Opening day yesterday started out kind of slow. I was hunting with my dad and brother the whole weekend. Saw 1 doe on a morning hunt yesterday pushing some brush and glassing a big clearcut/drainage. After going home for a lunch break we headed back out for an evening hunt. We pushed a big timber patch and started moving deer. I passed a shot at a small basket buck (maybe a small fork). After our push i watched a huge clearcut til dark and was able to spot a small crab pincher forky, just not what i wanted to put my multi-season tag on. I had at least another 3 deer coming out of the timber within the last few min of shooting light when a truck full of a bunch of kids comes driving down the road shining a spotlight and spooked them back into the timber. I ran up to the road and yelled "HEY! YOU JUST SCARED OFF MY DEER!"
They spent no time getting the heck outta there..... I radioed my dad who was already back at the truck and he was able to grab their license plate #....More on that later.
Day 2, today....
We started off the morning with a little later start than we would have liked. We got to a decent spot a little closer to home, that we had seen deer in before, about 30 min before light and set up. Sat for an hour and a half or so, absolutely freezing.... Didnt see any deer, just trucks driving down the road. We decided we had sat that spot long enough and we would head to our originally planned spot and push the timber we had found yesterday. Half way there my brother happens to spot a doe 100 or so yards off the road so we pull over and jump out. I run down the road and step off on a stump where i have a good vantage point of the area. I watched the doe through my binos until i decide it is just a doe. I had my gun slung over my shoulder ready to walk back to the truck. I took one last look and the doe bounced off... Along with her was 5 other deer i quickly through my gun to my shoulder and watched this buck come trotting out from the reprod. My exact words, "Holy crap Tim... Shoot it!" My brother had dropped into a hole and had no shot. Next up was my dad... Dad shoot. I hear "CLICK" and he yells crap. Ok my turn.... I shot twice and put him down. Totally excited
. We got the deer back to the road and i started field dressing it, had a few passers-by congratulate me and one happened to warn me i better get my tag on it as there was a game warden nearby. We get the deer in the truck i start notching my tag just at the warden happened to come pulling up fast. He jump out as if he was gonna try and catch me doing something illegal. He soon calmed down and was more congratulatory when he saw we werent doing anything wrong. He did tell me though that if my tag was still unnotched in my pocket when he pulled up, whether i was going to notch it or not, we would have had a problem. So word to the wise. do it first thing.
We told him about the encounter with the spot lighters yesterday and he wasnt even interested in a plate number. Just went on about locals doing stupid stuff. I asked him a few questions on his take of the game regs: spotlighting just for fun without "intent" to hunt, and whether or not a tag has to be on the animal or at least notched in your pocked so it wont fall off. He gave me his interpretations but said every officer will interpret it different.
Anyway very excited to fill my tag on a devent sized blacktail. Even more excited that my dad and brother were both there to watch. Oh and im going to do a shoulder mount. I went into this year with the goal that if i shoot something with 3 points ill mount it. Anyways.. the part you all want to see. PICS
