So I slept in, cleaned the driveway of 5 new inches of snow and decided to take a walk at the Zoo about 10:30 with my SHOTGUN. Do you believe it? I almost got stuck but managed to get the Explorer unstuck. I left it where it was and started walking. I hadn't walked a 100 yards and I saw a fresh bed. I started slowly sneaking along and came right up on a doe at about 30 yards. She saw me first and exploded. She ran across this little hill top, down a hill across a little gully and up the other side. There were some blowdowns in the area so I just took my time. When I got overlooking the gully I stopped and glassed. I picked up a deer in the thick stuff. He moved his head and I saw what I thought were bigger horns than they were. He was behind a bunch of small limbs covered with fresh snow. I eased ahead and found a hole in the stuff. I couldn't get a steady rest and there were still some limbs so I moved up 5 yards to another tree. Lots better. He was about 90 yards away angled away. I squeezed and he bolted but stopped after 15 yards. I could see the point of his shoulder so let another fly. He dropped like a sack. The first bullet entered at the front of the back ham and stopped just under the skin on the offside front shoulder. The 2nd one hit him right at the base of the neck. I called it good shooting for a smooth bore Browning light 12 with a modified barrell. That's the first deer I've shot with a gun in years. Much ground shrinkage from what I saw in the thicket but believe it or not, I needed the meat for the freezer. I've given too many away this year.
This critter has a club foot. Anyone know what causes it? Here's a picture of the foot.
