Oldtimr

Affectionately know as the geezer doe season opened yesterday for 3 days. I got lucky at 9:45 am. I didn't see a deer til 9:30 then 4 a buck and 3 doe came out of a ravine that is on the right side of my stand, crossed the wide grass trail the is between my stand and the ravine. They stopped about 60 yards out in front to the left of the trail and started to browse. I could only see parts of them for a while until one of the doe gave me enough, head neck and shoulder, to shoot. I was using my 45-70 guide gun, I settled the cross hairs off hand just behind the shoulder and touched it off. At the shot the doe went down, got up and swapped ends and ran back down the raving she came from the other deer ran the opposite direction. I watched her run out of the ravine to a grass path on the other the runs the length of the ravine , then she ran on the path til I could not see her. I knew if was a good hit because as she ran she got lower and lower to the ground but she was really motoring. When I got out of the stand and went to the spot she was when I shot there was a lot of blood and small pieces of lung, I could't believe she ran that far lung shot. I took the blood trail which was easy to follow, she went down a couple of times, across the ravine and up the other side and after about 20 yards I found her stone dead. When I gutted her I pulled out the heart and found a hole plumb in the center of her heart a little bigger around than the 45 cal bullet that hit her. Then the fun started, I had to go to the other side of the ravine for my back pack and atv and drive it out to the road, down the road and onto the path on the other side of the ravine. I was able to make it to within 15 yards of her and a tree across the path stopped me. After she was field dressed I dragged her under the log and found I could not lift her onto the front basket of the atv. I tried until I couldn't try any more, took a rest, turned the atv around and put my rope around her neck with the front legs on either side of her head and tied my rope to the trailer hitch on the back of my machine and drug her down the trail to the road, then down the shoulder of the road and up the long driveway into the woods where the landowner lives and where my truck was parked and washed her out. Thank god I bought that atv or I would have had a real long drag. Her coat looks a little worse for wear due to the long drag and from being washed out. She is a nice size doe and had milk in her utter. Darn this getting older, not all that long ago I could have thrown that deer into the cargo basket with no problem.

Bocajnala

Nice doe. I see that atv is coming in handy for you.

I'm always amazed at what deer do after the shot. Our two deer from Tuesday both dropped at the shot and neither were exceptionally good shots. Then sometimes a deer that is hit extremely well can really run a long way. At least that doe ran itself up out of the ravine for you.



-Jake

Oldtimr

That is true, I killed two that did not, hence the winch on the ATV.