No pictures, just the facts...
I have spent more days in the woods this year than I have been able to in the past couple of years. I have hunted with my bow and muzzleloader but hadn't seen a deer in the woods while carrying them. This summer I bought a rifle that I had wanted for years... a used Marlin 336 (built in 1974) in .35 Remington. I had it out for it's maiden voyage on Saturday. I was hunting a 60 acre tract of private land that has a lot of national forest land within a couple of miles. I have seen does on this property before and have seen a scrape line in the same area for 3 years. I shot at a doe with my bow there 3 years back and used the wrong pin... trashed an arrow. I shot at a doe in thicker cover than I should have 2 years ago there and missed.
Saturday the wind was blowing 10-15 mph and changing direction every few minutes. I was on the ground before 6:15 and hadn't seen anything but 3 squirrels by 8:30. I decided to get up and look around for sign, as I hadn't been on the property in a year. I found a few tracks and a scrape by a pond. Of all the crazy things, I had a wood duck fly across the pond and sit on the water no more than 10' away. I made a slight movement and he was out of there. No more than 2 minutes later, a big hawk flew down onto a dead branch hanging over this little pond (no more than 30 feet long and about 20 feet wide). I moved on down to the next bench to a place where I knew deer come up from below, as it has the most gentle slope across the length of the property. I got to the edge and was looking around for a place to sit down by a tree when I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. About 60 yards away I had noticed an ear twitch. I watched and got against a tree. Game lawshere allow you to take a doe during the first week of modern gun season. I was looking at doing just that. I carefully placed the crosshairs on her just behind the shoulder and squeezed off a round. The deer jumped and ran off towards the next bench down. After a quick prayer and a phone call to my hunting buddy, I dropped down on the bench below me. There was a dead tree with a lot of shelf fungus just to the left of where the deer stood, so it was eash to find where it stood. I found bright colored lung blood and a couple of clumps of hair. The track was on! I thanked God for the hit and prayed for success if finding tehe deer. I found a couple of spots of blood a few yards out... a few more... and nothing. I had placed a piece of red flagging tape on a limb by each spot I had found, so I lined up with the 3 flags and began to walk. About 20 yards to my left I saw a brown and white heap. YES!!! I walked over to check her out... huh??? Between "her" ears I noticed about 3/4" of bone on one side and about 2" of bone on the other. I would have sworn she was a doe from where I stood, but regardless, it fell just under the legal maximum length for a button buck. I let my hunting buddy know I had found the deer and proceeded to field dress it. After lightening the deer by about 12-15 pounds, I began to drag him out. I had about 500 yards to the truck and 3 benches and uphill climb most of the way. I have repeatedly thanked God for providing some meat for the freezer, and couldn't have been happier with a 150 inch buck. I was very winded and had to stop at least 10-12 times on the drag, but am just thankful that I had the opportunity to get out and hunt. I'm planning on deer chili for next weekend. I've got tomorrow off and plan to be on another piece of property for the day. The wind is supposed to be about the same tomorrow, but I'm looking forward to another hunt. Oh, by the way, I love my new (to me) rifle! I really had to feel for the entry wound. It wasn't visible at first. I hit about 2" higher than I hoped and just clipped lung on the shot. Since the hit was high, it didn't bleed much until it went down. The exit wound was about 3/4" across. The rifle is a dream to carry and shoot.
