Wow…it’s been 3 whole days since my last post. Fred has been hunting hard and has had his chances, but not on any big bucks. Let’s hope he closes the deal tomorrow because it’s his last day here.
It has truly been a pleasure getting to know Fred. He has lots of interesting hunting stories and an even more interesting life.
The plan tonight was to wait until Fred was done for the evening and then go hang a new stand in the dark where he has been seeing quite few bucks in the mornings. I wasn’t going to hunt, but got to the farm about 45 min before dark to help him. On my way out I saw several deer feeding in fields and surprised a doe and her fawn when I pulled into our lane.
With all the sightings I figured I should let my bow get some fresh air. We park just east of the barn which is surrounded by a lush pasture that deer love feeding in at night. There was a steady north wind blowing, so I thought that setting up along the edge of the pasture in what we call the “barn hollow” would be my best bet. First I would have to spy all around the pasture to make sure there were no deer already out, even though I had just parked. To do this, I would have to go into the barn and look out the window or doors on the north, west and south sides. After making my way to the south side I saw 2, no 3, wait…6 de, errrr…..7 deer feeding about 50-60 yds from the SW corner of the barn.
I was now out of options for hunting and mad at myself for not getting here earlier. The only way I was going to kill a deer tonight is if one walked close to one of the barn openings.
Shortly after feeling discouraged, two of the deer started walking toward me. A few minutes later one of the does was broadside at 15 yds, but I didn’t think my set-up could penetrate the 1” plank barn siding and still fly true to its mark. I was beginning to get a little excited because I could watch her moving through the cracks in the siding, but knew I would need to be patient.
The doe must have thought there were greener pastures around the north side of the barn because she started to turn the corner. The first thing I saw was her right ear twitching. I got my bow up and drawn to 3-4” short of full. I shoot 71#, so this means I was holding about 59-62# for nearly 30 seconds before my burning shoulder and arms had enough. All I could see was her nose, right eye, and part of her right ear. I thought the game was over when I had to let down. Fortunately, she went back to feeding and after a few seconds of rest I began to add tension back to the string. She finally took another step and a half and I released while staring intently at a spot just a couple of inches above the point at which her leg met the underside of her chest.
WHAM!!!…down she went…spine shot from 5 yds (did I tell you this was from 5 yds on the ground?!?!). Now, I’m not sure if I blew the shot, she jumped the string or she had started to react from seeing my movement. I don’t think I blew the shot, and I think it unlikely that she could jump the string at 5 yds, so my guess is she saw me move. Anyway, I followed up with a quick second shot.
Here’s a picture Fred took with my camera right before its batteries died. He took some with his, but it may be a while before he can get them to me. He’s got another trip in a few days.
Shot distance 5 yds. Recovery distance 0 yds. A Snuffer and a Ribtek share the honors.
This is only my second trad deer. The first was also this season, just a few weeks ago in Georgia with the Dudley’s. (see St. Jude Armadillo hunt from this year) The coolest thing about it is that both deer were killed on Trad Gang-St. Jude Auction hunts.
I am very grateful for the meat, Fred’s help in taking care of the deer tonight and just getting the chance to meet him. And a special thanks to Trad Gang for giving us all a place to gather and share our experiences.
Topic: St. Jude/Pike Co. Hunt - All pics up now! (Read 1264 times)
