dhaverstick
Lil-Rokslider
I had a horrible deer season last year. So much so that my wife was threatening to sell our chest freezer due to lack of use and our dogs were placing personal ads on Craigslist in search of a new home with a better menu. It wasn't my fault. We had a bumper mast crop and all the deer were staying put, vacuuming up acorns, instead of moving about some. I hunted hard all season with longbow and flintlock, but it's hard to kill what you don't see. I tried to make up for the lack of venison with squirrel meat, but squirrel summer sausage is a poor substitute. Plus, it takes a pile of carcasses to make some!
So I was really looking forward to this year and the possibility of redemption. I had a new 54 flintlock made by Hendrie Javier, of Kashtuk Bow and Gun, and I really hoped to break it in properly during Missouri's early firearms antlerless season the second weekend of October. The early signs look promising. The mast crop at my farm in northern Shannon County was spotty so I was hoping that deer activity would return to something normal. The only negative factor was the heat. All I could hope for was to kill one early in the morning and get her cut up and in a cooler before the flies and yellow jackets tried to carry her off.
I arrived at my dad's house Thursday afternoon to bowhunt before the firearms season opened the next day. I had been there a couple of weeks before to hunt and had seen several does and fawns so I was optimistic about my chances. I ended up seeing 10 deer that evening, but nobody came within longbow range. That was okay, it was too warm to mess with one anyway. The next morning was supposed to be down in the 40s and that is much more to my liking.
Friday morning started with fried eggs, fried side meat, coffee, and homemade cookies. Dad makes the best peanut butter cookies on the planet and he always has a batch made for when I visit. This time, he also had some oatmeal raisin cookies because I had mentioned how much I like those too. Not wanting to hurt his feelings, I ate several of both before I left to go kill some critters.
I had decided to hunt at the north end of the spring that is in the middle of our lower field called "The Granny Field" on account of Great Great Grandma Clark having a house next to that spring many years ago. Deer come into that field from all directions and my chosen spot would most likely put me within the range of my meager shooting skills if I was just patient. Several years ago, I bought one of those GhostBlinds to hunt behind with both bow and gun and that thing is a game changer! If set up properly, you can become invisible in just minutes. Way before daylight, I arrived at my spot, fixed up my hidey hole, and waited for something to happen.
(My hidey hole - the orange you see in the middle is on the seat I was in)
Around 8 that morning, I caught movement to my right and watched a young doe and her small fawn enter the field about 75 yards away. That doe must have been late for a hair appointment or something because she and her charge did not waste any time crossing from east to west. I was happy to see activity and did not regret letting them walk by. I was holding out for a big, dry doe to make an appearance. Fortunately, I didn't have to wait long.
About 15 minutes later, I saw two big does and a big fawn come out into the field from an old logging road we call Deer Highway. They were directly in front of me at about 100 yards. The dry doe split off and started walking right towards me down the west side of the field. I cocked the hammer back on my 54 and waited for her to give me a shot. When she was broadside to me on my left side, at about 25 yards, I pulled the trigger and ended my long deer drought. I gave thanks to her spirit and promised to make the most of her sacrifice.
So the rest of the story was just work. A friend of mine had made me a new knife and I was excited to try it out in the field. It did not disappoint! It was shaving sharp when I received it and it stayed that way all through field dressing, skinning, and processing.
Now the doe is all packaged up and resting comfortably in the freezer. I'm frying up a hunk of the backstrap for supper tonight just to make sure that this year's crop is as tasty and I think it will be. Life is good!
Darren
