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First deer of the year...at least I was wearing my saddle.

Newhunter1

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Joined
Dec 20, 2018
Messages
1,791
I have killed a lot of deer, but this one was the most special. So today is opening day of Illinois shotgun season. I have been skunked all year and really look forward to shotgun season as I usually get one. This year however my leupold scope on my shotgun literally crapped out on me Thursday evening. I had just sighted in my sons 20 gauge but he wasn’t going so I had to use the youth model shotgun. This was my first deer of the year and not for lack of trying. Before tonight I have only killed one deer while on the ground and that one was a fluke. I set up at 6 am and finally saw a deer at 3:30. I watched this deer and what I didn’t know was four other does with them and they were all 350 yards away. My slugs are only good for about 125-150 yards. At 4:00 I decided to run and gun. I lowered everything out of the tree and down to the bottom. I didn’t even bother to take off my saddle. The deer were at the front edge of the cut cornfield and as I got to within 85 yards I did not have a shot...the deer were moving about and I couldn’t steady myself. The wind was blowing from them to me... perfect. One of my goals was to be able to stalk and kill a deer while on the ground and fool his eyes, nose and ears. I saw him and 5 other deer feeding 350 yards away. The wind was in my face blowing from them to me. I walked around the field on the edge of the cut cornfield and the timber. When I was 75 yards I didn’t have a clean shot. I saw him and four other does...so five deer I had to not get detected. I crawled, duck walked and then crawled again avoiding the dry leaves and corn stalks. At 42 yards, with the fading light I took the shot and dropped him in his tracks. However what I thought was a decent sized doe. Nope..,button buck but since I hunt for meat anyway I’m happy. He’ll eat well.
Not a saddle kill but I was wearing one...does that count?
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That's awesome!! Congrats!! Btw you went to school with my wife Tracy!! Small world!!

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That's awesome!! Congrats!! Btw you went to school with my wife Tracy!! Small world!!

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Sent you a message...Yes it is. I don't know how long you've been into saddle hunting, but I one stick and rappel down, do SRT and DDRT...so if you don't and want to compare I can assist you.
 
Sent you a message...Yes it is. I don't know how long you've been into saddle hunting, but I one stick and rappel down, do SRT and DDRT...so if you don't and want to compare I can assist you.
That would be awesome!!! That will be great to learn from someone in person as opposed to trial and error from YT vids!

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That would be awesome!!! That will be great to learn from someone in person as opposed to trial and error from YT vids!

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Let me know when you want to do this and we can meet up.
 
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