Perseverance:
So the morning started off uneventful. The boat worked perfectly but no deer were seen. I decided to head into town for a Bojangles Cajun Filet Biscuit. They are pretty much the best biscuit on the planet. When I go to leave, I notice that my trailer tire wheel looks funny. The bearings had fallen out. Thankfully there was a Tractor Supply Company a mile down the road. I limped over to the TSC. Unfortunately, the staff wasn't all that helpful. A guy said he was gonna help me find the right parts but he left and never came back. Here I am with extremely grease-covered hands holding my hub and a woman (not an employee, just a shopper) walks up. She asked if she could get something off the shelf and take it to the counter since my hands were greasy. I mentioned I was waiting for the employee but it was taking a bit. When she realized I needed bearings replaced she was like, "My husband knows all about this, I'll go get him." While she was getting her husband another gentleman walked by. He said, "Do you have grease for that hub?" I said I would purchase some for the repair, then he said, "It's too expensive here, I have some extra in my truck I'll get it for you." I insisted he didn't have to but he was persistent. I found half a tube of red grease sitting by my trailer later. Then the lady shows back up with her husband Jason. He was so knowledgeable and helpful. He found me all the right parts and even knew I would need a punch so he helped me find that tool to buy as well. I check out and then met Jason at the trailer. He spent 30-45 min helping me clear out the old hub punching out the race, pack the bearing and install them correctly. What a nice guy. I wish I would have gotten his contact to send a nice note and some summer sausage.
We got the hub rebuilt and the tire on and she was good to go. I debated even going back out and rather punt to tomorrow since it was a bit later than I planned but I decided to go for it. There were no boats at the ramp when I got there, a good sign. I got the boat in the water and was on my way. I had a three mile boat ride and about a 3/4 mile hike. I get to my spot (tight to bedding cover on trails heading to private green fields). The bedding is across a creek. I start the climb up the tree and I start to get nervous. I am really tight to the bedding. Once elevated, I'm looking right into it. I haven't heard anything run or blow so I slowly and quietly finish setting up. After a bit, I look up and low and behold there is a doe coming out of the cover about to cross the creek. Then her fawn pops out behind her. Decisions, Decisions. I hate shooting them with their fawns but DNR schedules seasons so they will be OK. Public land is tough so I decide to not pass up this opportunity, the fawn should be fine. I draw as they are coming up the embankment. The fawn comes first while the doe lags. The doe finally is up the embankment and moving through the cover to my gap. She is 2-3 steps away when the heavens opened up and a very large amount of water immediately starts falling from the sky. The fawn was startled and starting bouncing and running around. This startled the doe and she bounds off behind the fawn. When it's all said and done they are out of range and moving towards private.
I'm a bit defeated thinking I had missed my chance. 20-30 min later I see a coyote jump into the creek. When he pops out the other side, another doe and fawn jump up and run away. They had been bedded not 50 yds from me the whole time. The scouting is proving the quality of this spot. I continue to wait, hoping for another chance. Sure enough, a little bit later another doe pops her head out of the cover with her fawn right behind. As they are crossing the creek another doe and fawn pop out behind them and then another 3-4 deer behind them. First I'm thinking, "where are all these deer coming from?" then I thought, let's GO!. I am going to shoot the first adult sized doe that presents a shot. They are all moving quite quickly until one comes through at a moderate pace. When she got to my gap I gave her the slightest mouth bleat to have her pause. She was quartered-to so a held tight to the shoulder and squeezed the release. POP. The shot sounded and looked good. She turns and runs like ascolded dog. She crosses the creek and bust into the cover. About 3 seconds later "CRASH". Felt and sounds good. I nock another arrow in case a buck shows up. No buck did.
I know rain is coming so I decide to take up the track before dark. I get down and cannot find my arrow or blood. It looks different on the ground than in the tree and I'm struggling to find the spot of impact. After a bit I find my first blood. I set my bow down and work backward to try to find the arrow. I am unable to and think, maybe she took it and it fell out later. I go to pick my bow up and realize my arrow is underneath my bow. What are the chances? At this moment, the heavens open up again and it's a downpour. All the blood is gone. I can't find anything. I decide to go in the direction of the crash and see what happens. 15 yrds after crossing the creek, a white belly catches my eye! Success.
Well, it's now raining pretty hard and I don't have a dry stitch on me. I decided to take my gear back to the boat and then bring my Pack-out pack and quarter her up. By the time I do that and get back to her the rain is now mixed with thunder and lightning. I work fast quartering her up as a flock of mosquitos drained about 2 liters of my blood. I finish and then I'm off, hustling back to the boat. With all the rain I notice there is a bit of water in the boat. But it's about to get bad with a storm so it's time to go, I'll deal with that later. As I'm trolling out of the creek to the main river there are skipjack everywhere. I hear a splashing noise and realize one has jumped into the boat and is swimming in the rainwater. I then get to the main channel and fire up the engine. I take off trying to make haste on my 3-mile ride. At this moment I realize how much rainwater is actually in the boat as it all comes rushing to the back of the boat. It's easily 20-30 gallons. With all that weight in the back of the boat, it is sitting deep. I only have about 3 inches from the rail to the water. Yikes! If water comes over that edge, there is a good chance it won't stop coming and then I'm sinking. I also don't want to stop the boat because then the big wave of rushing water would hit the boat and could start that sinking reaction. So I keep it at about mid-speed which keeps the front end not as high but still with sufficient speed to get back ASAP (there is still a storm). Thankfully I did not sink the boat nor get struck by lightning.
It was a crazy day and I loved it. Persevering through the adversity makes it all worth it. The risk keeps life exciting. The kindness of strangers is a balm for the soul. I got an opening day public land deer with the boat planned from a scouting trip where the deer did exactly what I thought they would do. It was fun seeing all the pieces come together, to get to kill a deer and to make it out alive. Sorry for a long post but I thought it was the craziest story.
A cool frog that climbed my tree
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How I found my arrow when I put my bow on it but didn't realize it
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The deer
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The fish in my boat
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