But Wait! There’s More

At 0915 Sunday, I was just putting the finishing touches on what I thought was going to be the last post of the season. The fog had started to roll in before 2200 the night before. It had been an iridescent pea soup at 0600. A full moon and fog will do that. Angus and SuperCore had gone out for one last try. I had taken a doe the evening before, and was needing a rest. I went back to sleep when everyone left and only arose at 0900.

I was freshening up my coffee when I heard a muffled shot that sounded like it had come from the west. Somebody had gotten lucky.

It was close to an hour later when my cell rang. A thoroughly winded Angus was on the other end. “I’m bringing in a deer. Come out to the porch.” There was something up; Angus is a bagpiper. He can blow up truck tires. Bagpipers do not get winded.

I went out on the porch. Sure enough, the fog had cleared enough to see something coming moving by the 100-yard target frame. It was Angus schlepping a doe.

Angus has started out in the 100 acre wood using the portable stump, but when sunrise came, he found that he could not see more than 10 feet. He left most of his gear and took off stalking, wandering generally west. He was out in front of his stand at Blackberry when a herd of 5 or so doe appeared out of the fog at extremely close range. He was now faced with a dilemma. Angus was carrying his Winchester 670 in 30-06. It is his favorite rifle, it was mine as well for many years. It is not the sort of weapon one would pick for a snap shot at doe. Close range? These doe were in kicking range. He had had the sense to crank the scope back to 3X, but at this range? They were feeding up against a massive pile of fieldstone at the edge of the pasture.

Angus picked the closest that presented a shot, quartering towards him, and let one loose. There was a the blast. Some deer ran along the rock pile, squirting out to the north and south. Some just stood dumbfounded and stared at him. It took a while to sort things out. From the signs in the grass, most had run south towards the woods at Garbage Pit. He followed that trail through the wet grass and found no sign in a hundred yards. He then switched back to the point of the shot, nearly out in front of the stand at Blackberry, and began searching the other escape route. It did not take him long to find her. 30-06 does wonders inside 10 yards.

The fields would have been too wet for me to bring out the Silverado. SuperCore’s ATV would have worked, but Angus had left his walkie talkie at his blind out on the other edge of the farm. He had also left his gutting knife, and his phone was not getting a signal. He therefore began dragging the doe backwards across the muddy pasture with a stick stuck in the back legs. About a quarter mile later, he got enough signal to call me. However, by then he was already back at the farm. All I could do was help get the doe through the front yard and up on the meatpole.

It was a messy, wretching task to get the deer cleaned out. Taking the best shot available is not always all that good. However, when it was done, Angus had a hard won trophy.

This post has already been read 634 times!