I took out my niece, Kelsey, on opening morning with hopes of video taping her first deer kill or any kill for that matter. We got to our spot and soon realized I was bit by the dead battery bug. I was frustrated to say the least but tried not to let it get me down, we were in a great doe spot and just being a part of her first kill would be awesome with or without a camera. I’ve never taken a youth out hunting and had to remind myself between her stories about high school or multiple stretching sessions the most important thing was for her to have a good time. I took this low key approach to the max and snuck in a quick nap around 9, she gave me a bunch of grief for it. The morning was pretty dead with only a couple shots nearby. I had already seriously wondered if we were going to see any deer when four does and fawns came running in from the valley below. Kelsey couldn’t see them at first but picked up on the lead doe out as she held up behind a group of trees. I don’t know how or why I thought of it but whispered “Safety off?” and heard it click forward just after. That lead doe was pretty nervous and I could tell she was on to us. Then I hear “I can’t find em’ in the scope!” I looked over to see a barrel pointed at least 20′ higher than it should have been. I looked back to check deer status and our lead doe high stepped out from behind the trees into a perfect shooting lane. I whispered “I’m gonna stop her” and bleated. She locked in on us, Kelsey got her scope troubles figured out and BOOM!! She bolted out on a death run and I couldn’t have been more excited! I slapped Kelsey on the shoulder and said “You got her honey!!” Kelsey looked a little dazed then asked why the deer didn’t drop. I said don’t worry, we’ll find her soon enough and a short track later found us looking over a big heart shot doe.
Now Kelsey shared some of my excitement. She was throughly intrigued by the animal and her questions brought back my own memories of hunting as a youngster. It was a great experience for both of us and I couldn’t think of a better reason to have left the rifle at camp that morning.
Here’s a good pic of her first shot ever on a live critter. You can see the entry wound right on the shoulder.
Next up was my buddy Marc from Washington state. This would be his fourth season in Wisconsin and he had yet to down a buck. Saturday afternoon and Sunday produced nil at my farm so we packed up and headed to some CWD public land for his last day. I scratched out a map on a post-it note and sent him a mile back in the pre-dawn. Marc’s pretty good about getting around in the woods but he’d never been in this area before and the spot was a long ways back so I figured odds were good he’d end up somewhere other than planned. I killed time glassing neighboring fields then started my drive/stir a half hour after shooting light. Due to frosty/noisy leaves, my still hunt was a good hour and a half behind schedule when I headed up the hill towards the ridge Marc was supposed to be sitting on. This was a steep one and I had to grab trees and pull myself up for the last 40 yards. I was almost to the top and looked up to see horns, ears and the back of a buck’s head less than 20′ away! In disbelief, I whipped the gun up but couldn’t pull the trigger. He was a solid 2 year old buck but not what I was looking for with a rifle. At first I figured this deer must be sick but it’s head and ears are up just fine and I and could see the back of his jaws moving as the morning’s cud got a working over. I had just crossed some fresh turkey scratchings so maybe the buck thought I was just another bird moving through. Ohter than that, I had no idea how or why I got so close but then the cud chewing stopped and ears perked up. I think he caught a little whiff of me and stood for a better view. Now he was broadside and looking straight away, it was an amazing site. There was nothing but space between me and this buck, I could see the underside of his belly move up and down with every breath. His left shoulder was scuffed badly, looking like a car smucked him pretty good but not good enough to kill. His rack was compact, light chocolate in color and carried far better than average mass for a young buck. He had himself convinced I was on the other side of the hill and stood staring away for a solid minute before glancing my way. One jump and he was out of sight. I could hear him running out the ridge towards where Marc was supposed to be. A couple minutes later two shots rang out followed by a “WOO HOO!” I couldn’t help but grin, sounded like long odds had panned out for us that day.
Marc had set-up exactly per the post-it plan, stayed much later than expected and put two shots right in the boiler room. Neither one of us could have been more happy. He wasn’t the biggest of deer but a fine buck for the Monday after opening weekend in a public CWD “kill-em all” zone. Now we had to get him outta there and the first 75 yard drag had the feel of a “rest of day” adventure. Then the light bulb went on, we could make a pack out of him. Both of us had heard about this technique but never tried it. So we cut long slices in the hocks, pushed the front hooves through, tied them back with half a bootlace each and were surprised at how well it worked.
We were off that ridge and to the truck in under an hour. We got back to my place and weighed the buck in at 150# but I’m sure in a few years he’ll grow to 175 plus . We skinned him and found no trauma from a car collision so guess I’ll always just have to wonder why he sat there on that ridge… but sure am glad he did!