Man I ALMOST closed the deal last night with stick, string and stone.
I was hunting out behind the house. The wind was shifting a bit on me but primarily blowing to the east so I picked out a big fallen log to the east of several good trail intersections…. Trail to the south, trail to the west, trail to the north. I had thickets behind me to the south and good cover to the west.
Right at last light I happened to glance over my left shoulder and saw a deer ghosting through the field just on the south trail behind my ground blind. It was at the 8 oclock position and headed east and would pass directly behind me at 10 yards. …
So I carefully moved around to my right to ready the shot. What I didn’t know was that the deer I saw was the last in the line of 3…. An old doe and her 2 yearlings had snuck in and ambushed me…
When I turned that big old doe stopped walking and was at 12 yards just behind the thick brush of my hide. I could count her ribs but I couldn’t launch an arrow with all the brush in the way. Her neck and head were sticking out but I didn’t have a kill shot… She heard me or saw some movement and stopped and looked… took a step and I drew really slow.. she took another step and looked, sniffed.. looked… comon’’’ girl just one more step and I would make meat.. she stood there and looked and looked.. my bow arm started shaking and twitchin’… I had to slowly let down and she caught some movement… she half heartedly stomped and snorted but didn’t run… she didn’t know what I was.. she backed up a few feet then came on again….
I drew again… the whole time she was peering into my ground blind trying to figure out what I was… 12 yards or less. I could see individual hairs and I had one all picked out to cut with that stone point.
I held that second draw until I couldn’t stand it anymore.. .she would move forward one step then back a step. But never quite offer me a broadside chest shot…
Then the breeze shifted and she smelled me. She Blew, snorted and ran…
The whole encounter probably lasted a minute or 2 but seemed like hours… I could count every rib… I drew on her 2ce and held til I was shaking like a leaf…
Man it was an exciting hunt… just couldn’t quite close the deal…
N2
