As I mentioned on an earlier post, I shot at and missed a doe last Saturday. Well.... here's the rest of the story.

After the shot, three does ran one way and the doe I shot at ran the opposite direction. After the shot I waited in my tree for about 10 min just to let things settle down. After I climbed down, I did not bother to reload my gun (big mistake) and walked over to where I shot at the doe. No blood, No hair, No deer parts, nothin. So, I started walking in the direction the doe ran to look for more sign.

I was hunting in swampy area with high weeds and thick brush, so visibility was poor at best. As I was walkin along this path, I kept hearing this "mewing" sound? Just as I walked around the corner of a heavy clump of brush, here came this doe, haulin ars right at me!

Don't know who was more surprised, me or the doe. But, there I stood, face to face, with a perfectly healthy (un-wounded) deer that I just shot at. She came to a skiddin stop just about 10ft. in front of me and I just stood there with my gun pointed at her, unloaded.

We both just stood there and looked at one another until she finally bolted back the way she came from. My guess is that since she had been separated from the other doe's she was suffering from a little "separation anxiety", that's what all the "mewing" was about.

Anyway, lesson here is?

1. Make the first shot count
2. Reload your gun after you shoot at your deer.
3. Modify muzzloader to affix bayonet for those close encounters.