bullet (150 grain corelokt)
fragmented on impact and the largest fragment deflected and exited at a
quartering angle.
He has a 15 1/4" spread, and eight points. He had no upper teeth,
indicating he was probably past prime and starting to decline. (at least that is what I think that indicates)
This is my first buck from this lease (after five years of hunting),
and my nicest whitetail ever.
I took it to the taxidermist to have an antler mount, and my poor deer was dwarfed by the monsters that come from game managed properties in South Texas. But that's OK, because my deer is very nice.
Regards
--Dan
else there. It was cold. I slept fitfully (the heater ran out of propane
about 2 AM) until the alarm went off at 5:30. I decided it would be best
to get an extra 30 minutes of sleep, so I got up at 0600.
I dressed quickly and headed out to the stand. It was cold. I decided
to use the 'Jerry Townsend' strategy, and get out to the stand just as it
gets light. I don't have any working feeders, so no need to be ready when
a feeder goes off. I parked the truck, and it was nice and warm in the
truck, so I stayed there for 20 more minutes. I arrived at the stand
about 7 AM.
As I walked out to the stand, I noticed that the woods were much
thinner. Apparently a lot of clear cutting had occurred along the wooded areas between my stand and the main road. Happily, they were cutting farther west of me this particular morning. In addition, a colony of wasps had moved into my stand. Since it was cold, they were quite sluggish. I killed about 12 of them. It was self defense.
Once I got settled in, I noticed some branches had been bent over during
the clear-cutting and were blocking my view. Sheesh. I climbed down and
broke them off. Came back and settled in. Again.
About fifteen minutes later, a deer crossed the path about 150 yards down.
'Deer' I hissed and threw up my rifle. By the time I had a sight picture,
its head was obscured and I didn't know if it was a doe or buck (its buck-only season now in my county). But I waited. Deer #1 moved into the woods, and Deer #2 stepped out. Deer #2 was a small doe or anterless buck. Then Deer #3 stepped out. Deer#3 was a buck for sure, and I whispered 'buck' to myself. When he turned his head my direction, I saw nice brow tines. 'Pow' the gun goes off, and he jumps and runs off. From first deer to shot was about six seconds.
I wait a couple minutes and then walk on down. I'm still pumped with
adrenaline, and I find a little blood. Its only a small drop (1/4") but
its bright red. Well, not much, but the color is good. I knew I had hit
him well--the sight picture was good. But the lack of blood was
disturbing. I looked carefully around the ground and found some more
blood drips, but nothing bigger than a nickel. The area had been cleared of
underbrush, and the tree lines were sparse, so visibility was pretty good.
After a tense 30 seconds of tracking, I look up, and sure enough,
there he is, 25 yards from where I shot him.
The wound profile was a bit strange. The bullet hit him right on the
shoulder and blew a large entrance wound (1 1/2" diameter). The exit wound
was small and well back (just in front of the diaphragm). I found bullet
fragments when I skinned him. I believe the bullet (150 grain corelokt)
fragmented on impact and the largest fragment deflected and exited at a
quartering angle.
He has a 15 1/4" spread, and eight points. He had no upper teeth,
indicating he was probably past prime and starting to decline. (at least that is what I think that indicates)
This is my first buck from this lease (after five years of hunting),
and my nicest whitetail ever.
I took it to the taxidermist to have an antler mount, and my poor deer was dwarfed by the monsters that come from game managed properties in South Texas. But that's OK, because my deer is very nice.
Regards
--Dan