I have had a frustrating week of hunting. I moved to GA from VA this past summer and lost the hunting I had around my home. So I had to settle for hunting this past week with my FIL in VA. Now I usually hunt with him, but I am not use to only getting 1 week to hunt. Add to it that I was hunting a farm field and the guy who lived there liked to come outside and run the leaf blower right up until dark. Even though I am hundreds of yards away, the deer will not come out with any activity going on at the house. I started to suspect he was doing it on purpose!
Anyway, Friday morning I was in my blind and there was no sign at the house that the man was home. Turned out he slept in until 9:00 am and never knew I was there.
At about 7:25 am a doe stepped out a couple hundred yards away. It wasn't doe day and she didn't act like another deer was around so I wasn't too excited. Within a few minutes another deer appeared at the edge of the field and I knew it was a buck. I got a scope on it and sure enough it was a nice little 8 ptr. He followed the doe around and I got to witness something I have never seen, the buck mounted the doe a couple times. At least he died happy.
Now I always figured an antsy doe meant a buck was around but this doe was not antsy. So I guess a doe that is ready and knows a buck is around acts casual. So now I will have to assume any doe I see could have a buck following.
They were too my right which is not the direction I had hoped for so I had a very awkward angle on them. I had to come off my bucket in the blind, get on my knee and poke the rifle out the right corner of the window. It was not ideal. They tried to cross the fence into the woods above me but the cows spooked them back into the field. They finally came around to where I could get a shot so I pulled the trigger. The buck dropped instantly. Turned out it was a bad shot that was a good one. Say what? I was aiming for the vitals and hit him in the base of the neck in the spine. I blame my awkward stance, my heavy breathing from watching them so long before shooting and any number of other factors.
I measured the shot at 86 yards with my GPS. Not far for a 30-06 but further than I have ever shot a deer. I am use to hunting smaller fields and woods where shots are closer.
So without further ado, here are the pics.
The buck:
My blind:
Curious onlookers:
