iSnipe

Some of our buddies are still out there hunting with a variety of weapons. Some have seasons that are closing fast and didn't get their deer yet or perhaps didn't come close to filling their tags.

They may be beat up a little, short on patience now and feeling hopeless from trying hard, but still with no luck or little at all.

Do you have any stories of last minute or last day deer that were killed to inspire our brother and sister hunters still out there hard at it?... or to get them back out there to be hard at it?

Several years ago I was trophy hunting and was dry for almost 2 months bow hunting. Then I decided I'll just take any deer of mature size as season is closing. Around here the bow season was around the end of the first week of September to December 31. Snow was getting deeper; back roads were barely navigable. The deer changed their pattern and fed in different areas than earlier in the year. I made my decision to shoot anything mature after the first week of December. This was going to be easy.

Or so I thought. I couldn't shoot a deer to save my life. Nothing was coming close enough or the shot opportunity didn't pan out... and I'm good at creating shot opportunities when most think there isn't. It started to take it's toll going out every day getting all bundled up, carrying my back pack, bow and hauling butt in deep snow. I started to get burn out and was losing my confidence. I don't think I missed but a couple of days when I decided to hunt until I got something mature; buck or doe, didn't matter... something!

It was December 31, last day of season and the morning's hunt was fruitless. I stayed out later that morning and now it gets dark about 5pm. I figured if I took the long drive home, grabbed a bite, the ride back out, etc, it would be too late to hunt. I'm facing the fact that hunt was my last of the year.

I met up with a close hunting buddy about that time not just a mile within where I was hunting. We decided to drive around road spotting. Twice we saw deer and I dropped him off to try the spot and stalk. When I'd see him back on the road, I knew he was done. With 30 minutes left of light, sunset had set in, we drove into a thicket of pines and saw several doe in one spot. I let him off and said I'll be parked up the trail a couple hundred yards away and I wished him luck. It started to snow very hard.

What the heck, I got 25 minutes left. I threw on my white camo outfit, decked out head to toe in white, grabbed my bow and just walked sort of aimlessly away from the truck into the woods. Not 5 minutes later, I'm shocked. I got caught out in the wide open and I see one doe going from left to right. She was about 75 yards out and suddenly does a 90° turn right at me! I'm flat-footed with not a single twig to hide behind. 70 yards, 65 yards, 60 yards, 50 yards, 40 yards!!!... she's getting right on top of me and I CAN'T take the front on shot!

35 yards! 30 yards! She doesn't see me! 25 yards! Oh my GOD! 20 yards, 19 yards, and at 18 yards she does another 90° turn to her left and gives me one of the easiest broadside shots I've ever had a chance to take. Arrow flies and finds it's mark! Saw her jog a bit, not 30 yards and tips over! No way man! I just got a nice doe on the last day of the season with only minutes left of legal light. I couldn't have been more stoked!

Keep at it hunting buddies. This can happen to you too! Keep on keepin' on! Don't call it quits yet!

iSnipe

1shotkill1993

Great story iSnipe. Good to all of you fellas out there!

countertop

Posted this over at The High Road. Here is is again.
But I'll also add, I've done a ton of bird hunting this fall, but have so far had no luck with deer. Been out 5 days (2 days in Montgomery County, MD, 2 Day's at my lease in Dorchester County Maryland, and 1 day outside of Goldsboro, NC) and haven't seen a single deer. The one I saw was in South Dakota while pheasant hunting (and what a massive trophy that was - easily the biggest deer I've ever seen) but I only had an O/U with #5 bird shot.

Anyway, that's the backstory with the season ending soon and knowing that I can't make it out next week because of work or the following week because of christmas.

Took off early from work today to go chase Odocoileus virginianus in the hills of Rapahanock County, Virginia.

Was hunting a friends farm, where he placed me next to a brook, in a ground blind tent, with a view across a field and up a hill out to about 350 yards.

Not 10 minutes after sitting down, a group of three ladies come strolling over the hill, stopping for a second to eat at about 175 yards from me.

I pull out the .280 Rem Remington 700, put the hairs on the middle one, and fire - off hand and uphill. And see a cloud of dirt above the doe on the hill behind her.

Dang!

Meanwhile, these three ladies stare dumbfounded in my direction as I start cursing myself, and then a few seconds later chamber another round, the sound of which (I assume) sends them running off.

I get out, walk up and look around on the off chance I hit her (I knew I didn't) and think about packing it up, certain I blew my chance today.

I head back to the blind, cursing myself while sitting there and just not paying attention when 45 minutes later (and 15 minutes after sunset but still during legal shooting light) as I'm about to pack up I notice a dark spot all the way up on the top of the hill. I pull out my bino's, and sure enough it's a single deer grazing.

Certain I'm not going to let myself miss again, I adjust myself and steady the shot, when the deer disappears behind a rise I hadn't noticed from that distance (the light was very flat).

I wait a minute, thinking it will graze back in view, but then realize it won't and am convinced that my my second chance opportunity at meat in the freezer has come and gone. And I figure, it's getting dark, so I might as well just pack it up and walk back to the road.

But then I look harder and remember that the hill has a low point that funnels around to the top of the field.

I leave the blind (and zipper it up) and start running up the hill. Covered 150 yards or so in 45 seconds quietly and as I crest the hill I see the deer grazing.

I drop my binoculars and fall to the ground and crawl into a prone position. The deer stops and looks my way, but doesn't see me. But I'm out of breath and and the scope's cross hairs are flying all over and I can't get a shot. But he still doesn't see me.

And then a gust of wind blows my cap off - and the deer starts moving quick in the rapidly fading light as I'm having a tough time seeing him. I'm about to give up again, when the deer walks up behind a tree, into some tall grass, and as it emerges on the other side just as the last of the legal shooting light is fading . . . BANG I shoot the deer 100 yards away across the ravine in the left front shoulder. It jumps, it spins, it comes toward me and falls to the ground and rolls down the hill.

And it's a fricken spike buck. But not a yearling, this is a massive, full bodied buck. Probably 3 or 4 by the look of his size and teeth but with only short 3 inch spike antlers.

He'll be good eaton, and an improvement to the genetic pool. A good harvest that almost didn't happen as I was ready to give up on the afternoon hunt 3 different times.

Let that be a lesson, you never know what's going to come out next. No matter what has happened before.

______

UncleNorby

One thing I learned years ago is, if a guy shoots deer in early archery and another early in the firearm season, they don't tend to hunt much. Not getting your deer means you get to hunt more. If you like hunting that's not a bad thing. The more you hunt, the better you should be at it, unless you simply continue to do all the things that have not been successful. Use the "extra" hunting time to try new tactics, new hunting areas, etc. Remember, it's really all about the hunt, not the deer you take home.

HuntingKS

Here's my story from just a few days ago - Saturday.

"This has been a very long hunting season for me. It started off in September with my 10 year old and I taking advantage of the early youth season. We hunted 2 1/2 days. On the first two days we say dozens of deer - all does. My son was holding out for a buck, but finally decided to shoot at a doe at the end of the 2nd day. He missed from about 120 yards. On the last day, we didn't see anything. It was odd, we'd seen so many the previous two days.

We then decided to try an early season October hunt that is available only for a few days in specified management units - mainly those somewhat near high population areas. We were only able to do half a day then - just the afternoon/evening. We saw one doe near dusk but didn't have a shot. At this point, my son was ready to shoot at anything.

We hit it again opening day of the regular season - last Wednesday. We were in a great location on private land, but didn't see a thing all day. There was plenty of sign - tracks, rubs, scrapes etc. Just not seeing deer. I returned to the same place last Saturday with a guy from my church. Again, neither of us saw anything. I was getting frustrated and even baffled, but I guess that's why they call it hunting and not killing.

So, I go back Saturday by myself - the last day of the season that I would be able to hunt. I don't see anything the entire day. My set up seemed perfect, but the deer just weren't cooperating. So, with about 10 minutes of shooting light left, I decide to head toward the car. I figured that I'd be heading into the wind, and it had been drizzling most of the afternoon. So, I thought I could sneak up on something and also check one of the other fields on the property that I had hunted last Saturday. Sure enough, the deer were on the other field! I first spotted 3-4 does so far away I could barely tell they were deer. I needed the binoculars to confirm. It was a long shot - probably 300 yards or more. It was getting very dark, so I lined it up as best as I could and squeezed the trigger - and missed. At least I was pretty sure I did. So, I started walking to the area they were in. As I got closer, it certainly didn't appear as though I had connected. No deer on the ground or blood trail, BUT from where I was now, I could see another group of deer that hadn't flushed about 200 yards away. It was getting very close to the end of legal shooting hours. So, I put my scope on the closest one, noticed it had antlers, and squeezed the trigger - all in about 10 seconds. It crow-hopped, and the deer scattered. I was certain I had hit it, and thought I had heard it crash in the brush.

As I near the location they were at, I was somewhat concerned. There was a lot of mud and snow and, with the dark, I couldn't easily see its tracks or a blood trail. I started looking with my flashlight, and to my delight, it had crashed only about 30 feet from where I shot it. The shot was perfect. The deer had been facing me trying to figure out what I was, so the shot was with the deer quartering toward me. It entered the ribcage from the front of the shoulder. When I got to the deer, I was extremely and pleasantly surprised with what I found. I couldn't believe how big it was. A very good 8 point later scored in the low 120's. Field dressed, it weighs about the same as me ( based on the fact that I can't pull it up myself to hang it), and I weight 210.

So, with only 5-10 minutes of light left, on my last day, and on my way to the car, I get a good buck.

Horacio

I hope like hell I have one to tell after this weekend....