Last day, last light, end of season success

[Salmo trutta]

More like the final minutes, final day, and it all came together. I got my first buck today, 7pts, at the ears. I almost didn't and let the draw down once but then let it fly when he was perfectly broadside. Heart shot, and this buck went further than the large doe I gut/liver shot two weeks ago. Next time I'll be more selective for sure. I took a little further shot than I wanted to (33 yards), rushed it a little being the last five minutes of the season and hit a little low but it turned out well. The deer was up a hill from me so it was almost a level shot when I was 15 feet high. I was covered up with deer all night and spooked the first herd when I drew on a mature doe. A little later I saw antlers working towards me. Sure enough, once I shot the one, a much larger buck spooked that was hidden in the thicket. Would I have had a shot?, who knows.

The first picture is of my two sons, Gabe, 13 and Ryan, 5. My step son Gabe doesn’t really like hunting. Or anything for that matter, but he has recently found interest in shooting so maybe there’s hope. The younger one is a crack shot with his little compound, loves hearing stories about deer and muskie, and can't wait to hit the woods with me. Next year I hope.
Then there's the owner of the property’s kids. They are Jeremy and Jonathan, 15, the two boys of quadruplets, 2 boys and 2 girls and the other 9 year old in the picture. These kids want to hunt so bad they can taste it. They are home schooled and their only means of entertainment is the great outdoors. The way it should be. Their father was late on putting them through hunter safety this year but I have them very excited now. I've harvested 3 deer from their property in 5 hunts, 2 enormous doe and know there are more than a few trophy bucks around. Just wish I got one of the kids on this buck. OH well. Next year we'll start hanging stands in August and cutting trails and shooting lanes just how we like them. The kids can't wait. Double ladder stands here we come. Here's to hunting and have a great off season.

How about a little love.

A few more details and the long story: The deer didn't show until 4:20pm or so yesterday evening but when they did they came in hordes. First they were in the field, pasture, then two fawns and a doe worked up a trail which was above me and soon we would be starring almost eye to eye. Not the smartest set up but this is where I stuck another large doe earlier this year. The trick is to let them walk past a tree covered in vines concealing me and then whack them with that perfect quartering away shot. Well the mature doe makes me from 30 yards, I figured I had to try to draw when she dropped her head but I didn't make it all the way and they bust like expected. But they don't go far and the rest of the herd is still 100 yards away or so. Then she decides to dip under a fence to circle around on me from further in the woods but keeping a lot of cover between us. I swear she's done this before. She would almost have to get 150 degrees behind me to catch my scent with the strong wind gusts at the time. She steps into an opening at 35 yards but it's no larger than a basketball with branches all around it. I thought about it but knew there was too much room for error. She spooks again, never advancing as far as she did the second time.
Her fawns are tailing her but never passing her. They were feeding comfortably but every time she would stomp or flag, they'd do the same. But then continue feeding when she was walking around very nervously. Another mature doe joins her but stays back. Never passing her. Earlier when she first spooked, they crossed under a fence after retreating 40 yards or so and many of the deer followed her. All the "new" or fresh deer that had just entered the area would freeze on the trail where the lead doe had turned around, then back track and cross under the fence in the same spot. Weird how they went under, they could have easily jumped it and it looked awkward when they had to duck so low.

I had informed, aka, asked my wife I’d be hunting the last day of the season that afternoon and she was fine with it. Then she picks up a contract on a house at the last second and has to work late. No problem, we are lucky enough to have parents in the area who help out with babysitting when we need it. I’ll just have my dad pick my son up from preschool, except he’s at the DR’s when I called him around 2pm. I left messages, email, the usual which usually doesn’t take that much and he’s happy to do it. I never hear from him which means I’ll probably have to be out of the tree at 5pm to go get my son or else we will get charged a $1 a minute. Then $2 a minute after ten. I said to myself while up in the tree at 4:45 with deer all around me, maybe it’s worth it. Maybe I’ll have his brother ride his bike to go get him? I’m screwed here! I made a last few second attempts of phoning, texting and was about to give up. Then my phone vibrates, it’s my father. I can’t talk, there’s deer all around me, I whisper and ask him to check his email, he knows what I’m doing and was very understanding and is willing to get my son. Except the deer were not. These things were already out the door and knew something was up but even a whisper in the woods into a cell phone will get heard. They all bolt out of the area. I was sure my day was finished.

When the lead doe finally spooked the second time, she took the whole herd with her. This was 5pm or so by now, maybe a little later. The sun had set behind the hill when I catch glimpse of a new group, except this time there are horns glistening off the sunlight. I know there's a trophy beyond all trophies in these woods but I wasn't quite sure this was him. But he was good size for sure. They were working in the direction of my old corn/lw pile which I had replenished earlier with the last remaining cup but decided to move stands at the last second to intercept the deer on another trail and forgo the pathetic bait pile.

I thought for sure these deer were going to go to my small food pile which 2 weeks ago I was replenishing regularly. Just my luck, the one time I don’t hunt the pile. Except they worked directly towards me. First I saw the large buck, that was following a nice mature doe. Then I lost them. Then there are three deer working towards me, almost within range coming from a different angle. One was a buck but was it the large buck I just saw? I didn't think so at first, this one was too small when I looked at him straight on. How did he just cover all that ground so quickly I thought? The smaller buck advanced but then froze as he hit the spot where the lead doe an hour before him spooked. It was as if he knew something wasn't right. There were three other doe that were following him and they did the exact same thing. No it was not the wind, it was blowing in my face and they were well up wind by 50 yards, plus it was blowing 10mph, easy. Somehow they smelled the lead doe's tracks and somehow they knew there was nervousness in her travel pattern. The does crossed under the fence in the exact same spot and moved off. The buck however was curious and turned around and moved towards me. There was 5 minutes of light left. I drew on him when he was 35 yards but then thought to myself, that can't be him. Where did that other deer go? So I painfully slowly let the draw down. Of course he worked a little closer, then turned perfectly broadside. I drew again just to see if I could, and I think I honestly thought at the time that I'd give him a pass. Then some demon inside me said, this is it, time is up. Like the English General in Braveheart, "Release!" The arrow went lower than I had planned and I wasn't sure I hit the vitals. I was so angry at myself that I tore my facemask from my hat and threw it to the ground. But I did hear that familiar sound when the three blade muzzy made contact. The sound of a hollow object getting hit with a projectile, that hollow object being the rib cage surrounding the lungs. Like the sound a balloon partially filled with water and air makes when you kick it around or the sound a largemouth makes slurping up a frog on a farm pond. Not the sound of a snapping twig a leg shot might sound like. I was certain I hit him but I thought it was far too low and outside the kill zone. I almost threw the bow to the ground in disgust but part of me wanted to believe. Of course it was the bow’s fault.

After the shot, three more deer appear from the thicket and sure enough one of them was the larger buck I thought I saw. He was not the deer I shot as I eventually saw him jump the fence, near where all the other deer had gone under the fence that evening. Part of me thought it was the same deer I just shot but this thing was significantly larger. Three doe followed his exact travel pattern and were gone. But only after they looked to the west with an inquisitive look, the direction I thought my deer had gone which had given me hope.

I climbed down and gathered my gear after a 15 minute wait. I paced off the distance to my arrow which was stuck in the ground, covered with blood but not as much blood as I've seen before. No bubbles on the fletching and only light spatter around the shot site. Of course my good flash light was in the car so I was in trouble in that respect. The Casio commando comes with a decent flash light but nowhere near enough. One would think you wouldn’t forget such an import tool on the last day of the season. I decide to work down the mowed path in search of my deer where I think he might have ran and then head to the car to get the better flash light if I needed it. First I gave the fence a thorough check for blood as part of me thought the deer that jumped the fence was the deer I just shot. Nothing. I worked a little further, just passed where a doe I shot two weeks ago had expired and there he was. My first buck. I couldn't believe it. I’ve lost a couple close friends in my young adult life who would have loved to have been with me and I have a feeling they were looking out from above….or below. Perfect shot, he might have gone 100 yards, probably not that far even. What a way to end the season. I learned some valuable deer behavioral traits, learned about travel patterns in this area and am already excited for next season. It's amazing how every time you are out in the woods you seem to learn something or see something different leading you to concoct theories and ideas behind them.
I am almost certain that when a deer stomps and turns around, it leaves some sort of alarm scent or sign that another deer up to an hour or possibly a day later can pick up on. I’m sure there’s still infinite deer communication strategies that we will never understand but looking into their lives and social structure, while being in their element is just another reason hunting is so exciting. Back to the water, the trout, the muskie, the walleye and the stripers. The full moon in early February is coming. Hopefully the big cows have moved up the river on queue like year’s past. But with this warm weather I’m not too optimistic. Here’s to getting back on the water for the other season that never ends. Time to go fishing.

[slim23]

nothing wrong with that meat in the freezer congrats

[Scott McGuire]

Nice Job!

[baysider]

Congrats man!! Great way to wrap up the year.

[dannosdoormats]

You should submit that fine essay to one of the outdoor periodicals! Good job.

[Salmo trutta]

Thanks for the words. I have hundreds of similar essays of hunting and fishing articles written but it's not easy breaking into the periodicals. They always tell me they are not looking for narratives. Any pointers? I'd give anything to do that part time/ fulltime

[tubby]

Nice job.....No tarp in the back of the SUV???

[Salmo trutta]

I have one of those large mats from cabelas that can hold a gallon of water or more and forms to the sides well. I got a little blood on the bumper and side pannels but nothing on the carpet. The carpet still looks bran new in a 10 years 185k miles.