SouthernOhio#9
11-29-2008, 01:27 PM
Well, since i didn't have to be at anyone's house to eat turkey dinner until 3:00, i decided that i would head out Thanksgiving morning. I went to the stand with the mindframe that if a mature doe presents herself i will take a shot so that i dont have to worry about harvesting a doe in gun season, and so that i can focus my attention on harvesting a buck for the rest of the year.
I have been hunting a particular stand that i have seen some very nice bucks and tons of does. I have passed on alot of nice bucks that i would normally have harvested, but i am hoping that letting those bucks pass will bring me sucess on great bucks in the future. I have also been passing on the doe's in this particular stand in early season and up to the rut, hoping that they would bring in some mature bucks during the rut. And that strategy worked, but i wasn't able to connect with the buck that i was after. But i have been running a camera by this stand almost all year, and have had at least 15 or more different bucks come by this stand @ some point in time time from early season up to now. But now that the rut is pretty much over in my area, i was ready to get some meat in the freezer.
As i was walking to my stand about an hour before daylight that morning i could see the eyes glaring from a deer that was bedded about 30 yards from my stand. The funny thing is that this deer never moved or spooked as i walked to my stand, it just stared at me with those glowing eyes. I was hoping that it was not one of the bucks that i have had frequenting this stand location. So I turned off my light at the base of the tree and climbed into my stand. When i got situated, I could hear the deer was still hanging around and feeding, and i couldn't believe that it didn't run away or spook. So now i just had to wait for some daylight to see if it was a buck or a doe.
When daylight arrived, i could see that it was a doe, and i could recognize that it was a mature doe that i have known for quite awhile. She was recognizable because one of her front legs is broken and sticks inward. I think that she was hit by a car last year in early season. But i have trail cam pic's of her from last year and this year. As she walked around and fed, i really felt sorry for her because of how she had to walk, and she made tons of noise while she walked. I knew that she was a mature doe, and since that what was i was after, when she offered a shot at 25 yards, i let an arrow fly and harvested my first deer of 2008.
I was very happy to say the least, and i have always heard that it meant more to harvest a deer that you knew from previous years and or trail cam pic's, and it does. I now know what they mean when this is said and it is a different feeling to harvest a deer that you can easily identify. On one hand you are ecstatic because this is what you have been working so hard to accomplish, but on the other hand it was sad to see her go. But i guess i will get over that part when i am eating some backstraps and jerky:D :D !!!!!!!!!
When i cut her up, she had a big mass of bone and cartilage in her shoulder joint. It was the size of a baseball. I guess that was her body trying to heal the injury, but it was pretty nasty. But here are a few trail cam pic's and a harvest pic.
2007 Trail cam pic:
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a189/roush9/MDGC0079.jpg
2008 Trail cam pic:
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a189/roush9/PIC0059.jpg
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a189/roush9/DSCF0102.jpg
I have been hunting a particular stand that i have seen some very nice bucks and tons of does. I have passed on alot of nice bucks that i would normally have harvested, but i am hoping that letting those bucks pass will bring me sucess on great bucks in the future. I have also been passing on the doe's in this particular stand in early season and up to the rut, hoping that they would bring in some mature bucks during the rut. And that strategy worked, but i wasn't able to connect with the buck that i was after. But i have been running a camera by this stand almost all year, and have had at least 15 or more different bucks come by this stand @ some point in time time from early season up to now. But now that the rut is pretty much over in my area, i was ready to get some meat in the freezer.
As i was walking to my stand about an hour before daylight that morning i could see the eyes glaring from a deer that was bedded about 30 yards from my stand. The funny thing is that this deer never moved or spooked as i walked to my stand, it just stared at me with those glowing eyes. I was hoping that it was not one of the bucks that i have had frequenting this stand location. So I turned off my light at the base of the tree and climbed into my stand. When i got situated, I could hear the deer was still hanging around and feeding, and i couldn't believe that it didn't run away or spook. So now i just had to wait for some daylight to see if it was a buck or a doe.
When daylight arrived, i could see that it was a doe, and i could recognize that it was a mature doe that i have known for quite awhile. She was recognizable because one of her front legs is broken and sticks inward. I think that she was hit by a car last year in early season. But i have trail cam pic's of her from last year and this year. As she walked around and fed, i really felt sorry for her because of how she had to walk, and she made tons of noise while she walked. I knew that she was a mature doe, and since that what was i was after, when she offered a shot at 25 yards, i let an arrow fly and harvested my first deer of 2008.
I was very happy to say the least, and i have always heard that it meant more to harvest a deer that you knew from previous years and or trail cam pic's, and it does. I now know what they mean when this is said and it is a different feeling to harvest a deer that you can easily identify. On one hand you are ecstatic because this is what you have been working so hard to accomplish, but on the other hand it was sad to see her go. But i guess i will get over that part when i am eating some backstraps and jerky:D :D !!!!!!!!!
When i cut her up, she had a big mass of bone and cartilage in her shoulder joint. It was the size of a baseball. I guess that was her body trying to heal the injury, but it was pretty nasty. But here are a few trail cam pic's and a harvest pic.
2007 Trail cam pic:
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a189/roush9/MDGC0079.jpg
2008 Trail cam pic:
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a189/roush9/PIC0059.jpg
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a189/roush9/DSCF0102.jpg