Okay....here we go.
So the ride over went smooth as butter. We hit the road right on time and pushed straight to Winthrop for bacon and eggs. Funny to be up there and still be able to smell the smoke. We made Omak and met up with buddy Oren and his family while they were out running errands. Hung around and chatted then went to go get settled in. We got the blind up and were hunting yesterday by about 3 pm. Man was it hot. Oren and Mark promptly got tired and started to doze off a bit. I was fading but stayed alert. I'd like to say my son hung in there and sat still for 6 hours but that was not to be. He made it a solid three hours sweating in the blind. We same a couple of forkies come in, a spike was milling around, and the sage dragons (chipmunks) were entertaining. After a few hours it was clear he was maxed out. The boy was spent. I reminded myself that my dream of him sitting next to me while I shoot a deer is mine...not his (yet!). So, Oren loaded him up and ran him back to the house so he could relax and play with the other kids. If I force him with the cruel and unusual punishment of sitting in a blind when he doesn't want to it will simply not work in either of our favor. While Oren was gone I had a couple of yearlings come in with momma. She got a pass only because she spooked a bit when I began to draw. Probably for the best. Oren comes back and the deer are starting to move pretty good. By now it is about 6 and way cooled off. As the evening was winding down we were down to about the last 10 minutes of shooting light. Soon I would not be able to see my pins. Oren perks up for what I think is no apparent hearing. His sixth guiding sense had kicked in and he knew a fat doe was close....very close. I double checked my release and told my heart to slow down. I still get excited, what can I say. Then, there at 12 yards steps out a smooth headed doe. We sit, hold still, a few moments go by, and I slowly draw. Now, Oren is leaning back and out of the way, I'm at full draw and see her standing dead on straight at me on alert. Again...only 12 yards away. My top pin is floating steady low on her chest dead center. I know chest shots are not the best, I know the margin for error is tiny, I know it could be a long night if I don't aim true. I simply steadied the pin, focused, and let it fly. Immediately I hear Oren grunt along with the distint sound of a Montec G5 sinking in. I guess Orens knee was as a touch close to my lower limb and it whacked him. Whatever...he's a big sissy anyway. We could hear the distinct "whomp" "whomp" of a deer bounding away. It lasted a second or two then just stopped. No thrashing, no sound, just instant silence. Oren looks at me and says chest shot huh. Yep. We were quickly loosing the light so we got out to look around where she stood. We figured there would be no arrow since she was shot straight on. Right where she stood was good blood. Heavy red blood, no bubbles. We didn't really talk about whether we were going to back out or start tracking right away...it just kind of worked out. I would go to the blood, Oren would follow, I would advance. This was my first time tracking an animal and in hindsight should have taken it slower. We easily could have bumped her and made things go from good to bad. The blood was good and consistent. Every few feet would be a nice easy to see patch. We went about 25 yards, I was looking for the next spot, and Oren says hey, look over there. She was piled up next the base of a small tree. The arrow was sticking 3/4 out of here. The fletching had caught in her and held the arrow from coming out. It appears that upon being hit she took off bounding leaving a blotch of blood every time she landed. She must have gone 7 or 8 big bounds, stopped to look back, and then fell over. There was no sign of struggle or distress where she lie. I am thankful that she died quickly. The arrow entered almost dead center of her chest and did a complete center punch of the heart. She was dead where she stood, just didn't know it. We snapped a few pics then got her loaded up on the ranger and headed back to the house. This is the best part for me. Once we got to the house I hollared for the boy to put on his shoes. When he asked why I simply held out my hands. He knew what the blood meant. He says "We got one!". Thats right...WE did. All the kids came out and checked out the deer. We got it hung up and got to work on it pretty quick. Once we got the hide most of the way off my son as well as Orens boy came over and took the knives. Pretty cool to have the boys doing a little skinning. We would pull on the hide and show them to just run the blade over the connective "spider webby stuff". They got a little blood and loved every damn second of it. By about 10 we were done, kids in bed, and just taking it all in.
This morning Oren and I quarted the deer, cut out the tenderloins and backstraps, and got packed up. I kept a rear quarter to use as a practice hunk. The rest is at Kelsos for cutting and wrapping. Having steaks done and the rest as salami. Tonight the family had a section of backstap as a side dish.
It was fantastic and my son ate more than his fill.
Overall I of course wish he would have been there for the shot. In the end what I hoped for is not important at all. The important things like him participating, hanging out, playing with the kids, seeing deer, simply hunting, all were a complete success. We talked for a moment while working on the deer. I told him I was proud to have him along and thought he did a great job all around.
It was a good evening.
Here she is on the ranger....you can see the tag on her leg and the hole in her chest.....
