The Great Deer Hunting Escapade!

ATTENTION!! SOME CONTENTS AND IMAGES OF THIS POST ARE NOT FOR THE SENSITIVE STOMACHED. PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK. :)

the three musketeers

As some of you know, I absolutely LOVE deer hunting! The whole anticipation in the months leading up to opening morning (which I believe should be a national holiday. ;)), the inability to fall asleep the night before because you're so excited, or you're worried you'll sleep through your alarm clock (usually a combination of both); the waking up at 5am and guzzling a whole pot of strong coffee with fellow deer hunters around the table as everyone makes their plan of action, recalls previous hunting seasons, and makes bets on who's gonna shoot the biggest deer; the sound of truck engines idling; the usually quiet country roads suddenly alive with vehicles (mostly pick up trucks); "Turdy Point Buck" playing on every speaker system in the area; driving around while it's still dark, to claim a chunk of land before another hunter does; the complete silence in the woods before first light, and then, as it gets brighter out, the sound of the first gun shots to open the season.


Yes, it's a highlight of my year. 


My brothers and cousins got me hooked when they would come in from the woods with stories and proof of their endeavors. ;) So, I went to Hunter's Safety, my cousin lent me our late Grandpa's Ruger 243, I bought myself an orange coat, inherited my big brother's Gander Mountain ball cap with a bullet hole through the bill, and got dubbed with the nickname "Big Nah" on my first Opening Day.


That first day was an experience. I didn't get a chance to shoot a deer but we got chased by a paranoid man on a 4-wheeler as it was getting to closing time and we were heading home (no, we weren't doing anything wrong). I don't know about anyone else, but running headlong through thick, short pines at dark, trying to keep up with your brother and cousin, with firearms in tow, while a 4-wheeler roars up the road behind you and not knowing if the man was going to shoot you or just run you down, and all I can think about is how hilarious the whole scene must look but I'm trying to keep my laughter to a minimum, while my cousin is about to hyperventilate from fright, and my poor brother, who is the only one that has a well rounded view of the situation is trying to keep both of us quiet. Yeah, it was enough to get me completely addicted to the whole gun season thing. 


And just as a disclaimer, being chased by an angry man on an ATV is quite abnormal and has never happened since. ;)


So yeah, I LIKE the fourth week of November in Wisconsin. :D


But after hunting for two years and not even getting a chance to shoot one. I was starting to think that I would have to break my vow of not shooting anything smaller than an 8 point buck, and put my goal of getting a larger buck than Levi has ever shot off to the side as well. So, this year, on Opening Morning, as we were getting ready to head out to the woods, I decided that the first deer I saw, I was going to shoot. 


After getting out into the field with Levi, and Bailey and sitting for a while. And me being my hyper self, couldn't keep quiet and kept complaining about the spot because I couldn't recall any nice deer being taken off this field and wanted to go somewhere else. And my brother telling me to be quiet and sit still, and Bailey laughing at us bantering back and forth. 


So about 15 minutes after daylight, we slowly started walking down the edge of the pines (the same ones that we hid from the guy, two years previously) and taking turns with going in front. It had already been decided that Bailey or I would get the first chance to shoot a deer, since Levi had already gotten a nice buck during bow season. And just as Bailey and I traded places to me being in front, and her in back. We spotted a doe running into the pines about 200 yards ahead. And seconds later Levi, who had been spotting through his scope, whispered excitedly "There's a buck coming!!!" I got a glimpse of it as it was standing in the corner of a pasture, but both of us at the same moment said "No, that's a horse, it's too big to be a deer." And, disappointed, we were about to turn around and go to a different spot. But then, the "horse" JUMPED over the fence and we caught sight of it's antlers. Levi had a better view of him at that time and he exclaimed "Hannah, it's a MONSTER!" I started getting excited, and Levi has crazy adrenaline when he's hunting and I was feeding off of that and my adrenaline was sky-rocketing and I could hardly hold my gun up to look through the scope. :P


The buck was only visible for a second or two and then he disappeared into the pines. We started walking down the edge, hoping he would pop back out long enough to get a shot at him. At one point, I looked through my scope, and saw four cloven feet walking along the edge of the pines. Then the buck appeared out of the low branches, and walked towards us as we stood on the crest of the hill, in plain sight. Levi whispered to me to slowly get down on the ground so I could get a better shot-- I was in no shape to be able to shoot standing up as it was. ;P So, I sssssssslllloooowllllly start kneeling down on the ground, all the while keeping my sights trained on the deer and him STILL walking straight towards us! At different points in the LONG seconds to get to the ground, the buck would stop and look at us, and I would freeze mid-squat for agonizing moments until he would start moving again.


I FINALLY got to a prone position, and steadied my sights on the buck. Levi kept whispering "He is SO HUGE, HANNAH! This is the Biggest Deer I've EVER seen!" in between coaching me to wait for a broadside shot. I had gotten a glimpse of the deer's antlers but all I was focusing on now was getting a good shot. The ONLY thing ringing through my mind was "I Can't MISS!!! If I miss, I'll NEVER live it down!!" ;) And with the thick pines being right there, I had to make the shot count or else watch the Monster disappear, only to haunt me in my dreams. lol


At the same instant that the deer turned broadside, he started stepping into the pines and Levi exclaimed "Shoot him now!" just as I was pulling the trigger.


The blast of the gun echoed throughout the valley. And we strained our eyes to see the outcome. The buck had disappeared into the undergrowth of the pines. We all booked the 140 yards over to the area I had shot him to look for blood. And as we neared the place, I saw massive antlers moving in the tall grass next to the trees. 

I think I must have floated the rest of the way because I don't remember how I got over to it so fast. ;) I had shot him in the shoulder/spine and he dropped right where he was.


The first thing Levi said to me as he came up to it was "I hate you..." and "You're not allowed to shoot anything else this year." Haha. But all of us kept repeating, "He's MASSIVE!!!! HUGE! MONSTROUS!!!" 

We then had to call Dad to come help carry the Beast the 3/4 of a mile to the road. As well as send texts/phone calls to family, announcing my first kill, and then convincing them that I really did. 

 first cuts and yes that's blaze orange nail polish ;)

I tried gutting the deer. I really did. But I was freaked that the knife was gonna slip and chop my fingers off since I had never done it before. And the deer's body was so large that it was hard to reach with my short arms where I needed to. So Levi took over (yeah, he's pretty nice), but not until some of the buck's blood had been smeared across my face according to the traditional "First Kill" fashion. 

Mom took one look at me when I got home and handed me a washcloth... haha

ahh... I can't grow out of being a tomboy... :P ;)

Not 15 minutes after I shot my deer, we got word that Andy shot a real nice 9 pt. buck as well. Mine still out did his in mass and height but not by a whole lot. :P ;)

I'm sitting weird because I couldn't get enough leverage to lift my buck's head right :P 

That's just how big he was. ;)

The next day, the three of us again went out to the pines. And not even 200 yards from where I shot my first buck, Bailey got her first deer as well. :)  I now know better than to complain about that spot not being good for hunting... :P ;)

So all in all, it was an amazing season this year. I'm so glad that Bailey got to FINALLY get a taste of what hunting was like with my group here. We got to have some fun times just hanging out that week (in between the nights I had to work. :P). And it was nice to not be the ONLY girl in the hunting party for once. ;)