The creek was up. Recent rains had brought it from standing holes of water, to a noticeable running current. I stood looking at it for a moment wondering if my rubber boots were going to be high enough to keep my feet dry. With only one way to find out, I eased into the water. I went slowly, and at the deepest point I had no more than 1 inch of freeboard. Upon reaching the opposite bank, I breathed a sigh of relief and continued on deeper into the swamp.
My destination was the same funnel where I had killed the deer last week. I hadn’t been back since then, and hoped that leaving it undisturbed for 7 days would help my chances of having an encounter. I picked my way across several more sloughs, which had been dry the week before, but were now full of water. Luckily, I remembered how they looked empty, and knew the shallowest places to cross.
Upon reaching the tree I planned to climb(which happened to be the same one as last time), I strapped on my gaffs, attached my bow to my pull-up cord, and climbed quickly and quietly to the desired height before hanging my Loc-On. After removing my gaffs and pulling up my bow, I settled back on the seat. I glanced at my watch…7:15. I had been late getting into the woods because of the snooze button.
From the elevated position, the first thing I noticed was how evident the funnel was with the increased water level. I imagined it would also make it much more effective. I checked the wind with my breath, and saw that it was perfect, lightly drifting from my 1 o’clock. I expected any movement to come from between my 9 and 11 o’clock. I had been doubting the current moon phase, which in the past has been tough on me, but after hearing several distant gunshots during my first 30 minutes on stand, I started to feel pretty good about it.
At 8:00, I heard a big racket, and looked to my left. In just a second, I caught a glimpse of deer hide moving through the trees heading in my direction. It was coming fast. I stood up quickly, and about that time saw another deer appear. They were trotting straight toward me. As they were coming in, I scanned their heads for bone, but didn’t see any. When the two does got to about the 10 yard line, I caught more movement behind them, and immediately knew why they were trotting. A nice buck was chasing them. He was about 60 yards back, but steady coming. I watched the does come on in, and then veer off to pass behind my tree.
Suddenly I had a problem. They were now going to be passing on my downwind side. I could only hope they wouldn’t smell me. When the lead doe got dead downwind of my tree, she locked up. Dang it! She acted confused, not wanting to continue on, but not wanting to head back toward the buck. In a split second, she made up her mind, and turned around to leave.
Knowing that my chances for a shot at the buck were over, I wasted no time. I drew the Centaur to anchor, and found my spot on the quartering away deer. All of my powers of concentration were focused on the mark as the string left my fingers. I watched, in what seemed like slow motion, as the orange feathers spun their way toward the target. They disappeared precisely where I had intended. It was one of the most beautiful shots I've ever made. I knew immediately, without a doubt, that she was through. I glanced over and watched as the buck ran off in the distance.
After settling down from all the excitement, I gathered up my things and headed down the tree. I walked over to where the deer had been standing. 6...7...8 yards from the base of my tree. There was an explosion of blood where she had been standing. I found my arrow about 3 yards into the bloodtrail. It had stuck in the dirt, but the feathered end had still been in her when she started to run causing her to carry it a little ways. The bloodtrail was awesome, and often times visible on the side of cypress knees 15 yards ahead. I found her about 75 yards out. It was a happy Thanksgiving.
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Topic: Thanksgiving Day Doe - #9 (Read 399 times)
