Grey Man
Senior Member
I hunt a small farm. It is narrow, and I have six stands (numbered 1-6). They are all about forty yards apart, and all are along the edge of a long field. My wife and I had bought four chickens from the farmer, and I needed to bring them home. So this morning I threw my bow, climber, gear bag, and a dog kennel (for the chickens) in my Honda Fit and went hunting. I planned to bring the chickens home after the hunt. I knew it would be a tight squeeze if I got a deer, but I would deal with that when it happened.
I arrived, parked, and dressed, only for my intestines to start yelling at me that it was time to go. I don’t mean ‘leave,’ I mean ‘I had to go!’ So I found a tree to lean against, wiped with leaves, and looked up to find that it was already first light. I hadn’t hunted a morning in a few weeks, and with the time change I had relied on a website to tell me when first light was. The website was late by a half hour. I wasn’t too worried, though. I would be in my stand by 7, and in three years of hunting here I had never seen a deer there before 8:00 a.m.
I checked my camera at stand 1, and there were no pictures on it. My backup plan was to use the furthest stand away, stand 6. I got there without incident, climbed up, and got settled. At 7:30, four fawns came out right in front of stand 4, two stands away. A few minutes later, a doe came out right in front of stand 5. I had chosen the wrong stand! They went into the woods, with no shot opportunity. Still, I had seen five deer. The most I had ever seen there in one morning was nine, so it was a good day already.
Five minutes later, a doe and two fawns crossed the field in front of stand 3. Now I was really certain I had chosen the wrong stand! They went into the woods, and I started texting my wife. The text read “I have six stands, and if I had been in one of three of the other…” That was as far as I got, because I looked up, and in front of stand 5 were two bucks and two fawns. It was 7:50 a.m. I couldn’t believe it!
One of the bucks and the two fawns headed off where all the other deer had gone, but the other buck came down the field toward me. I aged him at 2.5, not fully mature, but he had what looked like a 7 point rack, and that was more bone than I’d ever shot before. Plus while I already had a doe in the freezer, I had never shot two deer in a season before. He kept coming. I’m a Christian, and I try to let God lead me in all things. Last year I passed on a 2.5 year old 6 pointer because I felt the Lord telling me to. Even though I put no meat in the freezer last year, I am at peace with that decision. Well, this time I felt the Lord telling me to shoot. I hesitated, but this buck just stayed right there, waiting. So I shot him at 15 yards, a perfect double lung, and was pretty sure I heard him crash. I got out my phone to text my wife, and I started by deleting my previous unfinished text. It was 8:08.
I got out the phone, looked up, and a wide 8 pointer had just come out in front of stand 5. What?! He was following all the other deer, and I put the phone away. I tried to snort-wheeze him back, but he was hot on a doe's trail. Wow! That was twelve deer in one morning, and my first season with two deer! I was very happy.
I got out the phone, and this time did manage to text both my wife and cousin to tell them about my good luck. When I put the phone away there was ANOTHER large 8 crossing right by stand 5. I hadn’t seen a buck at this property at all this year, and I’d seen four this morning! A fawn was with him, and I thought ‘Huh. Wonder what that fawn is doing.’ I tried to grunt and snort him back too, but he and the fawn ran off. I looked the other way, and there was another deer forty yards away in the field. It looked small, and sure enough momma came out a minute later.
The two of them had breakfast, taking their time meandering about the field, and the doe finally came in range. She was moving, and making half circle turns, and I drew with her at 20 yards and said “Hey” to get her to stop. She didn’t stop right away, instead taking two more steps before stopping. Now she was facing me, and looking at me. She stared, not moving, and my arms started to shake from being at full draw. Finally, I let down. She and the fawn both jumped and ran to fifty yards, and though I could still see them, I figured they would leave.
A minute later, they came back.
This time, she was walking along the far edge of the field, and I knew she would pass behind some cover. While she was behind the cover, I drew. I stopped her again, and this time she was a slight quarter to at 25 yards. I settled on her, squeezed the shot, and just like that had a double. It was 8:18 a.m.
The tracking, gutting, and dragging took a couple hours, during which I saw three more deer by stand 3, bringing the total for the day to 20. I think. It was getting hard to keep track.
Once I had the gutting done, now it was time to figure out how to fit two dead deer, four chickens, and all my gear into my tiny Honda Fit. As you can see from the picture, I did it! Things were a bit contorted, but everyone got where they needed to be.
It was an amazing morning, one I will never forget, and I am thankful for the chance to share the story with my GON bow hunting brothers & sisters! Here are the pics:
I arrived, parked, and dressed, only for my intestines to start yelling at me that it was time to go. I don’t mean ‘leave,’ I mean ‘I had to go!’ So I found a tree to lean against, wiped with leaves, and looked up to find that it was already first light. I hadn’t hunted a morning in a few weeks, and with the time change I had relied on a website to tell me when first light was. The website was late by a half hour. I wasn’t too worried, though. I would be in my stand by 7, and in three years of hunting here I had never seen a deer there before 8:00 a.m.
I checked my camera at stand 1, and there were no pictures on it. My backup plan was to use the furthest stand away, stand 6. I got there without incident, climbed up, and got settled. At 7:30, four fawns came out right in front of stand 4, two stands away. A few minutes later, a doe came out right in front of stand 5. I had chosen the wrong stand! They went into the woods, with no shot opportunity. Still, I had seen five deer. The most I had ever seen there in one morning was nine, so it was a good day already.
Five minutes later, a doe and two fawns crossed the field in front of stand 3. Now I was really certain I had chosen the wrong stand! They went into the woods, and I started texting my wife. The text read “I have six stands, and if I had been in one of three of the other…” That was as far as I got, because I looked up, and in front of stand 5 were two bucks and two fawns. It was 7:50 a.m. I couldn’t believe it!
One of the bucks and the two fawns headed off where all the other deer had gone, but the other buck came down the field toward me. I aged him at 2.5, not fully mature, but he had what looked like a 7 point rack, and that was more bone than I’d ever shot before. Plus while I already had a doe in the freezer, I had never shot two deer in a season before. He kept coming. I’m a Christian, and I try to let God lead me in all things. Last year I passed on a 2.5 year old 6 pointer because I felt the Lord telling me to. Even though I put no meat in the freezer last year, I am at peace with that decision. Well, this time I felt the Lord telling me to shoot. I hesitated, but this buck just stayed right there, waiting. So I shot him at 15 yards, a perfect double lung, and was pretty sure I heard him crash. I got out my phone to text my wife, and I started by deleting my previous unfinished text. It was 8:08.
I got out the phone, looked up, and a wide 8 pointer had just come out in front of stand 5. What?! He was following all the other deer, and I put the phone away. I tried to snort-wheeze him back, but he was hot on a doe's trail. Wow! That was twelve deer in one morning, and my first season with two deer! I was very happy.
I got out the phone, and this time did manage to text both my wife and cousin to tell them about my good luck. When I put the phone away there was ANOTHER large 8 crossing right by stand 5. I hadn’t seen a buck at this property at all this year, and I’d seen four this morning! A fawn was with him, and I thought ‘Huh. Wonder what that fawn is doing.’ I tried to grunt and snort him back too, but he and the fawn ran off. I looked the other way, and there was another deer forty yards away in the field. It looked small, and sure enough momma came out a minute later.
The two of them had breakfast, taking their time meandering about the field, and the doe finally came in range. She was moving, and making half circle turns, and I drew with her at 20 yards and said “Hey” to get her to stop. She didn’t stop right away, instead taking two more steps before stopping. Now she was facing me, and looking at me. She stared, not moving, and my arms started to shake from being at full draw. Finally, I let down. She and the fawn both jumped and ran to fifty yards, and though I could still see them, I figured they would leave.
A minute later, they came back.
This time, she was walking along the far edge of the field, and I knew she would pass behind some cover. While she was behind the cover, I drew. I stopped her again, and this time she was a slight quarter to at 25 yards. I settled on her, squeezed the shot, and just like that had a double. It was 8:18 a.m.
The tracking, gutting, and dragging took a couple hours, during which I saw three more deer by stand 3, bringing the total for the day to 20. I think. It was getting hard to keep track.
Once I had the gutting done, now it was time to figure out how to fit two dead deer, four chickens, and all my gear into my tiny Honda Fit. As you can see from the picture, I did it! Things were a bit contorted, but everyone got where they needed to be.
It was an amazing morning, one I will never forget, and I am thankful for the chance to share the story with my GON bow hunting brothers & sisters! Here are the pics:
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