One day during deer season a few years ago, I hit a small four-point at about 35 yards just as he exited a wooded lot, and stepped into a small meadow, turning broadside. It was about 30 minutes after sunrise, and the angle of the sun cast deep shadows in the wooded lot where he had exited. I had seen and heard lots of movement, but hadn't really seen the full and proper outline of a deer, until he popped out, alone, into the sunlit glade. Adjacent to the wooded lot, to the East was a hobby vineyard, that I'd helped to plant (and so had permission to hunt the land from the owner
) He didn't duck into the vineyard, but reversed and went back the way he came, and since I was using a .54 caliber flinter with a round ball, I expected he was down just inside the woods.
After about 20 minutes, and having reloaded, I slowly left the bushy area where I had hidden, crossed the little glade, and approached the woods. The noise had been from several doe who had been with the four-pointer, and had moved off to the North, down a slope and away from me. Well he wasn't down as expected, so I started to track, and was following a good blood trail a very short distance, which went under a hedge row to the East, on the border between the vineyard and the wooded lot. I was creeping slowly, one... because since he wasn't where I expected him to be I might have made a bad hit and didn't want to "push" him farther away, and two.... I'm sorta built like Santa Claus so I creep better than I move fast.
So when I got to the other side of the hedge, there was a larger deposit of blood plus some lung, so I knew he was close. Then I heard some movement. Holding very still and shouldering the flinter to a low-ready position while I knelt..., I stayed very still. I didn't cock my rifle yet, even though the muzzle was held low, since I didn't know what was moving...and there have been poachers on the property so although I was the only one legally allowed by the land owner, I didn't want to run any risk of hitting somebody.
As I mentioned, to the North the land sloped down, and the northern edge of the hobby vineyard (1 acre of grape vines) was another hedge and tree line. Just above the hedge I spotted a slight movement...I thought it was probably just a bird, but as I peered for a few seconds...... It was a rack! It was moving from East to West, so sort of coming toward me, and it was waaaay bigger than the four-pointer that I had just shot. Because that larger buck was on the other side of the North hedge moving from East to the West, he was down slope from that hedge and all I could see was the top of the rack...., the big rack was on a big deer
Now in Maryland where I was hunting, I was allowed two buck, and ten (yes...10) doe that season. We have telephone check-in so I could take more deer, even two bucks, in a single day. That rack kept moving West, pausing every now and then, and then he stepped into a gap in the hedge. He was a large (well for my area "large") eight-point. I had a great sight picture of him, exactly North of me, at about 40 yards. He lowered his head to sniff something, then raised it up and snorted.
And I didn't shoot.
I suddenly felt
greedy. I had a deer down, and hadn't located it yet, and here I was thinking of taking another one...., just because it was there.
So I let him walk-on, and saw him collect the does that I had seen in the wooded lot, and push them across the road to where there's a horse boarder and he and his harem were "safe" since most of that farm wasn't hunted for fear of a stray bullet hitting a horse.
So I started the track again, and you know, when that old boy had dipped his head to sniff, I found he'd been checking out my four-pointer, who was down. My deer had gone maybe 55 yards from where he'd been hit, and collapsed. I found the ball just inside the skin on the opposite side where the deer was hit. Both lungs were hit. OH and the reason there had been so much movement just after dawn, was that four-pointer had snuck into the harem without the big one knowing, and I hit him as he had finished, and was making his retreat. So later I wondered if the second deer was a "test". Yeah I know a lot of guys who poo poo such ideas, and say I'm superstitious (and other terms), but I still suspect that was a "test" to see if I was greedy. I've not regretted passing on that shot.
LD
