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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 January 20, 2014 at 19:29

OK, got to go hunting again today for the first time since before Christmas. My wife Cindy goes into the hospital tomorrow for knee replacement surgery so I won't be able to go again until next week. Her sister is coming up from Birmingham Monday to be with her til Friday of next week. I should be able to get some more hunting in next week. The season runs to the end of the month.

Anyway saw a lot of deer this morning. Here are pictures of some of the 19 deer I saw. No shooters though.

Went back this afternoon. Here is a picture of all the deer I saw this afternoon.

That's right. I saw 19 this morning but not even one this afternoon! Anyway that brings my total deer sighted this season to 87.

Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on January 20, 2014 at 19:50

Thanks for the update, the season always goeS in fits and starts it seems. With your wife going in I am sure your mind is on other things , so keep us posted when you can! We are praying for a quick and healthy recovery!

FeaturedPermalink Reply by Charles Sample on January 20, 2014 at 20:27

Thank you for the prayers Steve. Cindy and I really appreciate them.

FeaturedPermalink Reply by Charles Sample on February 5, 2014 at 14:06

Well the season ended the last day of January. Didn't get to go again after the 20th. Finished the season with one kill.

This is the first time in the last five years that I haven't killed at least two. The past four seasons I had killed a total of twelve. But I have plenty of meat in the freezer. I have this season's kill plus meat left over from last season. My total deer sighted for the season was 87. I will normally see closer to 200 during the season but I did miss over a month of the season without being able to hunt. I will be able to start hunting again in mid October when the bow season opens. The gun season opens in mid November and I will be able to hunt til the end of January again.

Thus ends this deer hunter's tale. But as the saying goes, "Wait til next season!"

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by Robert Burris on February 5, 2014 at 18:41

Concrat's Charles, that's a fine buck. You did well this season and have some fine eating venison. I can see that you enjoy sitting and watching the wildlife. I also love just sitting there and watching natures animals and birds. I kill only a small amount of the wildlife I see and enjoy and it seems you do too.

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by Terry Ray on February 6, 2014 at 23:18