The hunt that might not have happened.
Back in March my father had a work related accident where he fell off a lift truck, he tried to break his fall (only 6') by sticking out his hand. He ended up breaking his wrist bones and pushing them up into his hand, he landed hard on his left hip and ended up breaking the off the ball.
He had surgery on both and questioned if he would be healthy enough to go on the hunt with me, I kept encouraging him to think positive and keep up with the rehab, if it meant that I would pack out any deer we shoot and do all the work I was more than happy to do that. As time went on his hip healed up and he was walking 2 miles 2x a day. His wrist was giving him issues and he could only grip about 15 pounds. He would bring a camp chair with and shooting sticks but he was cleared to go.
Anticipation was at an all time high as we loaded his truck the night before opener, the drive out is one of my favorite parts of the hunt. He tells stories of past hunts and we talk about adventures we've had together, then the conversations ends up leading to last years hunt and where we want to sit tomorrow morning.
Before long we pull into the parking area and make a plan that Dad is going to sit on the tree line and I'm heading to my honey hole. The honey hole is a spot about 1.8 miles from the truck in a back corner of the public where I have taken 7 deer in 3 years, they love crossing this corner but it's a very tight window so you have to anchor and deer on the spot so they don't jump the fence.
I set the alarm for 4:00am and tried to get some sleep, that's all but impossible when the excitement for opening morning is in your mind and you have serious concern that the way you Dad is snoring, you might not be able to hear anything in the morning.
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The alarm goes off and we get everything packed up, since the grass is usually waist to shoulder high I decide to pack in a 5' step ladder. At 4:45 we cross the gate and start our walk in, after going 50 yards or so it's very apparent that they grazed cattle out there this year as the grass was only up to your ankles. At this point I was really questioning me packing in a step ladder, but decided to push on. Before long we came up to the treeline, I made sure Dad was situated, wished him luck and continued on my way. Halfway to my spot I crossed a mowed path, with very tall grass on the other side. They had a temporary fence in there to keep the cattle out of the bottom, this was perfect for my location. I made it to my spot checked the wind and it was blowing true and from the best possible direction.
I got my ladder setup and climbed up to them top, it would be close to an hour and a half before legal shooting light. The sky was crystal clear and the stars were amazing, I love this time of day hearing the woods waking up, the sounds of coyotes howling, geese and ducks sounding off.
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Before long legal light was approaching, soon shooting light would be upon us and the first gun shots would welcome another opening morning. At first light I had a doe come out of the trees and enter the grass, I tried to get the gun on her but there were a few branches in the way. Soon after I noticed a doe bounding through the grass with a nice small buck chasing her, they would hop through the grass and then disappear and reappear. This made me appreciate the extra height of the ladder, it allowed me to see over and into some of the grass.
I caught movement from the direction that the buck and doe had come from, I could tell it was a buck and he was bird digging trying to pick up that does scent, as he weaved in and out of the tall grass I tried to get my scope on him, finally he stopped in a small opening. I aimed for a high shoulder shot and touched off, he just stood there and didn't move, I must have missed judged the yardage and aimed a little lower and touched off another shot. I lost sight of him at the shot, and didn't see him run off, so I got down and went over to where I thought he was standing, and nothing. I kept going that direction and finally 75 yards further found him, sure enough my second shot hit right where I was aiming and dropped him in his tracks.
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I called my Dad and told him BBD but to keep hunting, I gutted him out and put my ladder and pack by him so i could find him again in the grass. I went and sat next to a fence post to wait, half hour goes by and I see movement by my buck. Looking with my binos I see that it's a small buck, he walks right up to my buck and sniffs my stuff. I decided to pull out my phone and video him, I grunted twice and he headed my way. He got to 10 yards then went downwind, as soon as he hit my scent stream he took off.
After that encounter I decided to go and quarter up my buck, as I was quartering him my phone started vibrating. It was my Dad, as soon as I answered he said turn around and look behind you, when I did there were 3 does within 30 yards watching me, as soon as I turned though they took off.
Knowing my Dad and his hip condition I decided to take more of the meat, we were both set on getting it out in 1 trip. I put one hind quarter and a front shoulder in his pack and I took the rest of the meat, the head and my ladder. I helped Dad get his pack on and then tried to lift mine, but I only managed to lift it 6" off the ground, so on to plan "B" I sat on the ground and got the shoulder straps on, then rolled over to my hands and knees, then slowly stood up and got the hip belt on.
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We made it 100 yards or so before our first break, this place continued for the rest of the pack out and 2 hours later we arrived at the truck.
We would hunt 3 more days and fill 3 more tags before leaving to head home, we would see several nice bucks and I ended up finding a nice dead head as well. We're already planning for next year.
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