So it's been a long time since I have been able to get out and actually sit in the stand. Haven't had the time to go scout any public land, and just cannot afford to pay some of the prices people are asking for the ability to hunt private places. So a few weeks ago I got an offer from my uncle to go hunt his property down in southern mn. I went down the second weekend of Dec and never saw a thing. His little 25 acres of woods is surrounded by food and a really nice bedding area. Snuck down for an evening hunt on the 19th with no luck either. Talked to a few guys in the area and nothing was moving until well after dark. With my kids being 18 and 19 this year and basically just wanting cash for christmas and having other plans, I figured I couldn't ask for anything better then to go hunting on my xmas vacation. A little back story. I had my right leg amputated below the knee due to a motorcycle accident I had 8 yrs ago. Even though I was able to save my foot then, the ankle was so crooked that it was painful everyday. Also it was really starting to mess with my knees, hips, and back. I was kind of waiting for some new implants to be invented, and there has been. Just not durable enough to last a guy just shy of 40 yrs old. Amputation has always been in my mind, after seeing what people with prosthetics can do these days. So I asked the Dr. and was told that was probably my best option as far as getting back to doing the things I enjoyed. I scheduled my surgery that day, 2 weeks later I was missing my leg. 2 months later I was being fitted for my first prosthetic. Not any easy thing by any means, but I was up and walking within a minute of being fitted. Everyone was impressed, and I was definately amazed. I figured I was down for the rest of the year and the learning curve would be harder. After almost 4 months on test sockets, I finally got my finished leg. Anyways back to the fun stuff. I work evening shift 5pm-5am, so doing anything during the day is sometimes a struggle. I got off at 5am Christmas eve, went home and got all my stuff packed up for a weekend of hunting. I wasn't able to get down to my uncles til about 2pm and figured I could get an evening hunt in. Well about that time I started getting really goofy from being tired and decided to cancel. Amazing how much motor skills you rely on for walking with a prosthetic. I just didn't want to chance anything and decided Christmas morning would be just fine. I woke up at 430 am, only to find my leg had swollen a little during the night and I couldn't get my darn leg on and locked in. CRAP!!! Had to wrap it up with a bag of frozen corn and wait a half hour. Finally I get it to fit, get my stuff on, now I'm an hour behind. Drive out to the field, get my stuff unloaded and ready to head into the woods. Made it into the stand by 6:20, got setup relatively quick considering I don't have a system down pat yet. 6:45am and the turkeys are starting to get ready to take off. At first I thought there may have been an apache helicopter starting up 20 yards behind me. Good lord are they loud. About 7:15 I notice to my right there is a fawn and young doe feeding up on the hill. Great! I can at least say I saw deer now. They looked like they were heading back over the hill, got behind some trees and I lost sight of them. 7:30 the little fawn pokes her head into the woods and starts working her way towards me with the doe following. Stand I am in has some ice all over the seat and any movement is noisy. There is a tiny creek that runs through the property and is 20 yards in front of me. I watch the little fawn take a drink and step across. By now they have both looked right at me and decided they were not too concerned. Just then a little 6 pointer is starting to come through as well. I decided that fawn looked really tasty, but would let her slide. I draw back on the doe as she is taking a drink, just as I'm pulling the trigger the little buck lets out a grunt. I didn't hear a thing as the arrow stuck in the ground. She trotted off about 50 yards, got on her hind legs and starting bouncing up and down like she was on a pogo stick. I turned and was watching the buck, he decided to go back the way he came. I could see my arrow and the glowing luminok. I was starting to question myself because I didn't hear anything at impact. I wait a half hour, get down, go look at the arrow and it's covered in blood. Complete pass through. Still, no sound? No bubbles on the arrow? So I decide I'm gonna just go back to the house and wait a bit. I didn't even look for a blood trail. Now it's been a long time since my last hunt. My uncle had just come back to the house, he was out calling yotes and shot a pretty nice dog. He looked at my arrow and says " I bet she isn't more then 50 yards dead". Well we hop in the ranger and head out to the stand. Small spray where there arrow was, 20 yards a little pool, then we started to really see it pouring out. Sure enough, 50 yards and she flopped over and left a pool. Took out both lungs and knicked the heart. Nothing crazy or amazing about this story. Not a monster buck, or even a huge doe. Best Christmas present I could have asked for though. That little bit of snow covering the woods was just perfect. I don't think I could have gotten a better view for the morning either. This was to my left This is at my 12 0'clock where they were crossing Here she is piled up
