cooperjd
Well-known member
I made the 13 hour drive from the DC area to Bolivar the Friday before opening morning, the truck was loaded down with everything camo that i own in anticipation for my favorite day of the year, opening day of rifle season. I have not missed one since 1991, Dad since 1968 (except for 05 when he was elk hunting, but he was hunting, so i'll let it slide). My year in the deer woods has been pretty slow, so i was really hoping for a good week at home. the new lease we got on last year has some good deer, and some pretty nice trail cam pics this year were taken, so i was pretty excited to go find a nice tree to climb early sat. morning.
I walked into the woods in a spot i saw a ton of deer last year, picked a tree i thought looked like a good one to climb, and up i went. at 7am i spotted a buck easing thru the trees to my left. i saw his big fork and knew he was a pretty good deer. i picked up the 7mag and found him in the scope, when he hit an opening i whistled at him to get him to look at me so i could see how wide he was, and to get him to stop... no dice, he kept walking.... he hit another opening in the trees... i whistled again... nothing.. kept walking.. i can shoot him on the walk, but i don't know exactly how wide he is or how good he is, as i can only see him from the one side.
when he hit the 3rd opening in the trees i whistled as loud as i could, that got his attention. he looked at me, i could see he was outside his ears, good enough for me..so BOOM!! he ran about 20 yards and piled up. i climbed down, snapped some pics, got him gutted and dragged out of the woods, and waited a little while so dad could finish his morning hunt. he was aged by the game warden at 4.5 years, but he was probably only 130lbs dressed.. my guess is he got sick a couple years ago and recovered, but stunted his growth somewhat. he is 17.5" inside, with 4.25" bases.
Dad and I almost doubled up, he was turning to shoot a nice buck and got busted, the deer ran off.
Sunday morning:
I am sitting in my tree, and at about 630am i hear Dad's .270 break the silence of the morning woods. i sat in the tree a while longer to see if anything happened by, then went to help dad drag his deer up a steep hill and out of the woods.
i never saw a single buck chase a doe all week, but i saw several bucks cruising and on the move. the deer i shot was on his way to a big scrape. i saw several smaller bucks later in the week, and one more 8 point that i almost shot, but he needed another year, and he'll be a great deer next year. A couple other folks on the lease got 2 really nice 8's, both right at 18" inside.
It was good to finally get a deer on the ground this year, meat for the freezer, and oh yeah, see the family for Thanksgiving
here's me and one of the labs
my self pic in the woods
and finally, Dad's deer
I walked into the woods in a spot i saw a ton of deer last year, picked a tree i thought looked like a good one to climb, and up i went. at 7am i spotted a buck easing thru the trees to my left. i saw his big fork and knew he was a pretty good deer. i picked up the 7mag and found him in the scope, when he hit an opening i whistled at him to get him to look at me so i could see how wide he was, and to get him to stop... no dice, he kept walking.... he hit another opening in the trees... i whistled again... nothing.. kept walking.. i can shoot him on the walk, but i don't know exactly how wide he is or how good he is, as i can only see him from the one side.
when he hit the 3rd opening in the trees i whistled as loud as i could, that got his attention. he looked at me, i could see he was outside his ears, good enough for me..so BOOM!! he ran about 20 yards and piled up. i climbed down, snapped some pics, got him gutted and dragged out of the woods, and waited a little while so dad could finish his morning hunt. he was aged by the game warden at 4.5 years, but he was probably only 130lbs dressed.. my guess is he got sick a couple years ago and recovered, but stunted his growth somewhat. he is 17.5" inside, with 4.25" bases.
Dad and I almost doubled up, he was turning to shoot a nice buck and got busted, the deer ran off.
Sunday morning:
I am sitting in my tree, and at about 630am i hear Dad's .270 break the silence of the morning woods. i sat in the tree a while longer to see if anything happened by, then went to help dad drag his deer up a steep hill and out of the woods.
i never saw a single buck chase a doe all week, but i saw several bucks cruising and on the move. the deer i shot was on his way to a big scrape. i saw several smaller bucks later in the week, and one more 8 point that i almost shot, but he needed another year, and he'll be a great deer next year. A couple other folks on the lease got 2 really nice 8's, both right at 18" inside.
It was good to finally get a deer on the ground this year, meat for the freezer, and oh yeah, see the family for Thanksgiving
here's me and one of the labs
my self pic in the woods
and finally, Dad's deer
