Deer Season 2020 - Opening Day

Kathy, Alex, Nick, Eric and I headed for the golf course opening morning.  We arrived at 6:45 am and saw one doe standing where I wanted to sit.  The problem was it was not legal light to shoot and we were shining it with our headlights.  Fortunately, we had no loaded firearms, so we remained legal.

Kathy and I walked N so that I could show her where to sit on Hole 12's tee box, blocking the N.  As I left her to return to my spot, I said a little prayer to the Good Lord.  "Thanks for the great day and opportunity to spend it with my family in the wonderful world You have created.  Please keep these kids safe and if we get a deer, that's a bonus.  I'll take their safety over deer.  Amen."  

The sun coming up as Kathy & I walked to our spots.  Beautiful morning.

I sat on 17, blocking the W.  Eric sat in the bowl on 15, blocking the E.  Alex took overwatch on Hole 5, securing the S.  And Nick took overwatch on Hole 16, dead center.  Everyone but Eric carried a rifle, so we ensured where we were located and lines of fire once everyone was set.  Safety First!


My view looking E from my spot.
Kathy is way off in the distance, on top of the hill, center of photo.
Eric is directly through all the trees, due E about 1/2 a mile or more.
Nick is somewhere to my right on overwatch.

I heard the first shot off in the distance at 7:01 am.  It was not us, but someone shot one minute early according to my watch.  Legal light was 7:02 am.  Alex took the first deer at 7:15.  One doe down.  Nick let me know a doe was heading my way and then about 2 minutes later, he shot.  Kathy and I heard the deer crash on our side.  I thought Nick got the doe crossing back to him, but instead he shot a very nice 11-pointer that was following the doe.  The story is funny because he got buck fever and was shaking so bad he didn't know if he got the deer or not.

We were due to leave the course by 10 am because golfers were going to show up.  I walked toward Nick at 9:15 to locate his deer and push anything out that was there.  The plan worked, except for RePhil, who was hunting to our E on a different property.  He missed his doe and blamed us and the gun.  I blame the shooter.  

Anyway, while Nick and I started to work out how we were going to get his 200# plus deer out of the woods, doe scattered everywhere.  With all the shooting going on, I thought we may limit out on deer today.  Not so.  A lot of the shots were misses because people can't shoot I guess. You want to know how to fill your freezer with venison?  Good aim.

Nick's massive buck.
Note the side-hill.  We have to drag this Big Boy UP HILL.

We tied a tow strap around the antlers and all pulled together.
The alternative to coming up the hill was to cross that log at the bottom,
cross the creek, and then drag out to the road.
This choice really was the better option.

Deer finally loaded and heading for the truck.
Yes, that's cheating, but it sure beats dragging that deer all the way back!

The hardest part of the day was getting Nick's deer out.  Then we had to go start collecting the other deer.  While that occurred, Eric and I tracked his doe for about 300 yards.  It was a good lesson for Eric in how to track.  He enjoyed that bit.  However, better shots lead to less tracking!


Recovering Eric's doe where she finally expired - in the creek.
Thanks RePhil for the assist.

We didn't get loaded and out until well past 10.  It didn't matter in the end because the weather was so nasty that the golfers bailed.  Being 27 F (-3 C) with 15 mph winds, it was a tough day made even tougher when the rain started.  

Two doe loaded up and heading back to the truck.

Davey texted and said he had a big buck down where he was hunting in Putnum county.  He wanted some help gutting, loading, and hauling it up to be processed.  No worries, we had deer to gut and would probably still be around when he arrived.  It worked out anyway because we got to see another nice deer.  His was an 8-pointer with a broken drop-tine and the body was only slightly smaller than Nick's buck.  

Alex, Eric, and Nick at the burn pile where we gutted the deer.
Even Mallory came out to watch.

Davey's nice buck from down South

We hauled all the deer up to Simpson's in Young America after checking them in online.  There was a long line to check in.  We were deer #280 when we left.  We stopped at Treece's in Rossville for lunch of blue gill on the way home.  The Good Lord not only answered my prayer but even gave us some meat for the freezer.  A great day indeed!

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