"The night before opening day of regular gun season." emoBigsmile There is something magical about that day that only a true deer hunter would understand. To some it is like the night before Christmas. No sugar plum fairies dancing in your head..no, it is the image of large bucks chasing does all around your stand that keeps going through your mind as you try and go to sleep. You know that if one comes by with a high power rifle in hand, mounted on top is a 3 X 9 scope, gun loaded with a 30-06 150 grain high power core lock bullet...more than likely you will have a deer that day. emoTongue I had a hard time going to sleep last night.
This morning I was up early, too early but none the less I was up. I thought well I might as well go over there and I can wait in the car until time. Once there sitting in the car you think...well I could go ahead and drive to the stand with the 4 wheeler and wait until time to walk to the stand....Well, once there you think I could just go to the stand and wait until I can see. So there I am sitting in the tree 20 feet up in the air in total darkness. emoDoh I took nap for about an hour up the tree until I could start to see.
The morning was great...crisp, clear and a nice chill in the air. You could see your breath as the first light of day started coming over the horizon. A slight fog was on the ground but not much. Birds started to sing, squirrels were chasing each other busy collecting for the winter and all was right with the world for that moment in time in that tree. emoAngel I could not help but think this was about the fourth time I had gone and I still had not seen a good buck but the first day of rifle season....this was the day. I just knew it.
I could see well at 7:10 and started scanning all around me for any movement. Movement...bird.....movement...squirrel.....movement...chipmunk.....this went on for forty minutes. I caught movement on the ridge to my right where I had already seen a couple squirrels. I thought,"there's those squirrels again", I zeroed in on the movement just to make sure....it was a deer! Trying to see it through the thick cover on the ridge was not easy. I then realized it was coming down the ridge my way. I got the gun ready and scoped it in. Looking through the scope I caught sight of a horn that was forked and I knew then he was good enough for me. I had already told myself that if I saw a nice forked buck he was going in the freezer. Down the ridge it came....closer and still could not see a shot yet. It was now about 80 to 90 yards and he stopped in a perfect spot to see his whole chest. BOOM!!!!!!!!!!! He jumped forward and hauled down the ridge the rest of the way across the small flat and started up the other ridge on the other side. I could tell he was hit hard so I just watched him. Up the ridge he stumbled, ran another 20 feet or so and then collapsed. emoThumbsup
I still get buck fever but now I get it after I shoot. I got the shakes and said a little prayer of thanks for the deer and being able to do this. I sat there for about 20 minutes. I then got down to see what I had. To my surprise it was a very nice eight point. Not a wall hanger but a good one in most anyone's book. He had a 14 and a half inch spread with one eye tine broke off about half way. emoThumbsup Beautiful deer and I would guess about three years old.
Got him loaded on the 4 wheeler, to the car, gutted, checked in and taken to the butchers all done by eleven. emoDance You just can't beat that. Another great opening day of gun deer season is now in the books. emoApplause Jmax
By the way...I took some pictures but will have to post when I get them back.
This morning I was up early, too early but none the less I was up. I thought well I might as well go over there and I can wait in the car until time. Once there sitting in the car you think...well I could go ahead and drive to the stand with the 4 wheeler and wait until time to walk to the stand....Well, once there you think I could just go to the stand and wait until I can see. So there I am sitting in the tree 20 feet up in the air in total darkness. emoDoh I took nap for about an hour up the tree until I could start to see.
The morning was great...crisp, clear and a nice chill in the air. You could see your breath as the first light of day started coming over the horizon. A slight fog was on the ground but not much. Birds started to sing, squirrels were chasing each other busy collecting for the winter and all was right with the world for that moment in time in that tree. emoAngel I could not help but think this was about the fourth time I had gone and I still had not seen a good buck but the first day of rifle season....this was the day. I just knew it.
I could see well at 7:10 and started scanning all around me for any movement. Movement...bird.....movement...squirrel.....movement...chipmunk.....this went on for forty minutes. I caught movement on the ridge to my right where I had already seen a couple squirrels. I thought,"there's those squirrels again", I zeroed in on the movement just to make sure....it was a deer! Trying to see it through the thick cover on the ridge was not easy. I then realized it was coming down the ridge my way. I got the gun ready and scoped it in. Looking through the scope I caught sight of a horn that was forked and I knew then he was good enough for me. I had already told myself that if I saw a nice forked buck he was going in the freezer. Down the ridge it came....closer and still could not see a shot yet. It was now about 80 to 90 yards and he stopped in a perfect spot to see his whole chest. BOOM!!!!!!!!!!! He jumped forward and hauled down the ridge the rest of the way across the small flat and started up the other ridge on the other side. I could tell he was hit hard so I just watched him. Up the ridge he stumbled, ran another 20 feet or so and then collapsed. emoThumbsup
I still get buck fever but now I get it after I shoot. I got the shakes and said a little prayer of thanks for the deer and being able to do this. I sat there for about 20 minutes. I then got down to see what I had. To my surprise it was a very nice eight point. Not a wall hanger but a good one in most anyone's book. He had a 14 and a half inch spread with one eye tine broke off about half way. emoThumbsup Beautiful deer and I would guess about three years old.
Got him loaded on the 4 wheeler, to the car, gutted, checked in and taken to the butchers all done by eleven. emoDance You just can't beat that. Another great opening day of gun deer season is now in the books. emoApplause Jmax
By the way...I took some pictures but will have to post when I get them back.
![IMG008 [].JPG](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/chattanoogafishingforum/data/attach/18/18227-IMG008-.JPG)
![IMG019 [].JPG](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/chattanoogafishingforum/data/attach/18/18228-IMG019-.JPG)
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![Deer [640x480].JPG](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/chattanoogafishingforum/data/attach/18/18247-Deer-640x480-.JPG)
![Deer2 [640x480].JPG](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/chattanoogafishingforum/data/attach/18/18248-Deer2-640x480-.JPG)
![Derr3 [640x480].JPG](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/chattanoogafishingforum/data/attach/18/18249-Derr3-640x480-.JPG)
