Our 2012 youth
firearm season started the evening before with a little scouting trip. I Picked
up Josh and Jamison from their house and we drove over to some public land that
we would be hunting for the next two days. It was raining and there was a 10
mph north wind, Perfect conditions for sneaking around the edges to the fields
to see what was going on.
We put on our supposedly
water proof and resistant jackets and headed off to a spot that has not only
been good to be but Josh 2 years ago as well. That year we were not really even
settled in when he shot a deer.
As we made our
way down the road right off we saw deer in the field. A closer look revealed
three bucks eating in the cut corn field. One was a BIG one and another anyone
would shoot .The other was a so so deer that I would be happy if one of the
boys got.
We slowly and quietly
backed out of there and checked out another area that I had not been to in
several years. It didn’t look anything like it did 10-15 years ago when I
called it my stompin grounds due to all the brush and what once was small
saplings, but the lay of the land was the same and deer were using it just like
they always have. We saw a few other deer and knew that we would be in a good
area.
The next morning
we were there bright and early. The temperature was somewhere around 40 with a north, north west
wind somewhere around 15 mph . The
weather man said that the highs today would be around 50 so it is a perfect
morning.
Jamison and I
left Josh in the spot that he likes to sit, the afore mentioned place that was
good to him two years ago, and we made our way out across the field where we
would find a pace to hide. We found two willow trees that looked good and was
between two heavily used deer trails, but a deer would be right on top of us
before we would see it. Not far away from there we found a stand of Russian
olive bushes and a quick trim with my Gerber saw and clippers we had a blind
that anyone would be proud to sit in.
We sat in the
darkness and watched as the sky went from pitch black to different shades of
pink and orange. As the new day was being born the world around us began to
wake as well. It was not long till we saw our first deer. A doe that Jamison
spotted on the skyline and turned in to a dark shadow as it made its way to
where she would lay around for the day. It was still 8 minutes till official shooting
time, and with the two big boys we saw in this area the night before it was an
easy decision to let her go on her way.
Not long after
our fist deer sighting we saw two more deer slowly making their way to our
position. One was a doe and the other had some impressive head gear but was
still a bit to far to shoot. A very tense few minutes with me coaching him to
keep calm and slow his breathing, Jamison was in position to shoot. As soon as
the buck stopped and gave a broad side shot at 75 yards James pulled the
trigger. The shot rang out in the silence of the morning but the deer stood
there and looked around. He quickly reloaded the H&R Ultra Slug Hunter and
steadied the cross hairs on the deer again. This time the deer ran out into the
field a little, but they were still unsure of what was going on. After his third shot the deer disappeared over
the hill, untouched by the slugs he was throwing at them.
Somewhere around
9 o’clock we again had deer moving in our direction. It was a doe and a smaller
buck. Jamison said he was not going to shoot the 4 pointer but if the doe
offered a shot he was gonna take it. They both moved closer to us and the small
buck gave one perfect shot after another the closest being at thirty yards. The
doe gave a nice broad side shot at fifty yards and Jamison took it. At the
sound of the shot the deer ran. It acted like it was hit but I could not see
where. It kind of appeared to me that he hit one of her front legs.
We climbed out
of or hide and looked down the field were Josh was sitting. I could see Josh
,and someone else wearing an orange hat 75 yards in front of Josh in the field.
I got on the radio and ask what in the world was going on down there. Josh said
he saw the guy and he thought the guy saw him. Josh said the guy was carrying a
bag and was bending down and picking stuff up. I told Josh to yell at the guy
to let him know he was there and the guy made a quick exit, now back to looking
for this deer.
We went out and
found where the deer was standing and started to run, the rain in the last two
days really helped us out with that. I found one drop of blood as big as my pinky
nail right there and another about half that size a few feet away. It was easy
to see where the deer went into the grass field because of the dew on the
ground. We then saw a doe standing out in the over grown grass 50 yards away
and she made a quick exit. We followed the path the deer ran up until she hit
some woods not seeing another speck of blood. From there we spread out and
covered every inch of ground and found no more sign of a good hit . After searching for
almost 2 hours we decided the deer had to be hit in the leg and was going to
live to see another day.
We had Josh come
down and help us with the search so we decided to find another spot to sit for
another hour or so before we called it a morning.
With Josh all
set up in a new spot Jamison and I headed off to find us somewhere to sit when
we spotted a heard of deer feeding in the corn somewhere around a half mile
away from us. We opted to do a stalk and see how close we could get. So we
backed off of the field a little bit and headed the direction where we saw the
deer.
As we got closer
I occasionally would take a look out in the field and see if we were still on
track. Everything about this stalk was going good, a little too good, but with
the wind in our favor we pressed on.
I could see the
feeding heard just over the rise and it wouldn’t be long until it was trigger
pulling time. I forgot to mention that when we met up with Josh I convinced
them to switch guns. Josh has killed several deer with the H&R but James
has not so he wanted to use it this morning and against my better judgment I
let him. Now he has his Mossburg 500 youth with a rifled barrel and I have much
more faith in his shooting abilities with it.
With James
behind me we slowly and carefully pressed on. All at once I spotted 2 deer bedded
down just 20 feet from us. James saw the
deer just seconds after I did and as I stepped to the side and covered my ears
they stood up. James fired and I saw one deer run off. We stepped out into the
field and took just a few steps and saw his deer, a 1 ½ year old 5 pointer
piled up.
After a couple
high fives we sat down and watched as the rest of the herd, 9 deer in all walked
up within 30 yards of us, I wish we had brought Josh along.
After a few
pictures and text messages we field dressed the deer and I started the mile and
three quarter walk across the muddy field to get the deer cart.
That evening we
had Jamison sit up on a hill and radio us information on where the deer were
entering the field. Even though we saw several deer one never came close enough
for a shot.
We could not hunt
the next morning but were back that evening in a different spot than before. We
were at the willow trees and were counting on Jamison’s reports because we couldn’t
see very far from our position. My friend Jeff and his son Ryan had joined us
this evening as well and they were across the field from us in a spot the deer
have always congregated in the past.
After being
spotted by a group of does not once but twice due to me not being as careful as
I should have the end of the day was drawing near. All at once I heard
something move behind us and turned to see a deer just a few feet away. Before
I could let Josh know, the deer saw me and jumped and ran back into the
overgrown field. Then the area exploded with deer. They seemed to be everywhere
but the one that was going to make the fatal mistake was 30 yards behind us .
The only thing we could see clearly was its head ears and neck. Josh steadied
the gun against the tree but said he didn’t feel comfortable with the shot so he
didn’t take it.
We ended our
2012 youth deer season with only one deer but memories and lessons that will
hopefully last a life time.
