Laurie thinks I am nuts to endure such cold weather. The temperature was somewhere in the lower teens, possibly even single digit, with a breeze later in the morning. I dressed for it for I planned to be around once the temps rose towards the forty-degree mark. I knew the deer would be moving.
I heard a squeaking sounding dog high on the top of the hill followed by the rush of running deer. I would later see another dog chasing deer.
I would see two racked deer during the morning hours. I still-hunted the one trying to see how large the “horns “ were. Later I would watch a bigger buck with five does. I stalked this deer to no avail. He always seemed to be just out ahead far enough among the brush to not identify the point number.
As I watched these deer in the shadows of the neighboring hill, I spotted three more deer moving slowly feeding but in my general direction. The deer crossed a gulley that is spring fed. I stood still watching them and allowing them to get closer. The lead deer turned and walked below me. The cross hairs were in place and the twenty-six-yard shot was true.
However, in an adrenalin rush the deer exploded and turned towards the gulley where she crashed. The doe was a big one as the drag would prove to me. The shot was around eleven fifteen. I saw over twenty deer this morning.
Another problem besides the half mile drag was trying to load the big deer into the jeep. I just could not do it. Eventually I called my cousin Bob Smail, and he arrived and the two of us managed to load the deer. Normally I would have butchered the deer myself, but I was tired and decided to drop it off at a deer processing place.
I imagine I might be sore come morning!
In my later years way of thinking I passed on four shots on does but when the hunting mode hit me the instincts took over and a shot was made. I am getting soft hearted with age and the concerns of dragging deer any distance are always present.
Larry A. Smail's Blog 