Odocoileus virginianus

Sarah and I made our way to Missoula on Thanksgiving day, and after 4 hours of tense, icy driving we arrived! My typical request of only wanting, "A hug, a handshake, and a Thanksgiving meal" came true...but it only got better. My sister blessed me with some much needed wool hats (one of which has already become my daily wear), Sarah got me some nice GoreTex rain pants and a web belt, and my Mom got me some of those cool Sam Adams beer glasses. My Dad wrapped it up with a box of 7mm shells. Uhmm, sorry Dad, I don't have a 7mm! When he returned from the back room, he had an unused 7 mag! No kidding! It was all shock at that point and I'm pretty excited to get out and shoot it. It's a great looking rifle and I already decided to keep the iron sights on it. After dealing with all the snow and trying to protect my scope, it would be a welcome option to have open sights.

We made it back Saturday, and I headed into the woods Sunday at 1030. I had seen a lot of deer movement the other day around 1300, so figured I'd go out a little later. I made it up the skating rink of a road and headed up the hill at 1100. I decided to check out a corner of the clearcut where I had spooked a deer earlier in the week after not being able to make it out with the stumps and whatnot. I looked up there and saw something that looked like a deer, but then I concluded it was just a tree bole. WAIT...that tree bole just moved!!!

I hunkered under a big ponderosa and made myself a little nest. The deer was a doe, but after the other day of gridding that whole area looking for the deer I missed, I knew it was a popular spot with them...and there MUST be a buck nearby. So, I set up my pack as a rest and layed down to keep an eye on her.


My quick hide


View from my rest...the deer was at the far timberline...240 yards, doesn't look like it does it?

I ranged her and saw she was at about 240 yards! I figured I should hold a little high if I did see anything. So, I'm laying there watching this doe when she looked back in the timber. Uh oh, game on! Sure enough, there was a buck! He turned and chased her out of the clearcut and was just cresting the ridge himself, almost out of sight, when I made some sort of grunting noise to get him to stop. He stopped! With basically no time to think, I held high on his chest and pulled the trigger!

After the shot, I scanned and scanned the area, but saw no sign of the deer. DAMMIT! The recoil felt like a .22 and the report sounded like a small crack. Hmm, again, I pulled the bolt and looked down the barrel...no obstruction. Well, I checked my watch and it was 1120 or so; I took my time going up the hill because I figured I'd be tracking if I did hit him and I wanted to give him time to bed down or at least to die close by. It was a long walk up there in 12 inches of snow and I spent the whole time praying to find evidence of a hit. I got to where I thought he was standing and didn't see anything! REALLY?!! Did I miss completely again? Is my scope off? That's when I took a couple more steps and saw his back! He hadn't taken a single step, just dropped in his tracks. I have NEVER had that happen!

My first thoughts were of relief and thanks. My next thought was, "I need to call Sarah!" (I had the odd privilege of cell service there.) After that quick phone call and having to sit down to keep from shaking too much, I took some photos of my first deer in 5 years!


Great place for contemplation

Beautiful critter

I then began the task of getting him cleaned up. I strung his legs out so they wouldn't be in the way, then touched the knife to his belly and the hair moved! Now, I have heard of guys starting to cut on a seemingly dead deer, only to have them jump up very much alive. SO, I touched his eye again. Okay, he's dead, but what the hell? Nerves? I touched the knife to his belly again and again, the hair moved. Curious, I pulled the hair back only to see TICKS! Hundreds of ticks...I'd say easily 10 per square inch. Well, work was still work, so I began. Within 15 minutes, I had everything taken care of...after only gutting an elk and a moose in the past couple of years, I was amazed at how easy it was.

I was so excited I forgot to put my tag on him! So I dug around and found my tag...then rapidly became confused...aren't these things supposed to have little month/day things to cut out? Hmm, in my excitement I had grabbed the license/receipt for my deer tag. Slow down Tom. I got the tag cut out and used about 10 feet of rope to secure it to his antler, I was NOT going to lose it on the drag out.

The buck from where I shot

I drug him down the hill to my little nest and took some more photos, totally forgetting to pick up the shell casing that I was trying to remember to pick up. I got to the pickup and was pulling out at 1230. When I shot, I was about 200 yards as the crow flies from the truck. The deer fell at 240 yards from there. The total drag was only about 500 yards, downhill, in a clearcut, in 12 inches of snow! Pretty darn nice! And all told, I was in and out in 1.5 hours!

Just an interesting photo

So I negotiated the treacherous roads on my way to Butch's house to string this guy up in the woodshed. As I'm driving I noticed a little yearling doe come sprinting toward the road on the driver side...she missed the car in the other lane and I tried to speed up so I wouldn't hit her. Well, she connected with my rear quarter panel and gave me a nice dent. She fell in the road and thrashed around...I felt bad because I figured she was injured. But, I watched her for a bit and the thrashing was just because of the ice. Once she got her feet, she ran off into the woods. A relief!

I used the truck to string this buck up into the rafters to skin it out...it was a little heavier than I thought it would be. I kept feeling something on the back of my neck and finally found the tick that was crawling around. Talk about having the creepy-crawlies for the rest of the evening! But, I got my work done and looked at my watch....it took longer to hang him up and skin him than it did to get him out of the woods...2 hours!

I had found my bullet inside the hide on the far side and put it on the tailgate to save. I forgot, of course, before I left so I'm hoping it's still in my truck bed. Turns out I really didn't need to hold high, because the shot hit him high and pretty much destroyed the lungs...but it passed close enough to the spine on the far side that I think that's why he didn't go very far. The shock must have done it.

I'm really glad things turned out in the end...it feels good to get rewarded for the hard work and time I put into it. I figured out the country, figured out where and when the deer were moving, and made it work. It was my first ever shot at an animal from a prone position, it was the longest shot at an animal in my lifetime, and it was the only animal that dropped dead in it's tracks. Can't ask for a better belated birthday present than that!

I am pleased.