Final Trip of 2017

Last Wednesday I made my way to the cabin at lunch time. With cold temperatures and snow on the ground, I was really looking forward to hunting over my food plots as I knew the deer would be seeking out food in the evenings. With a bow tag still in his pocket, dad met me at the cabin but was only going to stay through Thursday, while I was staying through Friday.

On the first evening, with temps in the low single digits, I headed to the small field blind while dad headed to the big field. Dad's evening was slow while mine was anything but. I saw 3 young bucks, a doe and 2 fawns. With a doe tag in my pocket, I took aim at the doe, who was quartering towards me at about 30 yards and squeezed the trigger. It was really strange that the majority of the deer in the field didn't even really spook or react to the gunshot. The doe did run a little ways, but then stopped before slowly walking into the woods. With such a strange reaction, I wasn't sure what to expect. I got out of the blind and walked over to where she was standing to find a good amount of hair and a little blood. I headed back to the cabin to talk it over with dad and we decided to eat supper and wait an hour before pursuing her further.

View from the small field blind

After dinner, we headed back out to pick up the trail. We spent about an hour on a VERY small amount of blood and tracks without any luck before calling it off until morning. After the morning hunt, that produced no deer sightings, we did a body search but again turned up empty. My best guess is that I either skimmed her back or chest with the shot causing a minor flesh wound. I again was absolutely devastated. I have a lot of respect for the deer that I hunt and the last thing that I want to do is to wound an animal and this was the 3rd time that I had done just that this year. 

I carried that feeling into the evening hunt when I once again sat in the small field blind with dad back in the big field blind. The evening was slower than the previous one as I only had 2 fawns walk through the plot. After the hunt, dad cleaned the fresh snow from his truck and headed for home while I snuggled up with a blanket and a book before drifting off to sleep. In the morning, I decided to stay mobile to keep from getting too cold and to start doing some scouting for next season (it is never too early). I walked a few miles and found some potential tree stand spots but only managed to see 1 fawn while I was out walking.

View of the Des Moines river bottom in the distance

I spent the afternoon packing and starting to load the truck before heading back to the small field blind again. Just after 4:30, 2 fawns and a doe stepped into the field from the East. I lined up the muzzleloader on the doe and again squeezed the trigger. This time, the sabot hit the mark right behind her shoulder. She only made it about 40 yards before expiring in the woods. 

The snow made for an easy track job

I was thrilled to punch a tag for the season and am very much looking forward to my final trip of the season with my neighbor, Brent, next weekend. It is always a little sad too as it signifies the end of deer season for me. Of course, in true Patrick fashion, I'm already planning for what I'm going to do in the off season and making plans for next fall as well.