Deer Day 23 - Friday NOV 29
Alex and Nick went to the golf course this morning because we did not think there would be room where Dad, Dave, Shane, and I were heading. We were wrong. Neal's was open and they could have hunted it. Outcome probably would have been the same...
Dad, Shane, and I picked up Dave at 6:45 am. We drove E of Mulberry to Marshall and Vice. Dave and I were dropped out on top of Marshall's and the other two went on around E to Vice's to post. I hadn't made it 40 yards down the road when my cell went off. It was Shane. He texted, Tell your Dad to circle back to me. Oops, he left his radio. Next text, I forgot the radio. So I radioed Dad and he returned to leave Shane a radio.
Shane set-up on the SW of Vice, and Dad on the NW - both along the creek. I posted Marshall's bottoms and Dave the NW fence line. We sat for 90 minutes. I chose to sit on the SW corner of the bottoms thinking that I was only blocking. Bad call. I should have picked the SE. Mama Doe and three yearlings came running up the creek from the S. All she had to do was cross the road and they were in the freezer. Instead, Mama ran them W around the point and brought them right back down the ROAD - a moved that saved their lives this day. This move put them to my back (W) and I was exposed. Mama walked to within 20 yards of me and was standing broadside - but again, she was in the middle of the ROAD. Don't get me wrong here. If the only thing between me living or starving to death was killing this deer, I would have taken the shot and lived. But since our freezers are full of elk and three deer already, I passed on taking this illegal shot. She ran W, then N, then W some more, then S. Dave at least got to watch them running - at 300 yards.
About near 8:30, I made the call for Dave to walk E as I started N. The plan is to push deer to Shane and Dad. I did not make it 100 yards when Dave called that he had 8 deer in the bottoms heading toward Dad. Dad shot, but got on the radio to say the only thing he hit was 'sailboat fuel.' (And hey, the Indiana regulations on the use of cell phones and two-way radios permit them in the field - in fact, they are encouraged as safety devices - but are not limited as to their use. For real, they don't help you shoot a deer anyway. So please, no comments on this issue).
The deer ran past Shane and he took 2 shots. Again, sailboat fuel. I heard a couple of shots to my S from other hunters. So I glanced back a few times. But, I KNEW there were deer between Shane and me - so my attention remained focused to the N. Yet another bad call. I got that 'feeling' that I was being watched. I turned around and there were two doe standing 10 yards behind me trying to figure out what I was. I slowed spun, clicked the safety off, and lined up the shot - just as a car came down the road. Yet another important safety tip - you have to know what's BEHIND your target. If I were to shoot, it would be directly toward the road 100 yards S with a car coming. My best guess is that my slug would hit the ground before it made it that far, but why take that chance? As all these thoughts went through my head, the doe made the decision not to shoot final as they ran off to the SE. Crap-o-la. Three deer within 20 yards and no shots.
I watched deer heads moving in the bottoms for about 30 minutes before moving again. I made it 3 steps and 4 doe busted 75 yards in front of me - 2 E and 2 W. I called it out. The two running W headed up top to meet with Dave and his muzzle loader. He fired across the ravine as they tried to sneak out. Yet more sailboat fuel.
Nick and Alex were done after having seen nothing on the course and texted me their plight. I told them to head our way and help drag the six deer we were about to kill. The drove on over.
I continued N and pushed two more yearlings up the creek to Shane. His comment was, "If I hadn't already taken two poor shots, I would have tried some on them." Instead he let them continue their run N unabated.
I crossed the creek and helped Shane track the deer he shot at. We wanted to verify that there was no blood - because if we found some, we would track them down. You do your best never to leave a wounded animal in the field. No dice. Dad and Dave did the same for the deer they shot at. Again, no blood trail found - all clean misses.
As we walked back to the truck, Shane commented that the sight of the big buck running down the ravine, crossing the creek, and sneaking past him will last until next year when we do this all over again. Dave obviously pushed him and Dad never saw him. Too bad this big guy was deeper into Vice's tree farm making the shot difficult for Shane, from his position at the creek.
In the end, Shane saw 9 deer, I saw 10, Dave saw 12, and Dad said he lost count of the thousands he put eyes on this morning. We laughed around the tailgate as we drank some brews and tried to figure out if we had the deer surrounded or they had us surrounded. Shane's neck was stiff and he was dizzy from all the looking, spinning, and guessing where deer were going to pop up next. No deer died in the making of this story, but we all called it a successful hunt. Fun was had by all.
Dad, Shane, and I picked up Dave at 6:45 am. We drove E of Mulberry to Marshall and Vice. Dave and I were dropped out on top of Marshall's and the other two went on around E to Vice's to post. I hadn't made it 40 yards down the road when my cell went off. It was Shane. He texted, Tell your Dad to circle back to me. Oops, he left his radio. Next text, I forgot the radio. So I radioed Dad and he returned to leave Shane a radio.
Shane set-up on the SW of Vice, and Dad on the NW - both along the creek. I posted Marshall's bottoms and Dave the NW fence line. We sat for 90 minutes. I chose to sit on the SW corner of the bottoms thinking that I was only blocking. Bad call. I should have picked the SE. Mama Doe and three yearlings came running up the creek from the S. All she had to do was cross the road and they were in the freezer. Instead, Mama ran them W around the point and brought them right back down the ROAD - a moved that saved their lives this day. This move put them to my back (W) and I was exposed. Mama walked to within 20 yards of me and was standing broadside - but again, she was in the middle of the ROAD. Don't get me wrong here. If the only thing between me living or starving to death was killing this deer, I would have taken the shot and lived. But since our freezers are full of elk and three deer already, I passed on taking this illegal shot. She ran W, then N, then W some more, then S. Dave at least got to watch them running - at 300 yards.
About near 8:30, I made the call for Dave to walk E as I started N. The plan is to push deer to Shane and Dad. I did not make it 100 yards when Dave called that he had 8 deer in the bottoms heading toward Dad. Dad shot, but got on the radio to say the only thing he hit was 'sailboat fuel.' (And hey, the Indiana regulations on the use of cell phones and two-way radios permit them in the field - in fact, they are encouraged as safety devices - but are not limited as to their use. For real, they don't help you shoot a deer anyway. So please, no comments on this issue).
The deer ran past Shane and he took 2 shots. Again, sailboat fuel. I heard a couple of shots to my S from other hunters. So I glanced back a few times. But, I KNEW there were deer between Shane and me - so my attention remained focused to the N. Yet another bad call. I got that 'feeling' that I was being watched. I turned around and there were two doe standing 10 yards behind me trying to figure out what I was. I slowed spun, clicked the safety off, and lined up the shot - just as a car came down the road. Yet another important safety tip - you have to know what's BEHIND your target. If I were to shoot, it would be directly toward the road 100 yards S with a car coming. My best guess is that my slug would hit the ground before it made it that far, but why take that chance? As all these thoughts went through my head, the doe made the decision not to shoot final as they ran off to the SE. Crap-o-la. Three deer within 20 yards and no shots.
I watched deer heads moving in the bottoms for about 30 minutes before moving again. I made it 3 steps and 4 doe busted 75 yards in front of me - 2 E and 2 W. I called it out. The two running W headed up top to meet with Dave and his muzzle loader. He fired across the ravine as they tried to sneak out. Yet more sailboat fuel.
Nick and Alex were done after having seen nothing on the course and texted me their plight. I told them to head our way and help drag the six deer we were about to kill. The drove on over.
I continued N and pushed two more yearlings up the creek to Shane. His comment was, "If I hadn't already taken two poor shots, I would have tried some on them." Instead he let them continue their run N unabated.
I crossed the creek and helped Shane track the deer he shot at. We wanted to verify that there was no blood - because if we found some, we would track them down. You do your best never to leave a wounded animal in the field. No dice. Dad and Dave did the same for the deer they shot at. Again, no blood trail found - all clean misses.
As we walked back to the truck, Shane commented that the sight of the big buck running down the ravine, crossing the creek, and sneaking past him will last until next year when we do this all over again. Dave obviously pushed him and Dad never saw him. Too bad this big guy was deeper into Vice's tree farm making the shot difficult for Shane, from his position at the creek.
In the end, Shane saw 9 deer, I saw 10, Dave saw 12, and Dad said he lost count of the thousands he put eyes on this morning. We laughed around the tailgate as we drank some brews and tried to figure out if we had the deer surrounded or they had us surrounded. Shane's neck was stiff and he was dizzy from all the looking, spinning, and guessing where deer were going to pop up next. No deer died in the making of this story, but we all called it a successful hunt. Fun was had by all.
Craig, Jerry, and Shane with Vice's in the background.
Brought to you by Yuengling!
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