Most of the time sitting in a deer stand doesn’t feel like hunting. It could better be described as waiting. The wait is often quite enjoyable. It’s sunny and cool and the landscape serene. Yesterday I saw the most beautiful doe I’ve ever seen. She was grey, white, and black. Unfortunately, I have one camera that might have been able to get a blurry picture of her at the 250 yards or more she was from me (and I was looking into the sun). I say unfortunately for two reasons. First, it was at the house and second, because it is an older EOS Rebel and is not digital. It makes a very distinct noise when it winds the film. I haven’t upgraded because while I used it a bit, I have found most any cheap digital I’ve had takes very good pictures. The range of them is just limited.
Yesterday, I thought my wait for the right buck was going to pay off. A bit before sundown, out walks a Nice buck. Several does were already on the field. He walked out, walked up a tree line and slipped through it to another field. Ugh!! I estimated the distance to be 250 to 300 yards to the tree line the buck had slipped through. I called DH on the radio to ask as he was familiar with hunting this field. He didn’t answer and he didn’t answer. In the mean time, something spooked the buck and a few of the does on that side of the field. I watched sadly as he sailed over the fence towards the swamped he’d come from.
Several of the other does were slowly making their way down the field towards me. It was getting close to dark but I waited patiently hoping the buck would come back through the fence to flirt with this group of does. Unfortunately, he didn’t and just before dark something spooked the does and they went running with white tails marking their way.
Even if the buck had stayed on my side of the tree line, I didn’t have the gun with me that could have made the shot. I had with me a friend’s .243. I normally hunt with an old .300 Savage. My oldest daughter had it in a stand on another field. Poor thing saw nothing, not even a doe. In a way, I’m glad I had the smaller gun. If I’d had mine, I might have attempted the shot. I say attempted because I had greatly underestimated the distance. The bottom where the buck hopped the fence and up the tree line is over 400 yards from the stand I was in. I would have needed DH’s .7mm Mag and still probably would not have been successful. I have fired it successfully four or five times from a bench at 300 yards. But a 10-inch plate at 300 yards is very different than a buck at 420 yards with adrenaline pumping.
Now, had I been in the stand on the field the buck slipped into, I probably could have made the shot. That stand is closer to the tree line. So today, I am questioning myself. Do I invest in and pratice with a bigger gun (most stands we hunt can have very long shots)? Do I satisfy myself with knowing the limitations of my gun and learning to judge distance better? I am definitely going to be doing some investigation on ammunition and ballistics.
And since I’ve got your mouth watering with all this talk of dead deer —
Venison Roast, Slow-cooked
1 venison roast of choice
1 jar pepperocini peppers
Pour jar of peppers, juice and all in the bottom of a slow cooker. Pat roast dry, cover in olive oil. Set roast on peppers in slow cooker. Set slow cooker to low for 4 to 6 hours. Serve with rice or other favorite side.