Bud - AWESOME
hey guys I just got done breaking and icing.
HUGE Doe about 125 # I couldnt even pick it up - 15 yard shot - 40 yard recovery - 66# longbow - 2020 w 165 simmons sharks - what a beautiful day !!!! - saw several - this was the biggest - Persimmons are hammering NOW they are at least 10 days early guys go find one
was gonna hunt tomorrow after work but Im too tired - next hunt Thursday. I only have cell phone pics ?? not sure they ll make it to here.
soon after lunch I met my buddy Matt Quick since we hunt several properties together. We split the list and went seperately to scout check sign mostly acorns a couple a persimmons and we usually are looking for deer droppings this time of year since there is so much feed available.
I bumped 4 deer bedded under some oaks at one of our spots then proceeded to my afternoon spot. We'd been in there late August there is a single persimmon tree heavy and going early. A few large oaks nearby are not really going yet and there is plenty of big timber in this creek bottom. I park at the end of a cultisac and cross a fairway. Soon as I watch someone finish putting I blaze across this method mostly keeps me from getting hit by golf balls but I do hear plenty.
down the side - cross the creek - and I already have a tree in mind that is 20 yards from the persimmon. I sneak quietly after shinning up the creekbank and go to attach my lone wolf climber and IT DOESN'T FIT !?!?!?! - now im annoyed by making such a stupid mistake having laid an entry trail now which I hate - I quickly backtrack - down the creek - to another tree - and the stand goes on - but just barely. Ended up having to jump up into it grabbing the seat and doing a pullup sort of thing.
Quiet, quick climb and I am 16 feet up easily having made no more noise than a squirrel. A branch in front of me will make perfect cover so I hit it half way with a pruner and it lays half way down perfectly providing a sheild in front of me and since the tree I am in is a little too thick it completetly breaks any silhouette. hang pack - scew in a bow holder - screw in another one to hold my quiver and in just minutes I am practice drawing at shot windows in and around the persimmon tree and just as I start to relax I see a fruit drop
so I immedaietly break out mini 10s binoculars and scan the ground. ? Nothing - looks like everything has been cleaned up and we know creek bottom and river bottom deer move a lot more than just dawn and dusk.
45 minutes later a hound dog pushes a doe by me and crashes what was a beautiful afternoon. moments later I hear people talking 150 yards away - could be a new homesite or timber work - dogs and people come with the territory hunting chatham county.
an hour later things look good agian - some more fruit has dropped - shadows have lengthened - crows have been yelling all afternoon - must be a roosted owl or hawk nearby - and I start thinking it may be time to pull that bow off the holder and at least have it in my hand - and as soon as I thought it I bumped it off the hook and too the ground !? You gotta be kidding me - I expect to make mistakes day one but this is ultra stupid !!
So I climb down - get my bow AND arrow - and climb back up - as I am turning to sit 2 deer blow at me and cantor out of there - bummed. That was probably my chance - lucky at that since a dog already pushed a different deer out earlier - I can't believe I have blown it and begin to get mentally ready "when to pull out" but also it is a beautiful day so I just sit back and enjoy the show. Sunset is only 15 minutes away and i have a front row seat.
10 minutes later the biggest doe I have seen in years walks in almost directly under me - I do not move - and she looks at the trail I entered and I think she thinks I left. I am pretty sure she heard something earlier but if they are bedded you almost have to step on them to get em up.
She walks under the tree and starts nuzzleling and feeding - and in just a couple a minutes her head is behind a tree trunk so I stand slowly steadily and with no noise. her head comes up she scans around and starts to feed and walk at the same time like deer like to do and I see an opening in some lower limbs she will go under and i decide if her chest goes through that opening I will shoot.
She does and I make a perfect shot from full draw 15 yards and she bucks and steps back and stands there - obviously not knowing what has just happened. Couple a seconds later she takes a few quick walking bounds and stops 40 yards out standing still but tail twitching wildly and I know she is annoyed at something. About 10 seconds later she falls over front legs futilly motioning running away she passed into a final sleep.
I put the binoculars on her to confirm but I was shaking so bad it was nothing but a blur - then she must have completely relaxed as her weight rolled slightly showing bright white belly we all do love to see. It is amazing how well deer can blend in alive but when they are dead that belly is like a road sign.
Happiness is a lot of things and for today double lung placement and a trail so short it can be confirmed from stand will have to do
Matt was hunting a few miles away and good thing since I could drag the deer out but could not lift it.
By Friday the meat will be aged 5 days and we are making a huge batch of chili out of the whoe deer (minus backstraps of course)
Great start to what looks like a great year - we have a small circle of friends we send cell ph pics too for some years now - first thing we do when we walk up on a kill - after a brief prayer of THANKS.
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Topic: North Carolina Deer Season Prep and Highlights 2012 (Read 4297 times)
