spracklin
Member
I harvested my first deer ever today.
first saddle hunting and crossbow.
I was supposed to go turkey hunting but the property owner had trades working there and asked if I'd skip today, so I went to a different place.
Wind had shifted with the cold front moving in so it wasnt ideal wind for the spot, bit I've patterned a few deer here, so knew odds were good i'd see them.
Set up on a red oak adjacent to a hemlock, the limbs of the hemlock gave me great concealment, turns out I didn't need it.
around 4pm a squirrel runs up the nearby tree, jumps to the oak im in, walks down to my open pack, jumps in, lays down, sneezes then runs off.
while I'm trying not to laugh, taking a picture of the squirrel, getting settled back down, after a few minutes I hear noise behind me to the south, I look over my shoulder, and sure enough its a doe or so i thought.
Watched the deer come in from 40 yards, circle behind some trees, till it crossed directly behind me and gave me a perfect broadside at 12 yards.
i was so tunelvisioned on making a good shot, that when i let fly, saw the deer move, I was superhappy that I held low, as he dropped when heard the shot, so I got a high lung entry on the left, with a mid exit on the right, a few inches back, couldnt ask for a better for a first deer.
he ran about 40 yards, out of sight crashed, got up, crashed again. I was 90% certain that was it, but I made myself wait 30 minites, and never in my life have i listened more attentively.
Getting down and seeing a great blood trail closed the door on all the doubts. I knew this deer was down. took my time, packed up my gear and got started.
Found him with ease and realized with my inexperience i had shot a button buck not a doe. (non issue both good to go under my antlerless tag)
My gear performed flawlessly. i got him gutted, and dragged the halfmile through thick woods back to my truck without too much issue in the dark.
Really appreciate all the shared knowledge here, that helped me get it done.
looking forward to some damn fine meals in the days/weeks to come.
Sent from my SM-G781W using Tapatalk
first saddle hunting and crossbow.
I was supposed to go turkey hunting but the property owner had trades working there and asked if I'd skip today, so I went to a different place.
Wind had shifted with the cold front moving in so it wasnt ideal wind for the spot, bit I've patterned a few deer here, so knew odds were good i'd see them.
Set up on a red oak adjacent to a hemlock, the limbs of the hemlock gave me great concealment, turns out I didn't need it.
around 4pm a squirrel runs up the nearby tree, jumps to the oak im in, walks down to my open pack, jumps in, lays down, sneezes then runs off.
while I'm trying not to laugh, taking a picture of the squirrel, getting settled back down, after a few minutes I hear noise behind me to the south, I look over my shoulder, and sure enough its a doe or so i thought.
Watched the deer come in from 40 yards, circle behind some trees, till it crossed directly behind me and gave me a perfect broadside at 12 yards.
i was so tunelvisioned on making a good shot, that when i let fly, saw the deer move, I was superhappy that I held low, as he dropped when heard the shot, so I got a high lung entry on the left, with a mid exit on the right, a few inches back, couldnt ask for a better for a first deer.
he ran about 40 yards, out of sight crashed, got up, crashed again. I was 90% certain that was it, but I made myself wait 30 minites, and never in my life have i listened more attentively.
Getting down and seeing a great blood trail closed the door on all the doubts. I knew this deer was down. took my time, packed up my gear and got started.
Found him with ease and realized with my inexperience i had shot a button buck not a doe. (non issue both good to go under my antlerless tag)
My gear performed flawlessly. i got him gutted, and dragged the halfmile through thick woods back to my truck without too much issue in the dark.
Really appreciate all the shared knowledge here, that helped me get it done.
looking forward to some damn fine meals in the days/weeks to come.
Sent from my SM-G781W using Tapatalk
Thanks for sharing the story!