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A Deer Hunter's Tale

Since the deer season here in Alabama is long and since I will be doing a lot of deer hunting over the next two plus months, I thought a sort of diary of my exploits (LOL) might make for interesting reading. Our bow season opened Oct. 15 and runs through January. I didn't get a deer with my crossbow this season. My last hunt with the bow was this past Saturday afternoon. I saw five, one of which was a small eight point buck. Didn't try to shoot any, the closest was about a hundred yards.

Our muzzleloader season opened Monday and runs through January. I didn't hunt Monday but I did zero my muzzleloader. I have a .50 caliber NEF Huntsman inline. I shoot a 250 grain .45 caliber saboted bullet over 2 50 grain pellets of 777 and a 209 primer. I think I am ready. My last zeroing shot cut the X out of the ten ring.

I did hunt yesterday (Tuesday) morning. I saw three does but let them walk. I have decided that I will not shoot any does at least until January. And then only if I haven't gotten a buck or two by then. I hunted again yesterday afternoon. I saw one doe which sorely tempted me to break my self imposed rule of no does yet. That doe stood in nearly the same spot 75 yards in front of me for 40 minutes. Most of that time it was broad side to me. I don't think it moved its hind legs for 20 minutes.

I didn't hunt this morning but did this afternoon. I saw two. The first one I couldn't identify due to it being about 400 yards away. I was running late and in my rush to get to my stand I forgot my binoculars. I couldn't have shot it anyway because of the distance and it was on the wrong side of the fence. About 4:10 a buck jumped onto my side of the fence. He was about 200 yards away. He is a two point on one antler that I have gotten several pictures of him on my game cameras. This is one of those pictures.

This is a picture of him when he jumped onto my side of the fence. The camera is zoomed to max zoom and I am pointing it out the window of my shooting house. He is about 200 yards away. Those orange ribbons on the fence are at 50 yard intervals. I decided I wouldn't shoot until he came within 150 yards.

At this point he was coming toward me and I thought he was going to give me a shot. But instead he turned and jumped the fence onto the other property. I want to shoot him mainly because I don't want him passing that one horn gene down. Our regular gun season opens Saturday. If I had my .30-06 I would probably have taken the shot.

My shooting house is backed into the opposite fence corner to the one you see in the picture. From corner to corner is about 220 yards. You can see the shooting house over the backs of the two bucks in this picture.

My plan is to hunt again tomorrow morning and afternoon.

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Replies to This Discussion

FeaturedPermalink Reply by Charles Sample on December 2, 2013 at 21:22

Well I plan to be out again in the morning, bright eyed and bushy tailed. Or more likely bright tailed and bushy eyed! LOL

Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on December 2, 2013 at 21:51

Charles you need to bring a camera so we can see pictures of the ones that got away!

FeaturedPermalink Reply by Charles Sample on December 3, 2013 at 21:13

Well, this hunt today would have been a real turkey if I had not seen a turkey! LOL I saw a turkey as I was walking to my deer stand this afternoon. Saw no deer either this morning or this afternoon. I did pull a boner this afternoon. I forgot to load my rifle! When I got back to my truck after hunting, I opened the rifle to unload it but I had never loaded it! With my luck it is a wonder that the big nine point I have gotten pictures of didn't walk out in front of me. I would have gotten click instead of bang. Of course if he would linger very long I could get him anyway. Even though my rifle is a single shot, with that buttstock shell carrier, I can reload almost as fast as with a bolt action.

Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on December 3, 2013 at 21:19

Yes I have done that Charles and what a let down when you pull the trigger and hear a click!

Charles Sample said:

Well, this hunt today would have been a real turkey if I had not seen a turkey! LOL I saw a turkey as I was walking to my deer stand this afternoon. Saw no deer either this morning or this afternoon. I did pull a boner this afternoon. I forgot to load my rifle! When I got back to my truck after hunting, I opened the rifle to unload it but I had never loaded it! With my luck it is a wonder that the big nine point I have gotten pictures of didn't walk out in front of me. I would have gotten click instead of bang. Of course if he would linger very long I could get him anyway. Even though my rifle is a single shot, with that buttstock shell carrier, I can reload almost as fast as with a bolt action.

Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on December 4, 2013 at 11:01

Then there the story of Lt. “Notme” who was getting ready to go in the mess hall with his M1911a1 and had to clear it in the obligatory barrel of sand. He pulled the slide as one is supposed to do but forgot to remove the magazine and proceeded to fire into the barrel of sand. When the pistol went off he jumped back and put two more rounds in the barrel!

I’m not sure which circumstance is worse, having your weapon fire when it is not supposed to or having it not fire when you want it to fire.

Permalink Reply by Ken Spielvogel on December 4, 2013 at 11:55

I've heard of Lt's that would pull a stunt like that. Its mostly those who were rushed thru training. I had served 4 years in the Marines as enlisted with 14 months in Vietnam and then an E-4 Infantryman in the Army before I became a Lt.

Some Lt's like that never made it very far in Vietnam - they mysteriously were killed.

FeaturedPermalink Reply by Charles Sample on December 4, 2013 at 15:00

I don't know either Tobias, but either one can be very bad depending on the circumstances.

Tobias Gibson said:

Then there the story of Lt. “Notme” who was getting ready to go in the mess hall with his M1911a1 and had to clear it in the obligatory barrel of sand. He pulled the slide as one is supposed to do but forgot to remove the magazine and proceeded to fire into the barrel of sand. When the pistol went off he jumped back and put two more rounds in the barrel!

I’m not sure which circumstance is worse, having your weapon fire when it is not supposed to or having it not fire when you want it to fire.

FeaturedPermalink Reply by Charles Sample on December 4, 2013 at 15:01

Fragged?!

Ken Spielvogel said:

I've heard of Lt's that would pull a stunt like that. Its mostly those who were rushed thru training. I had served 4 years in the Marines as enlisted with 14 months in Vietnam and then an E-4 Infantryman in the Army before I became a Lt.

Some Lt's like that never made it very far in Vietnam - they mysteriously were killed.

FeaturedPermalink Reply by Charles Sample on December 4, 2013 at 15:30

Bambi is dead! Long live Bambi!

I was in my deer stand at 5:15 this morning. The temp was near 60. There were pockets of fog. One of those pockets was obscuring the far end of my shooting lane. About 6:30 I could see two or maybe three deer moving around in that fog. It was like shadows moving in the mist. For some reason it reminded me of that movie, Gorillas in the MIst I believe was the name of it. Anyway I didn't shoot because I couldn't be sure of a clean killing shot.

About 7:00 this buck came out of the brush and gave me a clear shot at 100 yards.

He was a small 8 point, only weighed 135 pounds. That is my shooting house in the background with the door partially open.

Its hard to take a picture of yourself with no tripod.

A closeup of his antlers. Actually if you count that small point on his left antler, he is a nine point. But for it to be an official point per the state of Alabama, it must be at least an inch long. That one doesn't quite make it.