Sabots

I finally had a close encounter of the venison kind.

Rob, my SIL and I went out gain on Saturday back to the Three Rivers Game Management area, the same area we were in last week. About an hour and twenty minutes after settling into the woods, a big doe was kicked up and ran past me, about thirty yards SW of where I was positioned. I heard her crashing through the frozen ground cover and then she suddenly appeared.

She couldn't have picked a worse spot. This is real dense woods with heavy growth bordering on a swamp. There is brush, saplings and moss covers much of the ground; everything was pretty frozen except for any water deeper than a few inches.

I had some narrow open fields of fire to the N, NW, NE and SE. But not to the S or SW (or W for that matter). I had time to let loose with a sabot round but I missed. I saw her white tail off and on for a few seconds and then lost her. Rob was directly west of my position, about seventy-five yards or so, but he never saw her. It was all over in less than ten seconds.

We checked the area for signs of blood or hair but found nothing, ergo the clean miss verdict. But it was still as exciting as all get out.

We had to get Rob home but went out again, this time to the southern part of the County. We got permission from a dairy farmer to hunt on his land. He even dropped his chores to help with a drive. He knew where the deer are on his property and directed us to a ravine behind his fields.

It was like a mini version of the Grand Canyon. It was beautiful but so steep I had some doubts about climbing down. I went about two thirds of the way down and got behind some trees. At the bottom of the ravine it cleared out a lot and there were great opportunities for a shot. There was a brook running along the bottom - pretty as a picture. The other side of the ravine was even steeper and higher.

After about an hour my SIL showed up along the snowmobile path that was cut in about halfway down. He, like I, saw no deer; but he saw plenty of deer sign. It was almost a relief not getting a deer in this ravine. Our new friend says it is a real chore to drag a deer up from this location through all the brush and briers. I believe it because I had a hard enough time getting my own sorry self back up the ravine.

The season ended today, 7 DEC, at sun down. I was thinking about going out again after church but the temperature dipped into the teens with high winds and snow.

Next year.