I can't believe it, but Toby talked me into hunting on New Year's Day, but our season was closing on Jan 3rd. It was already bitter cold here in WI, and he said because it was suppose to get even colder the deer were going to move. I don't really like rifle hunting in the first place, and even though we could have carried rifles through the end of season on the 3rd we opted for our bows. He didn't want to make me sit in the cold too long so we didn't get into the stands until around 2:30 leaving us a little over 2 hours to shooting hours. I was really cussing under my frozen breath the entire time until around 4:00 I caught movement well down into the woods off the ridge I was perched on. I was sitting on the coldest part of the property where my big food plot is because Toby said they had two food sources there with the plot and the standing corn. I placed out my scent heater with Butternut food lure in it in the hopes that the deer would show with enough time before shooting hours, and here I was already seeing movement with around fifty minutes of time to spare! I watched this big loner doe work her way back and forth all the way up the ridge very cautious at all times, and why wouldn't she be after firearms being in the deer woods for basically 30 days already. I knew it when she picked up the Butternut scent because she kept sniffing the air and taking more steps each time she smelled more. As she approached she started slowing down with her neck stretched way out trying to really get a good whiff of what she was smelling. The whole time I was worried she was going to pick me off because of having to wear orange; I felt like I was sticking out like a beacon. When she went behind the last tree before my shooting lane I came to full draw and waited for the shot. When she took her last three steps; her neck was still stretched way out, and I settled my 20 yard pin right behind her front shoulder. Just as I touched off the release, she took one more step causing me to hit a little farther back, but I still felt pretty confident about the shot. As I watched her run away, I was trying to see my arrow, but it was buried somewhere under the 2+ feet of snow so perhaps I'll find that in the spring. I made note of a couple of trees that she ran past when she went over the ridge, and I let my bow down right away because now I was really freezing even with the adrenaline coursing through my veins. Toby met me at the truck and right away noticed I was missing an arrow, and asked immediately if it was a hit and buck or doe. I told him a big loner doe, and I thought the hit was just a little back. He said we should go home to warm up and get a bite to eat so we could come back in about 3 hours to start to look things over. When we got out by my stand, it was now 8:30 and a little over 4 hours since I shot her. We had blood spray at arrow impact, and started following her tracks with only a little blood here and there. Toby started to question me about 2 hours into the track (10:45 PM) if I was sure I hit her as well as I thought due the lack of a blood trail even though I sent a Slick Trick all the way through her. I was sure it was a pretty good hit and not guts, but now as we neared 4 hours into the track (12:25 AM!) I was starting to doubt myself. It was soooooo cold out there that Toby joked perhaps the blood was freezing on her hide before it hit the ground, and I would have agreed being it was a little below zero. Toby found another spec of blood finally and got on some tracks that we had already passed twice, and we followed them for about another 35 yards when we found her piled up in a brush pile. I was so excited to find her, and yet I was tired from it being almost 1:00 AM, trudging through all the snow, and I think my extremities were quite literally frozen. I think from now on I'll try to get my deer far earlier in the season to avoid ever having to deal with hunting conditions like these again! A quick side note though; when we cleaned up the doe there was hair and fat shoved right into her rib cage on the entry side. On the exit side; there was again fat lodge in the hole so Toby said maybe I need to shoot the magnum Tricks instead of the standards. I will say though that blood really was frozen all the way down the side of her body....I think it was freezing as fast as it was coming out of being -8 with -25 wind chills, but the amount of fat and hair in the wounds didn't help in tracking. The first one I got with a standard ST, and I had a tremendous blood trail....maybe just a freak thing.
You bet I'm proud of her Doc! It was a little rough convincing her to go out there in the first place, but she went out hung tough to seal the deal. By the time all was said and done we actually ended up out in that cold for near 7 hours of just pure H#LL! It was a really nice big doe to get a little something in the freezer for the year, and Kim got her second notch in her knife with archery gear.:D
Congrats on the late season doe. Late season bowhunting is always tough. Post up some pics of your success.
The pics....hmmmmmm! I told her she'd take heat without pics, but she said Todd talked to her about being a BH.com girl, and she wants her shirt for the pics! lol:D
Yep, good stuff!!! A big congratulation's to you on your late season doe, you earned It and then some!! Congratulation's once again!!
