Shovelbuck
Active Member
After having what had to be my most horrifying season ever, I ended it yesterday. The seasons started out with great expectations. Lot's of deer had been seen and captured on film before the bow opener of Sept 15 even started. Things drasticly changed. After about the first week of October the deer simply vanished. It's really hard to keep focused on hunting when 4 out of 5 hunting trips end in not seeing any deer. Rumors were that possibly we had an outbreak of HED. It wasn't only in my area but others as well weren't seeing the numbers they were used to. By the first of November I was about ready to give up. Rifle season started November 15 and on the 16th after watching a young buck for quite some time, I decided that putting venison on the table was the priority that morning, and he was looking more like burger by the minute so down he went. A couple weeks later, muzzleloading season started on December 1st. Once again, more times than not I would go out only to become frustrated again for lack of sightings. Finially, on December28, the last time I would be able to hunt that season, I connected with a large doe on a 100 yard plus shot with my Pedersoli 54 cal. rolling block. I was jumping in little circles to say the least. Now the burger supply was beginning to look better.This doe was probably in the top 5 of all I've shot through the years. Unfortunately I had no camera with me so my memories will have to do. Next, on January 3rd, our late season doe only started. I went out opening morning and as usual, seen nothing. Yesterday afternoon, Jan. 4th though was a different story. Had 2 young deer within 10 yards of the blind. They were both safe as I didn't want to shoot either one of them. About 15 minutes later an adult doe joined them. This doe was tempting me but they were in no hurry to leave so I waited awhile. About 10 minutes later out came another doe at 80 yards. One look told me shoot, and she never left her tracks when the 30.06 barked. Hopefully, I now have enough venison to last until next season. These deer that will feed my family were some of the hardest earned I've ever taken. The morel of the story? Never give up.
