I'll try to make this quick and short:)
I had only a few days to hunt deer this year. In my unit the season is only a month long but i only hunt the last two weeks since blacktails hit the rut just a week before Halloween. They need that cold and rain to push em into sexy-time. Any other time blacktails are extremely nocturnal. seeing them in the day, even in the early mornings or late evenings isn't very common.
Since I'm injured i use my wheeler to get to and from my hunting blind. well for some reason i was having fuel infection issues and wasn't feeling great about getting stranded in the woods and having to wheel myself back to the house through the impossibly thick moss covered everything rain-forest that is the pacific northwest.
After a bit of diagnostic work i had figured out the problem and needed to buy some parts which wouldn't arrive until after the 5th of November. mind you at this point it was only the 22nd of October.
After some thought i decided to risk it. did a bit of some jimmy-rig'n and chicken wire BS and brought some essential tools along with me, just in case.
That morning i hadn't seen a single critter. only 2 forked bucks early in the a.m. the previous day. other than those two it was quiet. I knew there was a larger buck in the area that i had seen pre-season while surveying for a new spot to plant the ground blind. I was just waiting for him. i really have a hard time harvesting young deer. i like to maintain the practice of scouting and finding a mature buck that has lived his prime and can fill more than half a shelf in the freezer (blacktails are small when compared to other species of deer) and i know others don't agree with this practice saying that its not always an option, and you cant eat antlers. to which i can agree with, slightly. i.e. if it was coming down to the end of the season and things are looking grim then by all means take whats legal. i know i would, since we dont get our meats from anywhere other than the woods.
Anyways back to it. i had gotten to the point that i had eaten all i had brought with me. but i was still starving lol kind of to the point it hurt my stomach. and there wasn't much to gather around me. mostly just Wood Sorrel to graze on and keep the stomach aches at bay lol. then it was about 11:30am. i thought "ok, I'll jet back to the house grab some food and come right back. hopefully not startle any critters while im at it...i know, impossible"
Well as i was rolling out of the blind i could barely hear the sound of a mossy twig snap. which sounded less like a snap more like a *tunk* or something like that LOL.
So i hunkered down and waited, hoping my stomach wouldn't make any disturbing noises. As i waited and listened, a group of 3 Doe's where slowly making their way through the timber.
Being that the rut had just barely started to kick off, this was a bit weird behavior for female blacktails. but i also thought "okay 3 doe's..... at least one of them has to be throwing out that irresistible sexy stank". I waited and as i suspected, a buckaroo was tailing these 3 ladies. and it was THE Buck i had put on my list. it took him about 20 or so minutes from the time i first saw him, for him to get within range of my bow.
as i watched him he looked very aggravated and distracted. kept racking everything in sight with his headgear and would try fighting with the branches laying on the ground. all i could do was observe with most of my attention drawn to the spot i wanted to shoot, but it just wasn't right. the situation wasn't ready for me yet. and he was standing in an awkward angle. all i could do was stare.... then he took that front step, pushing his front leg forward, his eyes glued to the doe's as they ate lichen off the lower branches of the fir trees. without a thought of any kind or inner monologue, i remember nothing else but watching the fletching spin through the air and completely vanish into that pacific ghost-grey fur of his. i cant even recall drawing the bow.
The arrow passed through with, what looked like an almost friction-less encounter. as it hit the moss carpet on the adjacent side he slammed his feet to the ground and looked directly at the arrow with confusion, as his blood ran down the fletching onto the ground. i started to count. 1..2..3.. his front legs buckled and the entire front half of his body refused to work. but the back side wouldn't give up. even managed a few steps, but that just pushed his face and chest harder into the dirt..5..6..all of him was now, at rest.
unfortunately the stone point had broken. but i figured it was worth the sacrifice, after all that point had killed 2 previous deer for 2018 and 2019 season and even a smug coyote. maybe it was just too tired to stay in 1 piece after all that:D
oh yeah and i had finally made myself a knife for once lol. i used a file, elk femur, abalone, and aquamarine gems.
***heres the link to the knife if you wanted to check that out a bit***
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,68983.0.html Anyways hes a beautiful 7 year old, 4x4 with a gorgeous double white patch. i could not be happier with the result. here are a few pics thanks for check'n out my story.
Momma with her twins. the little button buck sticks close to mom while sister wonders off lol
and a few Coho taking flight in the nearby creek
