Post by GonHuntin on Nov 29, 2003 14:16:01 GMT -5
It's deer gun season in Oklahoma.....it started a week ago today. This week, I have been reminded of a couple of lessons I learned years ago.....the first has stuck with me, the second will never be forgotten or ignored again!
It has been a tough season with limited deer sightings due to the rut shutting down, wind and weather.....but Monday evening was my turn.
I thought long and hard about where to hunt Monday evening and decided to hunt the "Cemetery stand"......like the name says, the "stand" is near an ancient, tiny cemetery......this one is so old that only one of the markers is a commercial stone (1917)......all the rest are just rocks placed to mark the graves. I don't know the history of the cemetery, it consists of only a handful of graves and has long been forgotten by the family. I had to show it to the landowner who has owned the ranch for years and never knew about it. In reality, it's not really a stand at all, instead, it's just a good place to sit and wait for deer. I sat there from the middle of the afternoon, only seeing a coyote and one small buck....finally, at 5:35, I looked at my watch and noted that there was only 5 minutes of legal shooting time left.....I learned years ago to stay put until darkness or legal shooting hours forced me to leave.......2 minutes into that last 5 minutes......I glanced over my left shoulder out into a pasture and saw the buck below......he was trotting along a trail and I was shocked that he was out in the wide open instead of in the edges of brush and trees that I had been watching all afternoon! I quickly lifted my rifle from my lap and turned toward the buck who was now moving at a very fast trot.....the range was about 50 yards and the buck went straight down when I fired.......I got up and walked down the hill to where he lay......he was still kicking a little but appeared to be almost finished, it looked like the shot had broken his neck, so I decided to walk back to where I was sitting and gather my stuff while the buck expired. I took my time getting the tag and knife out of my pack and placing everything that I had removed from the pack back where it belonged, then started back down the hill......by this time, it was nearly dark.....I got about 25 yards from the buck and he started trying to get up......I dropped all the stuff, took the rifle off my shoulder, flipped the safety off and got ready to put another one in him......he got his back legs under him and ran towards a partially downed fence which he hit and flipped over......I figured he was done and started forward again......he got back up and took off....his front legs weren't working but he was moving well on just his back legs......as hard as I tried, I could not get a second shot into the buck.....he didn't go far and crashed down into a small ditch.......I circled around to get in front of him and moved in for a finisher......He was thrashing around in the ditch and, it was dark enough that I couldn't tell which end was head and which was butt.....while I was trying to figure out where to shoot, he got up again and headed away one more time......I had had enough! I was going to put him down even if it meant I had to shoot through the brush and hit him in the butt.......I fired and he went down.......I moved around to where I could cross the ditch and he got back up again.......this time, he was quartering away instead of straight away and I was able to get another bullet in him....this one broke his spine and wrecked his lungs, ending the ordeal!
I still don't understand how he managed to get back up after the first shot......examining the neck wound while skinning him, my brother and I were both amazed that he wasn't dead when he hit the ground......the FIRST time!
Several years ago, I learned about making certain that the deer was dead before walking away......I shouldn't have needed a second lesson......Believe me, I WON'T need a third! ;D
It has been a tough season with limited deer sightings due to the rut shutting down, wind and weather.....but Monday evening was my turn.
I thought long and hard about where to hunt Monday evening and decided to hunt the "Cemetery stand"......like the name says, the "stand" is near an ancient, tiny cemetery......this one is so old that only one of the markers is a commercial stone (1917)......all the rest are just rocks placed to mark the graves. I don't know the history of the cemetery, it consists of only a handful of graves and has long been forgotten by the family. I had to show it to the landowner who has owned the ranch for years and never knew about it. In reality, it's not really a stand at all, instead, it's just a good place to sit and wait for deer. I sat there from the middle of the afternoon, only seeing a coyote and one small buck....finally, at 5:35, I looked at my watch and noted that there was only 5 minutes of legal shooting time left.....I learned years ago to stay put until darkness or legal shooting hours forced me to leave.......2 minutes into that last 5 minutes......I glanced over my left shoulder out into a pasture and saw the buck below......he was trotting along a trail and I was shocked that he was out in the wide open instead of in the edges of brush and trees that I had been watching all afternoon! I quickly lifted my rifle from my lap and turned toward the buck who was now moving at a very fast trot.....the range was about 50 yards and the buck went straight down when I fired.......I got up and walked down the hill to where he lay......he was still kicking a little but appeared to be almost finished, it looked like the shot had broken his neck, so I decided to walk back to where I was sitting and gather my stuff while the buck expired. I took my time getting the tag and knife out of my pack and placing everything that I had removed from the pack back where it belonged, then started back down the hill......by this time, it was nearly dark.....I got about 25 yards from the buck and he started trying to get up......I dropped all the stuff, took the rifle off my shoulder, flipped the safety off and got ready to put another one in him......he got his back legs under him and ran towards a partially downed fence which he hit and flipped over......I figured he was done and started forward again......he got back up and took off....his front legs weren't working but he was moving well on just his back legs......as hard as I tried, I could not get a second shot into the buck.....he didn't go far and crashed down into a small ditch.......I circled around to get in front of him and moved in for a finisher......He was thrashing around in the ditch and, it was dark enough that I couldn't tell which end was head and which was butt.....while I was trying to figure out where to shoot, he got up again and headed away one more time......I had had enough! I was going to put him down even if it meant I had to shoot through the brush and hit him in the butt.......I fired and he went down.......I moved around to where I could cross the ditch and he got back up again.......this time, he was quartering away instead of straight away and I was able to get another bullet in him....this one broke his spine and wrecked his lungs, ending the ordeal!
I still don't understand how he managed to get back up after the first shot......examining the neck wound while skinning him, my brother and I were both amazed that he wasn't dead when he hit the ground......the FIRST time!
Several years ago, I learned about making certain that the deer was dead before walking away......I shouldn't have needed a second lesson......Believe me, I WON'T need a third! ;D
