Post by: 7mmfan on October 31, 2016, 03:26:23 PM
It had been dumping rain most of the morning, but about 20 minutes before making it to his truck, the rain stopped and the wind picked up. I so wanted to be back in the clearcut at that moment, not packing meat, but that's the card we were dealt.
We shook hands and he went on his way, telling me if I knocked one down to give him a call, he'd come help pack it out. I sat in my truck and dried out for a few minutes, ate a snack and drank some coffee. I tried getting ahold of my wife to find out what time I needed to be home for the Halloween party, to no avail. Finally at about 1:30, I said screw it, and headed back in. Wasn't going to kill one sitting in my truck!
I was headed to a cut that I had hunted the night before and found a lot of sign. Along the way I was making short stands along the reprod doe bleating and grunting. I got an animal up at one point that I thought was going to come out, but he changed his mind and I heard him walk away deeper into the brush. When I got to the cut I planned on hunting, there was a guy and a kid sitting on a slash pile, so I quietly turned around and went back the way I came, not wanting to mess up their hunt.
At this point it was about 3:45 and my wife finally got back to me saying we didn't need to go to the party, so I could stay out as late as I wanted. BINGO, I b-lined for the cut where Fisheral87 shot his buck that morning. I had been seeing a lot of animals there over the last few days, and figured it was as good a bet as any for the last couple hours of daylight.
About 200 yards before I entered the cut, I hear a sound I'm not supposed to hear there. Dirt bikes. Sure as S#!$, here come 4 dirt bikes up the road heading from the cut I was heading to, right at me. They all stopped, himmed and hawed, knowing they were busted, and decided instead to blow right by me. I yelled at them as they went, but it didn't matter. Now I'm super p'd and just know that my evening hunt is ruined. I walk into the cut, take a few minutes to settle down and get focused again.
I start creeping along the road which runs right along the top of the cut, peeking over the edge into the bottom periodically. I had only gone a couple hundred feet, and maybe 15 minutes since the dirt bikes came through and I hear a rock rattle. I look up and not 50 yards away are 2 bucks walking down the middle of the road right at me. I was lucky to have dropped into the ditch to go around a tank trap immediately before this, so I had some cover, I think its the only reason they didn't see me immediately. I brought my gun up slowly as the lead buck continued my way, head down, on a mission, giving me no shot. Finally at about 40' he turned and gave me a quartering to shot, which I placed right behind the shoulder. In hindsight a brisket shot might have been better, but it was effective. What happened next is still mind boggling to me. That deer, while noticeably hit, not only DIDN'T go down, but actually continued walking on the angle he was on, crossing the ditch and up the sidehill about 30' before stopping next to a group of alders. I stepped out on the road walked down until I could see his neck and from about 15' dropped him. The initial shot entered right behind the shoulder at a steep angle, leaving a fist sized entrance wound. The bullet fragmented and big chunk went straight up through the backstrap, another chunk continued through the intestines which were hanging out the back of a fist sized exit hole, and the bulk of the bullet was found just under the skin in the off side hindquarter. An immense amount of damage, that he took and kept moving. Remarkable.
The whole time, his partner, another slightly larger horned 2 pt just stood there 50' away frozen. I almost had to start walking towards him to snap him out of it.
I placed the call back to Fisheral87 who was just starting to think about a nap, and told him to put his boots back on. He was on his way. I got to quartering and just as I was making the final cuts, he walked over the tank trap I was hiding behind when I took the shot. The deer was laying in the road within 100' of where he had been sitting when he shot his buck that morning. Pretty amazing. We loaded up and put miles 10, 11, and 12 on our boots for the day, by headlamp.
It was a great way to end the season, with a double (not a true double, but close enough for me), and two buddies packing meat for miles.
Every deer is special to me, but this guy was particularly special for a few reasons. I nicked a big buck in that cut earlier in the week, and missed a long shot as well. I was pretty rattled and extremely disappointed in myself for drawing blood on an animal (even if not lethal) and not recovering it. It was hard for me to get over, and still is really. This buck helped me move on though, and I kneeled down next to him and thanked him for his sacrifice, and vowed to be a better hunter in the future.
Post by: fishnfur on October 31, 2016, 07:21:27 PM