Deer Season 2020 - Part 3
Well it had been a week since my last deer hunting adventure. Muzzleloader season was over but that doe tag was burning a hole in my pocket. I decided I best give it some effort to try and achieve my goal of 3 deer. We had some snow, cold, and a perfect wind. Regardless of if anything showed up it was going to be a pleasant afternoon sit. Deer patterns had been similar but they had been splitting the field according to my buddy. Instead of posting up in my treestand I was going to hide on the ground in the brushy fenceline. I picked a spot in between 2 trees that I could use as a rest to shoot to either side of the field. It would require some fancy swiveling but they would have to cross an open field so I should have plenty of time. However I had some pretty major blind spots if they decided to come along the fenceline directly from the east.
I expected late movement tonight and was surprised to see some activity midway through the hunt. Even more surprised that they were already crossing the field. I had a fawn on its way over and could see a doe behind it once I got the binoc’s up. I didn't have clear vision of either of them but the nice thing about binoc’s is that you can look through brush but focus on what is beyond it. The doe hugged the tree line and the fawn made it about halfway over before heading back to the treeline. They spent quite awhile over there and eventually a few other does joined up with them. At the same time another group of does popped out and they all converged. Then they started heading across the field right to the area where the treestand that I should have been in was. Although they could still hit the fenceline and come from the east straight at me in my blind spots. I had to do some careful shimmying on the crunchy snow to turn around and get set up. Luckily I had enough brush between me and them that I could do this undetected as they were moving across the field fast.
I got in position and just hoped they would pop out in my field. If they did I had about a 140 yard shot vs a 30 yard shot if I'd have been in my treestand. I've never shot a deer that far but I had taken my time dialing in the 450 and was confident I could make the shot using the tree as a rest. I spotted movement as they cleared the brush that obstructed my vision. I thought it would be tougher to pick one out but the sunset lit this big doe up just right and I knew that was the one. I settled in, squeezed the trigger, and the deer disappeared after the recoil. The others hung around for a minute or 2 trying to figure out what happened and I couldn't see a deer down where I had taken the shot. My best guess is she ran straight east into the woods as it was just a few bounds away from her. With the snow I knew it wouldn't be hard to figure out the situation if my bullet flew true.
I'd left my headlamp in the truck so all I had was my phone flashlight. I waited until it got closer to darkness and headed over there. The phone flashlight didn't do the greatest job especially since it wasn't totally dark yet. However I somehow walked to the exact spot the deer was standing and it was obvious my bullet had hit it's mark. The deer had instead of going directly east headed back to where it came from and I couldn't see it because of the brush. Despite my crappy lighting situation I followed the spray for 15 yards or so and looked up to see the deer laying another 15 yards away in the tall grass.
I couldn't believe I got lucky again. 3 deer on the year I deer hunted the least in my entire life. I was extremely grateful and don't ever expect to have luck like that in the future. I definitely missed not spending more time out there as I only had a total of 5 hunts. I just like to be able to go and have the opportunity to see deer or whatever other animals pop out. I'm happy to have the freezer full and looking forward to doing to some sausage making with all the burger from the last deer.