Home› Main Category› Hunting
Last week of deer season: meh...I'll shoot one more
Despite genuinely being tired of going afield at this point in the year, I decided to try and fill one last deer tag. The tag was sitting in my hunt pouch and I really didn't care if it went unfilled last week, but the thought of that suddenly irked me and I decided to go out tonight to a spot on base that I hadn't hunted for a while. I hadn't been out recently due to a minor health scare with our daughter and traveling back to Pennsylvania for my grandmother's 80th birthday. Moreover, I had a blind up at this spot earlier in the year here, but it finally gave way to the wind. To compensate, I pulled it down the rest of the way, packed it out and set up with GhostBlind and a chair tonight like I had when I killed a doe back in October.
Ohio has a late, relatively short and restrictive gun season, but they make up for it by giving you a loooong archery season that has run from Sept 27th, 2015 and doesn't end until February 7th. This is the final week, so it was now or never.
Twice earlier in the year, the same nice-sized doe gave me the slip at close range: once, she busted me from the opposite side of the now defunct pop-up blind, which I was all but pressed up against when preparing to shoot at a different doe. She blew and scared my target doe + one other deer away. The other time, I accidentally shot at her through some wispy, but somewhat dense grass that became invisible at last light, sapping my shot well short of her.
Tonight, she came out from a completely different direction than the previous encounters, starting at 116 yards straight out when I first lasered her, and slowly worked her way toward me to 36 yards. As I went to draw, she heard the slightest hint of my clothing rubbing together and peeked up just momentarily before I could get the string back. She didn't panic and went back to grazing, but it was now the literal last minute of daylight. Just then, the good fortune struck when a C-17 came into the runway approach pattern over us, low and loud. She went back to eating as the plane roared in and I took advantage of the noise camouflage to draw. As the plane noise started dying down, I quickly released to bury the string noise in the last bit of jetwash and just barely heard the arrow strike her quartering slightly away. She ran 75 yards and piled up in the open field.
This is the entrance wound. To my eye, I had aimed a little further back on her ribcage to compensate for the quartering angle and it looked like a perfect shot. In reality, it wasn't. In the barely useable light (and forgetting to turn on my pin light before I drew), it turns out that I hit about 4 inches further back than I would've like to. In the grand scheme, it made no difference as the shot caught plenty of lung and she expired very quickly. That said, I'll remember to turn on the pin light next time!
So, that's it for deer season. Though I can technically shoot one more deer in this county, I'm about burnt out. Between Ohio, Pennsylvania and Montana, that makes for 6 big game animals in the freezer and we should be more than set to make it to next hunting season.
Ohio has a late, relatively short and restrictive gun season, but they make up for it by giving you a loooong archery season that has run from Sept 27th, 2015 and doesn't end until February 7th. This is the final week, so it was now or never.
Twice earlier in the year, the same nice-sized doe gave me the slip at close range: once, she busted me from the opposite side of the now defunct pop-up blind, which I was all but pressed up against when preparing to shoot at a different doe. She blew and scared my target doe + one other deer away. The other time, I accidentally shot at her through some wispy, but somewhat dense grass that became invisible at last light, sapping my shot well short of her.
Tonight, she came out from a completely different direction than the previous encounters, starting at 116 yards straight out when I first lasered her, and slowly worked her way toward me to 36 yards. As I went to draw, she heard the slightest hint of my clothing rubbing together and peeked up just momentarily before I could get the string back. She didn't panic and went back to grazing, but it was now the literal last minute of daylight. Just then, the good fortune struck when a C-17 came into the runway approach pattern over us, low and loud. She went back to eating as the plane roared in and I took advantage of the noise camouflage to draw. As the plane noise started dying down, I quickly released to bury the string noise in the last bit of jetwash and just barely heard the arrow strike her quartering slightly away. She ran 75 yards and piled up in the open field.
This is the entrance wound. To my eye, I had aimed a little further back on her ribcage to compensate for the quartering angle and it looked like a perfect shot. In reality, it wasn't. In the barely useable light (and forgetting to turn on my pin light before I drew), it turns out that I hit about 4 inches further back than I would've like to. In the grand scheme, it made no difference as the shot caught plenty of lung and she expired very quickly. That said, I'll remember to turn on the pin light next time!
So, that's it for deer season. Though I can technically shoot one more deer in this county, I'm about burnt out. Between Ohio, Pennsylvania and Montana, that makes for 6 big game animals in the freezer and we should be more than set to make it to next hunting season.
Accuracy: because white space between bullet holes drives me insane.
Replies
Especially when suppertime comes.
I have two more invites to cull. Hope to take advantage of those in the next couple weeks.
Good luck out there. You've got a great spot and an awesome opportunity to have some fun!
Funny side story related to this particular deer:
Last night I was fortunate to have somewhat warm (high-40s) temps that allowed me to break out the hose at home and wash out the carcass. It was pitch black out, so I had to work by headlamp.
As usual, I propped the now field dressed deer up against our backyard fence, hooked the hose up and washed out the last of the blood from the body cavity. When I turned the hose off and disconnected it to mitigate an overnight freeze, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the now long-dead deer's head starting quivering. Next thing I know, it's jerking noticeably and rhythmically. I jumped back, momentarily scared sh**less of what's happening. I scanned the deer with my headlight and finally realized what was going on...
I saw a set of eyes and an excitedly wagging tail behind the deer. My wife didn't tell me that she let the dog out into the back yard - behind the fence where the deer was propped - while I was cleaning it. My pup's favorite food on earth is raw deer meat. The quivering deer was ol' boy doing his best to tug the deer through the holes in the metal fence by its ear so he could have a snack. For an instant, I thought I was about to become the first victim of the zombie deer apocalypse.
Yep, Six is one hell of a hunter. He thinks over every aspect and then perseveres until he succeeds. The older I get the less perseverance I seem to be able to muster.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
Thanks a lot. I think I'll get to your stage eventually. I still have good legs and a little bit of youth left on my side, but every year it gets mentally harder and harder to go that extra mile.
I get tired just thinking about how old I will most likely be when I draw my Nevada bighorn sheep tag. Given the average timeframe, I will be well into my 50's and staring up an ugly mountain to even get a crack at one.
I'm glad that this season ended on a high note, as this was the largest doe in this area and one that all of us who hunt this area wanted to shoot if the opportunity presented itself. Right place, right time and everyone else had about given up for the year. Late season can definitely pay off if you can suffer through that long of a hunting year.
CPJ proved that it take something like 3 or 4 shots to kill a deer, can you imagine what it would take to put one down during a deer apocolips?
That just made me chuckle, thanks for sharing
....
Just one if he went with iron sights, a silver bullet and a Texas heart shot.
As most of you know, I tend to be a bit crazy sometimes, but I haven't lost a minute's worth of desire. It's just that the older you get, the less your body cooperates. Just keep on keepin on as long as those legs will take you to the deer fields, And when that begins to fail find the technology to keep it going. You only go round once, and in my opinion there's no such thing as Retirement from hunting. You should hunt and shoot til they plant you as worm dirt.
If there's an ideal way to check out, it's right after you shoot the biggest buck of your life and they find you AND the deer dead!
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
Nope................They should find you in the woods, in front of a fire with a full belly of freshly broiled backsteak and a buck, sans one backsteak, hanging in a tree nearby......
Great Hustle Six. Don't worry about getting older and how it will affect your ability to hunt my friend...........As you get older your 'store' of experience means you will hunt smarter.
I will be 62 in a few days.........my motivation is still as strong as ever, the body, not so much, but I have found that experience makes up for the difference between a young fit body and an old 'not so fit' one.
I don't think your mileage may differ........
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
Hey, contrary to current Forum Hunting Etiquette, if you really want that deer, and that's the only shot you got, and your rifle is capable of penetrating to the vitals, and you don't mind cleaning the mess out of the meat, why not? That was how my dad killed his first deer, shot it right in the bung hole and it came out the chest, with a 30-06 and killed it DRT, and I killed one hog at over 100 yards like that, went in at an angle right above the Bung Hole and stopped right almost under the skin in the brisket, DRT. Use your own good judgement.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
The only *true* Texas heart shot I have even heard of working as advertised was done by my friend in Maryland very early in his bowhunting journey. He put one up the tailpipe on a deer at close range that went clean through it from stern to bow. It's a different game altogether when you're talking about a razor sharp broadhead and a lot of mass versus a rapidly expanding/decelerating bullet. A belly full of grass on the target animal can dramatically affect how much penetration a bullet gets.
There are just too many unknowns to go hurling a bullet at a deer's ass and expecting good results for my taste.
Well, different strokes for different folks and even more important, different experiences. But one thing about a THS is if done right it hits no bone. And you probably need a substantial firearm. Both of my examples were with a .30-06 with a heavy bullet. Don't get me wrong, it sure as hell isn't my favorite shot, but I believe with the right rifle it will bring a deer down without losing him.
Now hogs are a different matter. They're more dense and a little harder to penetrate. But who gives a hoot about a hog. If he runs off and you don't find him, so what? If you find him, it's a bonus.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
My preference for my 06 is a 200 grain Game King.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
I hope I have your spirit and ability when I hit 62, God willing. I can already tell, in the relatively short time that I've been hunting, that things become more efficient as you gain experience. I work a lot more and had a lot less to show for it when I first started this game.
I swear to you, if I left this dog to his own devices, he would eat the whole damned thing...
I had three on the pole and looked out the window and the lowest one was swinging. Once I could see the bottom, I found a Blab attached to the haunch. The other two are to lazy to jump, but the will lick and pick up anything that hits the deck.
Hanging this particular deer is not an issue because it suddenly got way too hot to hang anything in the garage this week. I was forced to ice it overnight and take it to the processor in the morning. I hate paying for it, but the weather leaves me no choice. It's 60 degrees outside right now at 7AM!