Deer Hunting 2012

    DEER! 2012

     Even though I thought I wouldn't be able to get up in a tree enough this year during bow season because of Piper and bird hunting, I actually spent quite a bit of time in the woods. With a few close calls and some frustration I had only wounded one small four pointer. He came out early, a couple hours before sunset and stepped out about 20 yards from me. He presented me with a clear 20 yard broad side shot. I whiffed the first shot, grazing his chest. He was unaware of what happened and gave me a second shot. I drew back and THWAP! Except he didn't take off, he merely strolled away, leaving me to believe I missed twice. When I got down from my stand I found my arrow. It had blood on the fletchings and the broad head but not the shaft. I found blood on the leaves, but after a couple hundred yards of tracking this dried up and left me with nothing to track.
    Opening morning of shotgun my dad came down to Rehoboth. With a lot of gun fire in the woods it was apparent the deer were moving. Four (4) does walked within 40 yards of my dad and he took the biggest one. He pushed the other three (3) towards me. With a shot at 60 yards I looked in my scope and took a couple shots. Again found blood but the trail ran cold quickly.
    On the third morning I was tired and did not feel like getting up. It was a cold dark morning and it had snowed lightly the night before. I got in my tree stand early. I watched a group of turkeys, that had roosted the night before, come down off their roost and fly into the field behind me. As I turned to look at the turkeys I locked eyes with a buck who had come in from behind me. Frozen, I remembered my uncle telling me to never look a deer in the eye or he would spook so I averted them to the sky, while keeping him in my peripherals. He went on grazing and I raised my gun. As I looked into the scope I realized I wasn't able to see due to the fact I had left my scope's protection caps on! I slowly removed them and realized the buck had stepped behind a group of trees. For a slight moment I thought he was going to turn and walk away. However early that morning I had sprayed from my stand some buck bomb, (doe estrus in a can). I noticed the buck lifted his nose and started walking right at me. At twenty (20) yards I pulled the trigger. He mule kicked and took off! I thought I was doomed to repeat another unsuccessful track. I took a second shot while he was at full sprint. I gave it an hour and came back to hair and blood all over the ground. The blood trail was much easier than the previous two I had that year. The ground looked like it had been the site of a massacre. I found my buck approximately 100 yards from my stand. He didn't go too far due to the fact that my second shot had nearly blasted his back leg off. Before I shot I knew I saw antlers and I thought between 4 - 6 points. When I got up to him and counted 8 I almost passed out. At that moment I remembered why I sat in a tree, in the cold, for countless hours. Why I spent so much money on licenses, gear, and time off from work. Shooting that 8 pointer was the culmination of a lot of time, money, effort, and sacrifice.
 

     Here are some of the photos from my trail camera I had out earlier this year. Disregard the date and times since I was too lazy to set them up correctly. The time was about 12 hours off. The last picture could possibly be the 8 point I shot. Either that or there is another decent buck in those woods... there's always black powder season!

Hard to tell if its the same deer or not, but this is a decent spread.

Dad's doe on the meat pole

Both deer in the truck

8 points, 3 1/2 year old, 135 lbs

Paradise

     For anyone who is looking for the motivation to get out and sit in a stand, just remember, like an old timer once told me, you won't shoot a deer unless you're in the woods. Get out there because the longer you sit, the greater your chances are. Just when you think you couldn't get any more frustrated with how things are going, within a matter of seconds everything can change. Never give up!