Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Deer!!!!!!!

The impossible happened today, I managed to shoot a deer!  I never dreamed that it would happen this year, but it did, and I couldn't be happier.  Here's the story:

I had been running a line of fox and coyote traps for a week or so, and I always check them first thing in the morning.  On this particular day, I had two traps left on my line, that I was not able to get to until lunch time.  These traps were directly behind my office, so it would make for a quick lunch time check.  There is a garage surrounded by fields that are intertwined with roads.  I drove past the garage, and up a field road, that connects to another field road that I have a trap on.  As I neared the intersection, I couldn't resist the urge to look over my shoulder to see if I had caught something.  I didn't see anything where my trap was, but I did see a dark spot that looked just like a pair of deer ears.  I was sure enough that it was a pair of ears, I stopped the pickup and grabbed the rifle as I slid out of the seat.  I brought the cross hairs to focus on the ears, and I could see the rack that protruded above them.  Quickly I slid a cartridge into the chamber and closed the bolt.  The only part of the deer that I could see was his neck and head protruding from the grass.  He was facing me, so the only shot I had was the neck.  I held right where his neck came out of the grass, took a deep breath, and gently squeezed the trigger.  The recoil from the .270 made me lose my focus through the scope, and as soon as I recovered, I could no longer see the deer.  I ran to where I had last seen the buck and started pushing through the almost shoulder high grass.  After a couple minutes of frantic searching, I caught a glimpse of the buck.  I approached cautiously, but I needed not worry, because he had dropped in his tracks.  I grabbed the deer's antlers and let out a loud "Yeaaaaaaaaa!"  It had been six years since I was able to harvest a whitetail, and it is hard to describe how good it felt.





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