ShedderKG
Active Member
Well guys, the sightings of bigger deer around here during daylight are just very hard to come by. I can't say I had a ton of sits this year but feel I was out there enough to hopefully get a chance at a nice 130 inch or better. It just never happened. I was able to get a deer with the rifle out in western SD earlier this fall and from that point forward, I haven't hunted that hard. I purchased a Heater Body Suit about a month ago that I found in the predator camo and was perfect size and couldn't pass it up. I knew if I didn't like it, someone else out there would take it from me so I felt like it was worth a try. Well most of December here was pretty warm until the last 5 days or so. I checked a couple spots of mine with the fresh snow to see how much traffic had been going through and one of them showed quite a bit of traffic so I thought I would give the Heater Body Suit a try on Sunday afternoon. It was 10 degrees and blowing about 10mph from the N. I wore a base layer, medium insulated bib with a vest and hoody and was completely warm. I was surprised how warm it really was. You get dang cold quick once you decide to get out and shoot tho! I bumped about 15 deer about 125 yards from my stand and was kind bummed that I did as I figured that could have ruined my chance for the night. I have been reading a lot of information on here and other sites about deer numbers and whether you should be shooting mature does or take a small buck if you're out looking for something to put in the freezer. I feel both sides have valid points but I kind of feel that in my area and the deer numbers being what they are, I was going to shoot a small 1 1/2 year old buck if I could and let the mature does go and hopefully make it to have fawns next summer. Well I hung in there after bumping those deer out and was about to start packing up and getting the suit off as it was my first time using it and didn't want to go about taking it off in the complete darkness.
Right before I started packing up I look to my west and here comes a deer right down the trail. I decided to let her come down the trail and to practice getting out of the suit and to see if I could get drawn on her. She got to about 40 yards and started getting nervous looking right at me. She jumped out to the further trail about 35 yards away and passed my stand. I think I was just moving a little bit too fast. So after she passed, I looked back the direction she came and saw another deer. Put my binos on him and it was a small little buck. So I grabbed my bow and tucked back into the HBS to keep warm until he made his way. He got to 30 yards and I slowly started creeping out of the HBS and got drawn. Stopped him at 20 yards and really took my time and settled the pin. It was a perfect double lung shot. His chin hit the ground and he snow plowed for about 30 yards and fell over. With 3 days left in our bow hunting season, it was a great way to end it and put some more meat in the freezer. I know he is no monster but the excitement of putting a great shot on a whitetail is so exciting to me. It will never get old!
Good luck to those still out there with a tag! Bring on 2015! Happy New year
Right before I started packing up I look to my west and here comes a deer right down the trail. I decided to let her come down the trail and to practice getting out of the suit and to see if I could get drawn on her. She got to about 40 yards and started getting nervous looking right at me. She jumped out to the further trail about 35 yards away and passed my stand. I think I was just moving a little bit too fast. So after she passed, I looked back the direction she came and saw another deer. Put my binos on him and it was a small little buck. So I grabbed my bow and tucked back into the HBS to keep warm until he made his way. He got to 30 yards and I slowly started creeping out of the HBS and got drawn. Stopped him at 20 yards and really took my time and settled the pin. It was a perfect double lung shot. His chin hit the ground and he snow plowed for about 30 yards and fell over. With 3 days left in our bow hunting season, it was a great way to end it and put some more meat in the freezer. I know he is no monster but the excitement of putting a great shot on a whitetail is so exciting to me. It will never get old!
Good luck to those still out there with a tag! Bring on 2015! Happy New year
