We've had a warm spell the last couple of days with plenty of rain and today it was pouring so I wasn't going to bother, but the girlfriend who isn't a hunter asked why I wasn't going hunting. When I told her I never hunt days like this and couldn't give her a valid reason she simply said "well, maybe you should start".
An hour later I was walking into the bush with my camo rain suit and no other gear except for my rangefinder. After slowly poking around for nearly 2 kms I finally picked up some fresh tracks in the snow from 5 deer not far from the property line. I covered ground at my usual molasses pace just to find the deer had left the property, which really discouraged me as I figured I had got soak and wet in -1 temps for nothing as the rain coat was useless at this point and I was shivering cold.
Then it happened. Suddenly, what I'm assuming were the same 5 deer appeared and were trotting back towards the property I was on when they passed by at about 60-70 yards (west to east) and out of view into the edge of the forest I was in. I belly crawled as fast as I could to the southeast where I thought they'd go without making a sound and 40 yards later I was in position.
There were 2 large does followed by 3 smaller ones. The first didn't present a shot while the second presented a shot, but there were a few twigs covering her vitals and I didn't want to risk a deflection. The third and smallest presented a shot, but I held out for the 4th which was larger than the 5th. Without ranging the shot I let one fly and heard a loud smack before the deer fled with the one I shot at holding it's tail down. In the 15 minutes I waited to start tracking I recovered my arrow and ranged the shot at 34 yards when I guessed it was 38.
The Rage 3 blade left a good blood trail:
I began still hunting the wounded deer and 100-115 yards from where it was hit I found the deer bedded down, barely alive. Without hesitation I took a neck shot with the same arrow I used for the first shot and it expired in 15-20 seconds. I absolutely hate it when I fail to do my part and put the arrow in the right spot for the quickest kill possible.
I estimated the range properly, but because the deer was walking I hit it a bit too far back catching only one lung and the liver. I believe I would have bumped the wounded deer if I had simply walked up to it casually rather than slowly and silently stalking it.
I ended up losing my broadhead after the second shot as the insert came out of the shaft. I'm thinking it struck a tree behind the deer and the shaft bounced back. I didn't try too hard to recover the head as I figured it was garbage after the two shots anyways.
It may only be a button buck (I thought it was a doe), but it's a trophy in my books. The overwhelming excitement I experienced when I finally connected after all those hours in the bush, hundreds and hundreds of yards crawling around on my belly, and coming close only to see white flags running from me was unbelievable.
I'm still smiling
As for the awesome day x2? A family member won $1 million on the Lotto Max lottery!
