Received a call from a business out on County Road 26. For several days they'd been glassing a deer about 1/2 mile up the road with a broken front leg.
I drove to the business and they said the deer had just gone back into the woods, and pointed out about where.
I drove to the spot and took the shot gun out of the squad and reloaded it with slugs. I walked up and down the side of the road until I picked up the most recent spoor and followed it into the woods.
I'd never been in the woods in this particular spot and it was a pleasent surprise. Lots of small highland cedar clumps interspersed between birch and maple and large virgin white pine - very pretty. I soon located multiple deer beds and jumped a deer. I had it in my sights, but decided it was much too fast to be my quarry. I continued following the spoor of the injured deer, recognizable in deeper snow by the dragging front leg.
Before too long, the land dropped away to a steep wash with a small stream running through it. Surprisingly, the water was partly open. Must be a good spring.
Following the tracks south along the stream, I came to an open swamp area of cattails and grasses. I got the feeling the injured deer had gone to ground in the grasses. I stood and waited.
It was very cold, and I was not dressed for the weather. After a time, my fingers and ears began to numb. I wasn't too worried about my ears, but I was concerned about making a good shot, and began to will warm blood into my fingers.
After about 20 minutes I noticed a slight movement in the grass a couple of hundred feet away. I ran around the side of the swamp area, as the deer struggled to rise. It only took one shot to put it down.
I dressed the deer, a buck, and made a couple of blaze marks on my way back to the road. After work, I returned and dragged him to the road and threw him in the back of my truck. Another one for the larder.
I drove to the business and they said the deer had just gone back into the woods, and pointed out about where.
I drove to the spot and took the shot gun out of the squad and reloaded it with slugs. I walked up and down the side of the road until I picked up the most recent spoor and followed it into the woods.
I'd never been in the woods in this particular spot and it was a pleasent surprise. Lots of small highland cedar clumps interspersed between birch and maple and large virgin white pine - very pretty. I soon located multiple deer beds and jumped a deer. I had it in my sights, but decided it was much too fast to be my quarry. I continued following the spoor of the injured deer, recognizable in deeper snow by the dragging front leg.
Before too long, the land dropped away to a steep wash with a small stream running through it. Surprisingly, the water was partly open. Must be a good spring.
Following the tracks south along the stream, I came to an open swamp area of cattails and grasses. I got the feeling the injured deer had gone to ground in the grasses. I stood and waited.
It was very cold, and I was not dressed for the weather. After a time, my fingers and ears began to numb. I wasn't too worried about my ears, but I was concerned about making a good shot, and began to will warm blood into my fingers.
After about 20 minutes I noticed a slight movement in the grass a couple of hundred feet away. I ran around the side of the swamp area, as the deer struggled to rise. It only took one shot to put it down.
I dressed the deer, a buck, and made a couple of blaze marks on my way back to the road. After work, I returned and dragged him to the road and threw him in the back of my truck. Another one for the larder.
