well, I had a good xmas. hope everyone enjoyed their holiday. My wife got me the parka I wanted and now I can just wear three layers instead of six. she got me a pair of bibs too back in Nov for my bday. every time she gets me something and I wear it, I kill a deer. got a gorilla king kong stand from my folks which is awesome and a fleece hood cover.

I've been out here and there and decided to go out to a patch of cover that the deer have used in years passed. some young hunter really screwed the pooch for me this year and the late season isn't nearly as productive in there as it usually is. I sat a spot on the ground after seeing there was 0 fresh sign at my one stand. I figured why not and took the 243. It was windy as heck. 35mph gusts. I didn't see anything until I got up and knelt on the edge of a field to watch for the final five mins or so. I look out and I think, 'man, that looks like a deer'. well, it wasn't, but 4 deer. three little ones and mom on a trail that I didn't even know was there. hey, I've only hunted this place for three seasons! anyway, I couldn't get a shot from there, and light was going fast. I went back into the woods and came out a bit farther up. I put the gun on a pine limb and just as the crosshairs settled, I get a cramp in my leg. ouch. worked that out and resettled. I was debating on whether or not to shoot because she was just on the other side of a fence, when the gun went off. guess I decided to shoot. I found zero sign. I looked in the fading light for about five mins before finding her. a nice big fat 4.5 y.o. doe. I'll have to watch this trail in the future. I'll post a pic when I get home. this is number 11 for me. two weeks left. I am hoping to find that elusive buck. I've seen but six this year.