I caught up on all my work mid day and asked the bossman if I could slip out for an afternoon hunt. For those of you who don’t know me on a personal level, I work with my father in a family owned store. The good thing is he is a deer hunter as well so it’s a little different than asking someone who is not into hunting… they just don’t get it. He gave me the “Ok” and off I went!
I headed to a lease Bunk, Ross and I have in Morven, NC. This will be the second time I am able to hunt this lease. Bunk and Ross have been giving me a hard time since I’ve been hunting all over the place and have yet to really hunt that particular lease. Even after saying that I might head to that property, Bunk called later to make sure that I was actually going to hunt that set!
When I finally arrived to the property, it was getting a little later than I would have liked to get in the stand. I slipped in very quietly, paying attention to every sound and every movement. When I eased into the stand I looked around and had some mixed emotions. Either I was successful slipping in all ninja like or there wasn’t going to be much action on this set since it was pretty much primetime.
I got settled in and just kept glassing the Looooooooong lane and occassionally checking the short side. Bunk had killed a doe earlier this season at the very end, 214 yards. I expected to see the deer skirt the very end of the long lane so I kept focusing on it. I started losing daylight and the end of the long lane was getting harder and harder to focus on in the camera’s view finder. It finally got to the point where I lost camera light and figured it was time to pack it up. I started to gather all the gear, pack up the camera and just when I was getting up to step down… I hear the destinct sound of deer steps getting close. I still had shooting light, just not filming light so I sat back down and decided to see what steps out. Here they came… three big ‘ol slickheads! They stepped out into the Long lane at a whopping 20 yards. Here I was thinking all night that we were going to stretch out the 30-06 and instead there they were, standing at 20 yards.
They crossed the Long Lane into the point giving me the opportunity to get ready… again. The first doe stepped out into the short side and picked me out in a heatbeat. Busted! It was now or never. I knew the biggest doe was in the lead going into the point so hopefully they stayed in that order, the other two were still good sized girls but not they were obviously shy a few pounds of the lead doe. I slowly squeezed the trigger, BOOM! She mule kicked and off she went.
The other two came slipping across the Long Lane and I just sat there for a little while longer until it was just getting past shooting light. Let’s try this again. I eased down and started heading to the truck to get the 4 wheeler. No need to look for her. Not tooting my own horn or anything but it’s not that difficult to make a perfect shot on a broadside deer at 35 yards… with a scoped 30-06!
When I cruised up to the scene of the crime I already picked out a ton of hair where she was standing from the 4 wheeler. Within a few steps, the blood trail started. Withing a few more steps, there she laid. It was the biggest doe! Another great deer to put in the freezer. It’s a nice feeling to get to punch the first Bonus Doe tag of the season.
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