One Shot 1941

One Shot 1941
It runs in our blood. This is our great-grandma, her first time out with a shotgun. She took this buck and this doe with one slug. She never went hunting again, didn't want to push her luck we suppose!

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Most memorable hunt

One of my most memorable hunts occurred in mid-november during peak breeding. It's not too often that a hunter actually gets to witness what is commonly known as the "lock down" phase of the rut. During the lock down phase, bucks have stopped chasing the does because the does in that particular area have come into estrous. During this portion of the rut, once a buck has found a receptive doe, he will continually corral her in a thick area in hopes that other bucks won't find her while he waits to breed. During this hunt, I was fortunate enough to be sitting in my stand over looking a thick marsh when I noticed movement off to my left. I looked over and noticed a doe about 20 yards away acting strange. I assumed there was a buck tailing her, but I couldn't see anything in the distance. With every step, she stopped and looked over her shoulder. Finally, I caught a glimpse of a very nice buck tailing her. He walked up behind her and nudged her. She took a few more steps and stopped. This continued for nearly an hour until the doe was directly underneath me. I could tell that the buck was getting weary because the doe was nearly out of the marsh and could be seen from a great distance. Instead of tailing her right out of the marsh, the buck decided to back track and circle around into the thick underbrush, making sure to keep an eye on her, but also not allowing himself to be exposed. The doe sat motionless under my stand for what seemed like an eternity, but was actually only a few minutes. She then stood up and wandered back into the marsh, only to be harassed some more, until she was ready to breed.  Just as the duo began to wander off, I was able to take a shot at the buck with my bow. Unfortunately, it was an extremely cold morning and I was forced to sit absolutely motionless for over an hour, so needless to say, my body, especially my fingers were like icicles and I wasn't able to connect on the buck which would have scored in the 130's. I felt disgusted after replaying the show in my head, however, I was thankful that I was able to witness what is commonly known as the "lock down," something that most hunters despise of.

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