Yep. So remember the last post? I DID go to work and I DID stick it out. However, I left 45 minutes early and rushed into the woods. I went to a new area. I saw deer after the first 100 yards. I had a long shot at a doe. Then a short shot at a young doe. Tracks everywhere. I hiked and hiked, trying to make sure I was still on public land, when I topped the ridge, I saw a house across a field...NOT on public land anymore. So after consulting the map over and over I rushed to where I could hunt. Tracks everywhere still. Who woulda thought locating a square mile of land between private land could be so difficult? I had a narrow corridor to walk through to get to this, and it just got a bit confusing in the snow and...me rushing as well.
Long story short. It was a short trip, I didn't have long, so I was more hustling than hunting through the woods. Finally I figured out where I was by an unusual meeting of roads and began hunting again. I spooked a small doe and she was off up the hill...and in looking further up the hill, I saw another one. Rather than spook the one I was closer to even more, I jumped off the side of the road to a log that made a supreme rest. I got all set up and fired. The deer jumped and kinda freaked out so I figured I hit her, but at about 350 yards, it was hard to tell. Usually you can hear the impact if you are close enough. But I ran up there anyways to look for sign. (With 30 minutes of daylight left of the last day of hunting season, it's important to get right on with business.) I spooked that closer deer again and it offered me an incredibly shot at fifty yards..but I had to check out the area where I shot previously before shooting again. I got up close to where the deer I shot at had been and saw yet ANOTHER doe! Another 50 yard shot. But, being ethical, I spooked her and checked out the area.
I found four hoof prints and a single hole in the snow on the hill behind these tracks. I had hit directly underneath her and I found out it was evidently the deer I had shot at that ran off when I got up there. So I felt good. I was in deer. I took a shot. I missed clean. And all this on the last day, in the last 30 minutes of shooting light. Not my best moment in shooting, but 350 yards uphill is trickier than I thought. I felt very blessed that I missed completely.
So that is that. The late two-week bow season is on right now for elk and deer...but I'm having more fun cross-country skiing than I am even thinking about hunting.
That's the scoop. Another animal-less year...but I have quite a few stories and adventures out of it still. And...AND I know the perfect area for next year!
