Post by M4Madness on Oct 5, 2007 17:28:55 GMT -5
Well, the pressure is off now, and I can now wait until cooler weather to pursue a big buck. ;D
Every year, I try very hard to arrow a good doe in the first week of archery season. Yesterday evening was the fourth day of Indiana's archery season. After working a 9-hour day, I climbed my tree at 5:00 PM. The temperature was in the upper 80's, which wasn't very good for deer hunting. The only positive aspect of the drought here is that the mosquitoes weren't bad. I saw does from this same tree at 6:00 PM the day before, so I was disappointed when nothing had shown up by 7:00 PM.
At 7:15 PM, I saw a lone doe meandering down the wooded hill towards me. If she'd have offered a broadside shot sooner, I would have arrowed her then. She ended up closing the distance until she turned broadside somewhere around 7 yards or so. I aimed low with my 20-yard pin, and released my Gold Tip arrow tipped with a Rage 2-blade mechanical broadhead. The deer jumped straight up like a scared cat, and took off up the hill. I waited, and heard her crashing around, so I was sure she was down.
When I found my arrow, I was concerned when I saw that it was covered with stomach matter, and the shot site had white hair and diarrhea-looking stuff on the ground. I feared a gut shot, but was confused by the fact that I couldn't have shot that far back from pointblank range, not to mention that I heard her crashing. A gut shot deer just hunkers up and walks away slowly. This deer ran full bore until I heard it crash.
I'm one of 10% of males who have red colorblindness. I can see red, but have trouble seeing deer blood. I called my brother and got no answer. I then called my uncle, and he had a girl coming over, so he couldn't help. My father (who doesn't hunt), ended up bringing a large DeWalt light and helping me track, as it was pitch black out by now. I showed him the shot site, and he took off following the blood like a pro. It started out faint, then got heavy, then faint again. The hillside is a tangle of old treetops littered around, so it wasn't easy to navigate. We finally came to a log, and couldn't find evidence of her crossing it. My Dad started shining the light around, and discovered that she turned downhill. The blood got really heavy, and he said, "There she lays!" She wasn't lying 40 yards from where we'd left the truck. I gave my Dad a big hug, and thanked him. For being a non-hunter, he sure could bloodtrail like a bloodhound.
The entrance wound was a huge, gaping 2" slit high/front of the ribs on the left side, and the exit was low/rear on right side. A classic double-lung, but I must have nicked the intestines or stomach to get that brown gunk on the ground. I was in too big a hurry to do an autopsy.
I field dressed her quickly, then tried in vain to find a check station that was open at 8:50 PM. Everything close was closed, and I found one 25 minutes away that closed at 9:00 PM (10 minutes from then.) I begged the girl to wait on me, and she agreed to wait until 9:15 PM. I drove right through town and stopped at stoplights with the deer on my "hitch haul" on the back of my Jeep XJ. I got quite a few stares. I'm used to checking them in out here in the country near my home, not driving through a town with them on the back. I made it to the check station at 9:13 PM, and got it checked in. Then I had to drive another half hour to the processor.
I called ahead, and begged the processor to meet me at his shop at 9:45 PM. With the heat, I had to get it in a walk-in cooler immediately. He agreed, and the rest is history.
Every year, I try very hard to arrow a good doe in the first week of archery season. Yesterday evening was the fourth day of Indiana's archery season. After working a 9-hour day, I climbed my tree at 5:00 PM. The temperature was in the upper 80's, which wasn't very good for deer hunting. The only positive aspect of the drought here is that the mosquitoes weren't bad. I saw does from this same tree at 6:00 PM the day before, so I was disappointed when nothing had shown up by 7:00 PM.
At 7:15 PM, I saw a lone doe meandering down the wooded hill towards me. If she'd have offered a broadside shot sooner, I would have arrowed her then. She ended up closing the distance until she turned broadside somewhere around 7 yards or so. I aimed low with my 20-yard pin, and released my Gold Tip arrow tipped with a Rage 2-blade mechanical broadhead. The deer jumped straight up like a scared cat, and took off up the hill. I waited, and heard her crashing around, so I was sure she was down.
When I found my arrow, I was concerned when I saw that it was covered with stomach matter, and the shot site had white hair and diarrhea-looking stuff on the ground. I feared a gut shot, but was confused by the fact that I couldn't have shot that far back from pointblank range, not to mention that I heard her crashing. A gut shot deer just hunkers up and walks away slowly. This deer ran full bore until I heard it crash.
I'm one of 10% of males who have red colorblindness. I can see red, but have trouble seeing deer blood. I called my brother and got no answer. I then called my uncle, and he had a girl coming over, so he couldn't help. My father (who doesn't hunt), ended up bringing a large DeWalt light and helping me track, as it was pitch black out by now. I showed him the shot site, and he took off following the blood like a pro. It started out faint, then got heavy, then faint again. The hillside is a tangle of old treetops littered around, so it wasn't easy to navigate. We finally came to a log, and couldn't find evidence of her crossing it. My Dad started shining the light around, and discovered that she turned downhill. The blood got really heavy, and he said, "There she lays!" She wasn't lying 40 yards from where we'd left the truck. I gave my Dad a big hug, and thanked him. For being a non-hunter, he sure could bloodtrail like a bloodhound.
The entrance wound was a huge, gaping 2" slit high/front of the ribs on the left side, and the exit was low/rear on right side. A classic double-lung, but I must have nicked the intestines or stomach to get that brown gunk on the ground. I was in too big a hurry to do an autopsy.
I field dressed her quickly, then tried in vain to find a check station that was open at 8:50 PM. Everything close was closed, and I found one 25 minutes away that closed at 9:00 PM (10 minutes from then.) I begged the girl to wait on me, and she agreed to wait until 9:15 PM. I drove right through town and stopped at stoplights with the deer on my "hitch haul" on the back of my Jeep XJ. I got quite a few stares. I'm used to checking them in out here in the country near my home, not driving through a town with them on the back. I made it to the check station at 9:13 PM, and got it checked in. Then I had to drive another half hour to the processor.
I called ahead, and begged the processor to meet me at his shop at 9:45 PM. With the heat, I had to get it in a walk-in cooler immediately. He agreed, and the rest is history.
