My 2014 bow season didn’t quite go as planned, twenty-five sits and no shot opportunities at a nice buck. I’ll re-evaluate my bow season how/when/where/why in the off season to try to prevent similar results next year.
I view bow season as trophy hunting, and gun season as meat hunting. I haven’t shot a deer with my rifle for 3 or 4 years, in years past I had meat in the freezer and never felt the need to kill one unless it was a good buck. Opening weekend I was hunting in SW Wisconsin with a good friend, the only shot opportunity was at a small nub buck, which I passed.
My family spent Thanksgiving in Iowa with family and after spending 8 hours in a vehicle with 6 females I REALLY needed to kill a deer
. Friday afternoon I sat in a local cedar swamp that the deer tend to get pushed into once pressure heats up. No deer seen. Saturday I planned to sit all day deep in a public cattail marsh. When I arrived at the parking area there were already 5 vehicles, which made me a little nervous that my spot might be taken. A quarter mile into my walk I passed a hunter sitting on the main access trail into thousands of acres. His scent was blowing in the direction a deer would most likely come from. I doubt he killed anything. My hike was a little over a mile and a half. I was setup two steps high in a small bunch of scraggly trees surrounded by cattails and lots of thick brushy bedding. I heard a few scattered shots in the distance, but otherwise it was quiet. Around 10 AM I spotted a few guys a half mile away, it looked like they were getting ready to start a drive. The other hunters ended up pushing 3 does right by me. I had my gun up and safety off, but just couldn’t pull the trigger. This particular public area is lacking in does IMO and I don’t like shooting them when numbers are down. A couple of hours later I spotted another hunter coming from a different direction pushing the brush. Shortly after that I heard deer running and spotted 2 does and a spike buck. The deer ran behind me, the spike buck stopped 30 yards away. I shot him and he dropped in his tracks. I recognized this buck; I had him under my tree when I was bow hunting on November 6th.
After the shot I questioned my sanity for shooting a spike buck 1.5 miles from the truck
. Since it was a smaller deer I decided to take everything out in one trip. I used BIgHunt’s trick and attached my tree rope to my safety harness and started dragging. Hauling a treestand, 3 sticks, backpack, rifle and buck was slow going. The marsh was mostly frozen which helped a lot. I got back to the truck in less than 3 hours with a lot of breaks. My seven year old daughter was very excited she always says “you never get a deer” .
She was even more excited when I told her we were going to butcher the deer on Sunday. I haven’t cut up a deer at home for a few years. She watched me skin the deer asking all sorts of questions. One of my older daughters helped with the grinding. We are hosting a foreign exchange student from China, so it was an eye-opener for her to see how “meat” is made.
I cooked up some loin with a couple of freshly ground venison burgers. It was great. While I was skinning the deer, my 7 year old said it was gross and she was not going to eat it. She asked for 4 helpings after I fried up the loin
I love hunting for big bucks, but sometimes a guy just has to kill, drag, butcher and eat a deer.
It was a good day and a fun hunt. Now I get to watch the Packers beat up on the Patriots and their effeminate quarterback
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