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A Hunting Story

Started by Corley5, November 22, 2012, 10:40:03 PM

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Corley5

  This year for the first time in many years I decided to deer hunt again.  Employment, business, life and a general lack of interest kept me from it for a long time.  The last year I hunted seriously was 98 and I didn't get a deer.  That was the first year that I was serious about hunting and didn't kill a buck.  The last deer I killed was in 1993.    The end of October I found out that my son Zach who is ten now can legally hunt in Michigan 8)  He and I talked about it and he figured he was up to it  :)  After a few days, a trip to the gun store, and several looks in the gun safe he and I decided that he'd hunt with me and next year he'll be well practiced and prepared for the season  :) :)
  He took Opening Day off from school and we sat in the blind that AM and PM.  We didn't see a deer.  I hunted the next morning and saw a yearling doe.  I picked him up from school that day and we got to the blind late.  Ten after 4 to be exact.  I figured we wouldn't see anything but we did.  At five what I think was the same little doe came in.  She kept looking west and about twenty minutes later this guy came strutting in.  This is all that's left.  Meat and horns.  We didn't get a pic of the full deer

 

 

He was facing away from us and wouldn't give me a good broadside shot.  After holding the gun up for 10 minutes (glad the armrest on the chair is the right height for my elbow  ;D ) he turned just enough that I could see the back of his ribcage on the left.  I touched off the .450 Bushmaster.  He and the doe ran but I knew I'd hit him.  Zach and I packed up and headed to the bait pile with Zach complaining about his ears ringing  ;D :D ;) :)  We found good blood but lost the trail after about fifty feet.  We circled around a bit and went home for better lights and our Snowy dog.  We got back and Snowy got right on the trail but didn't wait for us.  I had a leash but figured she'd stay close.  Wrong  ::) ;D  We were on our own again  ;D  With the better light we quickly found where the deer had taken a 90 degree turn and fifty more feet through and on the otherside of the raspberry thicket we found the deer and Snowy.  He'd run about two hundred feet but was only a hundred from where I'd shot him.  I drug him out and after thinking about dressing him out I realized the Bobcat was just a couple hundred feet away.  We strung him to the forks with dog leash I'd brought and didn't use for the dog  ;D  I didn't have a hunting knife either but my Leatherman Kick was actually sharp for change.  Dressing deer while hanging is way easier than when they're lying on the ground  ;D 8)
  I didn't see anything the next morning.  Zach and I saw a doe and two fawns that evening.  She had the longest neck I've ever seen on a deer.  Zach noticed too and said she looked like a llama.  The next morning I was dozing by the stove in the blind and happened to open my eyes and there was a deer.  It was still pretty dark at 7:07 and was raining a bit.  I got the binoculars up and he had horns.  Game on 8)  He was standing facing me and I took the chest shot.  I couldn't have made the shot without the Trijicon Accupoint.  The illuminated aim point made it possible.  I shot and the fire flew and where did the deer go  ???  I didn't find any blood but it was still pretty dim.  I walked around in circle the way the other deer had gone with no luck and was wondering if I hadn't missed him clean :-\  It was brighter when I got back to scene and I found a couple faint drops of pink on a sugar beet  ;D  They got much more pronouced in a few feet and a hundred feet in the opposite direction I found him.
 


 

He's almost the twin to the first one I shot  8)  We compared the antlers when I dropped him off at the processor that evening and there's a definite family resemblence.  I'll post pics of the two racks together when I get the 2nd one back.  The processor also told me that the first buck had been shot he figured a month of so back.  The bullet went through the back straps grazed the spine and exitted.  There was some hair impacted in the wound and a slight infection but the deer showed no signs that he'd been shot before and was healed up externally  :-\
  I had three goals I wanted accomplish this season.  I wanted to kill a deer when Zach was with me.  I did.  I wanted to get Zach hooked on hunting.  He is.  He figures he can shoot a deer but he's not too sure about dressing one out  ;D  I wanted to kill a deer with the .450 Bushmaster which I've had for several years and had never even shot until we sighted it in.  It does a good job.  Mission accomplished and I've got a couple tags left to fill  ;) ;D
  Here's some pics of the blind.  It was built in 1963 by my Mother's late brother Johnny.  He died in 1967 at the age 17 from leukemia.  Two years before I was born.  It's still called Johnny's Cabin.  He built it with lumber he salvaged from a garage he tore down on a farm just up the road.  It was his "fort".  Grandpa used it as a deer blind, killed MANY deer out of it and got one the fall before he passed away.  About 15 years ago it was getting in rough shape so he jacked it up and replaced the cedar posts it was built on with cement blocks and put some used metal roofing on it.  Mom and I have talked about it and she wants it moved to our farms which are a couple miles away.  With some bracing and careful jacking I think it will hold together for the move.  I kinda wanna use it a couple more years where it's at  ;D



 



 



 



 



 

Looking at my forest equipment from the corner of the cabin.



    
Burnt Gunpowder is the Smell Of Freedom

fishpharmer

Built my own band mill with the help of Forestry Forum. 
Lucas 618 with 50" slabber
WoodmizerLT-40 Super Hydraulic
Deere 5065E mfwd w/553 loader

The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls looking like hard work. --Tom A. Edison

WmFritz

Great story ...nice pictures too!
~Bill

2012 Homebuilt Bandmill
1959 Detroit built Ferguson TO35

Norm

Great story!  :)

Congratulations Greg!!

thecfarm

Nice deer,nice cabin,real nice story. Has Mom see it yet?
I would haul Johhny's Cabin up to the farm and start up the mill and built another in the same part. Call it Johhny's 2 Cabin. 
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Ron Scott

Well done! Two nice bucks and a great hunting experience for your son.
~Ron

Autocar

Good story, our season comes in Monday
Bill

Corley5

  Here's pics of the seasons horns.  The middle one is the 1st, the left the second and the right is the bonus  ;) ;D  Had a very good season.  We kept bait out thru muzzleloader season and put a camera up a week after the regular firearm.  We never got a pic of deer in daylight hours until 12/26 and there were no horns on any deer.  I only went out a couple times for the muzzleader season and didn't see anything.



  

 

After many hours thinking in the Cabin during the season  ;D  I'm going to move this one home to a permanent foundation and build a portable one on a hay wagon running gear to park in this spot.  I've got a gear made from an IH 2 1/2 ton truck that won't twist much  ;) ;D  Looking forward to archery season next year Oct. 1 2014  8) 8)  Never have bowhunted but I'm looking forward to using a crossbow for an extra long season  :) 8)
Burnt Gunpowder is the Smell Of Freedom

Ron Scott

Nice! You now have some venison to eat. Only a few days left of the late bow season and the cold tree stand sits. ;)
~Ron

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