tinygnat219
Member
All,
I finally managed to get my first deer kill yesterday. I had been completely unsuccessful every other time I had been out this season so this occassion means a lot to me. I had been invited by a good friend to hunt on his lease in Loudon County, one of three counties in VA that has an extended deer season.
He set me up in a ladder stand no more than 50 yards from his truck. He stated he had killed two bucks from that stand this season, and looking at the amount of tracks, rubs, and other things I agreed to stay there. He went back to his truck and started getting his gear together along with another friend of mine. I was halfway up the ladder stand when I hear rustling coming from behind me. Two deer were sprinting through the thick undergrowth and into the partial field that I was overlooking. Cursing, I tried to turn around but I wasn't able to get situated halfway up a ladder stand.
I start climbing again, this time a little slower. I hear a rustling again, and I see what must be 25 deer coming through the same area that the first two had passed through. So, I anchored myself on the stand with my left arm, and managed to get my rifle up and resting on the arm that was anchored to the stand. I am halfway turned around when I manage to get a doe in my crosshairs, jumping and weaving all the while. I squeezed the trigger, saw the round hit, she staggered another 10 yards and dropped to the ground dead. Later examination shows I shot just above the right shoulder, with the round puncturing the heart and lungs and exiting just below the now broken left shoulder. It was only a 40 yard shot or so, but I was hanging from a ladder stand shooting offhand at a target jumping and zigzagging. I am still wondering how I managed to do that.
My friends were shouting at this point at the large number of deer that were crossing the road in front of the trucks, and the fact that they heard a rifle shot not 5 minutes after I had left. My friend who set me up comes running down the path and asks if I hit anything. I shout for him to look to his right. He did, and it was right at his feet to the right of him in a pile of thick stuff. We were amazed.
My friend showed me how to gut a deer and I will be honest, I almost lost my lunch. The blood coming out felt HOT, definitely something odd that I never would have thought of. Dragging it out was even easier since she had run in the direction of the trucks. It was maybe 20 yards of dragging to put her in the truck.
Both still hadn't loaded their rifles and one guy had his stand still in his truck.
I was about ready to write this season off and get ready for next season. Now, I am trying to figure out how to put potentially 40 pounds of Venison in the freezer.
I consider this a good problem to have.
The bloody picture below is what a .30-06 Remington Core Lokt 150 grain JSP round will do to a deer at 40 yards. I am still amazed at the Exit Wound.
I finally managed to get my first deer kill yesterday. I had been completely unsuccessful every other time I had been out this season so this occassion means a lot to me. I had been invited by a good friend to hunt on his lease in Loudon County, one of three counties in VA that has an extended deer season.
He set me up in a ladder stand no more than 50 yards from his truck. He stated he had killed two bucks from that stand this season, and looking at the amount of tracks, rubs, and other things I agreed to stay there. He went back to his truck and started getting his gear together along with another friend of mine. I was halfway up the ladder stand when I hear rustling coming from behind me. Two deer were sprinting through the thick undergrowth and into the partial field that I was overlooking. Cursing, I tried to turn around but I wasn't able to get situated halfway up a ladder stand.
I start climbing again, this time a little slower. I hear a rustling again, and I see what must be 25 deer coming through the same area that the first two had passed through. So, I anchored myself on the stand with my left arm, and managed to get my rifle up and resting on the arm that was anchored to the stand. I am halfway turned around when I manage to get a doe in my crosshairs, jumping and weaving all the while. I squeezed the trigger, saw the round hit, she staggered another 10 yards and dropped to the ground dead. Later examination shows I shot just above the right shoulder, with the round puncturing the heart and lungs and exiting just below the now broken left shoulder. It was only a 40 yard shot or so, but I was hanging from a ladder stand shooting offhand at a target jumping and zigzagging. I am still wondering how I managed to do that.
My friends were shouting at this point at the large number of deer that were crossing the road in front of the trucks, and the fact that they heard a rifle shot not 5 minutes after I had left. My friend who set me up comes running down the path and asks if I hit anything. I shout for him to look to his right. He did, and it was right at his feet to the right of him in a pile of thick stuff. We were amazed.
My friend showed me how to gut a deer and I will be honest, I almost lost my lunch. The blood coming out felt HOT, definitely something odd that I never would have thought of. Dragging it out was even easier since she had run in the direction of the trucks. It was maybe 20 yards of dragging to put her in the truck.
Both still hadn't loaded their rifles and one guy had his stand still in his truck.
I was about ready to write this season off and get ready for next season. Now, I am trying to figure out how to put potentially 40 pounds of Venison in the freezer.
I consider this a good problem to have.
The bloody picture below is what a .30-06 Remington Core Lokt 150 grain JSP round will do to a deer at 40 yards. I am still amazed at the Exit Wound.
