A doe to kick off the new season!

Up at 3:00 a.m. for my 2 hour drive. Arrived on time with plenty of time to get my Ghillie suit on and make the 20 minute walk to my predetermined hunting spot. As mother Nature opened her window shades, some gray squirrels (an animal I haven’t hunted next to in almost a decade) made their way from limb to limb cracking nuts like there was no tomorrow. A half hour into the daylight, a flock of turkeys moved like an army up a steep hill toward the nearest bean field for breakfast. I knelt next to a tree that was up about 10 feet in elevation, on a hillside, over an area where I placed one of my trail cameras earlier in the year. What a day!

About 7:50 a.m., I noticed a doe to my left about 30 yards just trotting on by. There wasn’t a lot of time for me to lift my bow but I did it as fast as I could without spooking her. She turned to the right and walked to just 10 yards in front of me, appearing to me that she was going to continue to walk away. Then she stopped and turned right toward me, head on. My plan of action was to let her walk out a bit for two reasons: One, so I could allow ample time to see if there was one of the bucks that I’ve patterned, was following her and two, I didn’t want to draw in front of her. I would have rather let her pass a bit before drawing and take the rear quartering away shot, which is by far one of the most lethal shots there are, including the broadside shot. As luck would have it, she started to walk right toward me though. Now I was forced to draw and shoot her. Why? Because if I didn’t, she would have no doubt winded me at 1 yard and spooked herself, any following deer and would have left me with no meat or antlers. I figured if I at least shot her then, I would have a doe, even if I spooked any remaining deer. My intention was to take a doe this week but I wanted to be incognito as possible while doing it. Anyway, she watched me draw and she STILL came toward me. She had no clue what I was and never winded me. A Ghillie suit loaded with so much carbon that it makes your hands turn black just by getting dressed, is a deadly combination! I had to say to her “No trespassing”, so she would stop. When she did, she realized something wasn’t right, so she turned to my right and began to bolt. Too late for her though. She piled up 40 yards later. Yummy! I love to shoot does. This is the first doe I’ve shot in years due to the lack of them where I have been hunting. If you look close enough, you can see her legs sticking out of the wagon that’s being pulled by my four wheeler, in my “politically correct” photo. I’m looking forward to shooting more!

I didn’t see anything else but one nice buck all day and he didn’t want to play, so it was back to camp. Yes, I camped out last night only to be woken by coyotes fighting over my dead doe at 2:30 a.m.! I had to run them off, in the rain, which also stunk. I ended up sleeping in my truck for the remaining 2 hours. From there, I hunted until 11:00 and said “Enough is enough!” I need scent control, sleep and more sleep, so I drove back home. There is always next week!

Any other eventful opening day stories to share? Bring them on!

My sleeping quarters :-(

My kitchen!