Firearms Season Day 3 - Saturday 19 NOV

Yes, the wind was blowing at 20+ mph.  Yes, it was 35 degrees outside.  Yes, it snowed, and sleeted, and rained.  And yes, I was out there in the woods, hunting deer.

I went out alone as Nick was not feeling well.  I drove out to Marshall's and sat on the bottom ground, in hopes of getting out of the wind.  Vain hope.  I stood at the S end, near the road, until I thought it was CLOSE to legal light.  I check the time.  It was past legal light, but due to the fully overcast sky, it was still not light enough to shoot.

I ended up staying for about an hour, before starting a very slow and methodical stalk to the N.  I took a deer trail and walked past 3 scrapes and countless rubs.  I took the following picture of the freshest scrape.  It was visited sometime between last night and me passing.  How do I know this?  It rained last night.  If the rain had hit those prints, they would be washed out, not crisp.  Trust me, this one was fresh.

Fresh deer scrape on Marshall's tree farm.

I'm using my .458 SOCOM AR-type rifle, same as last year.

I continued N, and about 3/4 of the way to the end, I spotted a doe walking past the tree line.  Right?  The trees are planted in rows, so I saw a deer walk by the end of the row.  I stepped to the next row and watched two deer walk by.  I stepped into the next row and saw the deer walking to me.  I stepped back to remain hidden.  It appeared as though the last doe was the largest, so I kept my eye on her.  And then, two rows away and 50 yards out were three more deer.  I considered waiting on the large doe, but figured a deer in the freezer is worth two in the woods.  So I put the lead doe in my scope and pulled the trigger...

Nothing.  The deer looked up and around.  They could not tell where the shot came from due to all the wind previously mentioned.  And then they bolted.  I walked up to where there should have been a dead deer and there was nothing.  No blood, no bone, no hair.  Nada.  I tracked the printed where they bolted.  I backtracked in case they went E instead of how I watched them run W.  Nothing.  I went back to where I shot and looked for trees or branches that might have deflected my bullet.  Nothing.  Maybe my scope got knocked and is off?  Maybe...

I went to the range and the gun shot perfectly.  I guess that miss is on me.  Must have pulled the shot.  That, or the deer were protected by something more powerful than my bullet.

I saw deer and I even got a shot - although there were not many hunters out on such a blustery day - so I consider it a win, even though I do not have any venison in the freezer.  Oh well, that's why it's called hunting.

Following a deer trail on Marshall's tree farm.  Note the tree rows.

I was trying to get the sleet on camera.

Here's a picture of my coat.  That IS sleet gathering on my coat.

I'm wearing Under Armour's light weight gloves - they are fantastic for dexterity

but are not that good for keeping the cold out anywhere S of 40 degrees F.

As I came back through Mulberry, I saw these two sitting at Davey's house.

At least they had the sack to join the crazy hunters out in the terrible weather.

They didn't see or hear much either.