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Doe down... 10/2/11

jagermeister

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
18,060
223
Ohio
On Tuesday of last week, my mom went through surgery to remove a large (9 cm) growth/tumor that had taken over her right adrenal gland. By Sunday she was starting to feel better, and said she could finally handle some visitors. I told her that Ashley and I would come down around lunch time, and not to make anything for lunch… as I was making a big pot of my famous deer chili and cornbread. Oh and of course I took my hunting gear along for the ride, just in case the rain let up, you know. ;)

Everything went really well… The chili kicked ass as usual, mom’s spirit was high, and we hand a good time visiting and catching up. By about a quarter after 3, I was starting to get antsy. After checking the weather on my phone repeatedly and staring out the window, it became obvious to the women that I had other things on my mind. Mom said, “You brought your hunting stuff, didn’t you?” I didn’t even have to reply… “Well, you better get going then,” she said. Within minutes I was suited up, gave the wife a kiss, and headed out the door.

I decided to hunt a stand I’ve got hung over a brassica/oats/clover plot, since I had a close call with some does the last time I was in it. Before climbing up the tree with the Millenium, I pulled the card from my trailcam that’s actually attached to the tree I hunt out of. By 3:55 p.m., I was settled in my stand and anxious to see some deer. Sitting there twittling my thumbs, I remembered I had my digital camera in my pack… so I took it out to kill some time viewing whatever was on the trailcam memory card. At this point, it’s about 20 after 4, I’m stretched out with my feet propped up on the footrest, flipping through trailcam pics… when I happened to look up. About 120 yds away at the opposite end of the field, I see a doe… and she’s heading my way.

Quickly, I shove the digital camera in my pocket and get into position. As I watch her, I notice her two fawns trailing behind her. They plucked a few acorns off the ground as they made their way to me. Eventually they made it into the plot, and as the fawns stayed at the far end, the doe worked her way south toward me. The position of my stand isn’t the best, but it’s the best I could do. She made it a point to remind me of that, as she made her way to my uphill side and got downwind of me… only 15 yds away and in the only area of the plot that I can’t shoot to. At this point, I’m thinking, “Well, let’s see just how good this Scent Smoker really is…” She caught my scent and started investigating with her nose. I smiled inside when she gave up, put her head back down, and kept feeding.

Finally, she started back the way she came, and walked back toward the fawns. I knew where she was going to come out and, although I hadn’t yet ranged it, thanks to a former food-plot-eating woodchuck I had a pretty good idea how far it was.  I came to full draw as she cleared the last limb. She was quartering away at the perfect angle as I settled my 30 yd pin in the crease. Confident in the angle and yardage, I released the arrow and watched it bury into her armpit. As she turned to run away, I noticed my arrow was lodged into the off-side shoulder, and about a ¼ of my arrow was sticking out. She ran up into the woods and I heard her crash moments later. Even though it wasn’t a complete pass-through, I knew I hit her good and she wasn’t going far.

I gave her about 20 minutes before I finally packed up my gear and started down the tree. When I got to where she was standing, I immediately found blood and followed into the tree line. Not 5 yds into the woods, I found the back half of my arrow.

“Shit…. There goes 12 bucks.” Lol



Pretty soon, I started finding more blood, and things really looked promising.



This is what every bowhunter loves to see… Textbook lung blood.


Not 50 yds or so into the woods, I found her piled up. To my surprise, there was actually an exit hole through the off-side shoulder, but the front half of my arrow was no where to be found. “Shit… There goes 10 more bucks.” Lol



My shot was a little bit lower than I intended, but I still managed to get lung and part of the heart. She must’ve been about 33 yds instead of 30, but hey, it worked.

After getting the dirty work finished, I called down to the house to arrange for the deer pick-up service, and soon after my stepdad came up the hill with the quad and trailer. We took a couple pictures, loaded her up, and were back at the house… only about an hour or so after I climbed up into the stand. Good thing too, because they the rain started coming down.

It’s funny because even though my wife and I went down to visit my mom and wish her well, and I even made some bomb deer chili for lunch, I think my mom was more excited about the deer than anything. All in all, it was a good day!

 

Riverdude

The Happy Hunting Grounds Beyond
Supporting Member
10,254
115
Ashtabula, Ohio
Great to hear you Mother is doing well first off. Now Congrats to you on a nice harvest, now you can make more of your famous chili!!!!!!
 

"J"

Git Off My Lawn
Supporting Member
56,741
274
North Carolina
Spending time with the two favorite ladies in your life and putting an arrow through a deer all in the same day..... priceless.... Congrats JB.....
 

jagermeister

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
18,060
223
Ohio
Great job!! Looks like your doing the same thing I am....cutting up a deer right now!!

Lol... Yea, I cut her up last night when I got home and finished with the grinding this afternoon. My buddy killed one Saturday night, so it worked out pretty well. We split a 12 pack of Busch heavies while we ground up all the trimmings.

Thanks, guys. Now since I'm down to two broadheads... only one of which has the factory edge on it... It looks like I need to place an order for some new ones.
 

Milo

Tatonka guide.
8,184
157
Nice JB...Dialed in as we expected. Congrats on a fine animal. sorry to hear your mom had to go through that but glad she is on the mend.