My 2010 Deer Season

[Joe]

Hey folks.. I know I've been a ghost on these forums the last few months and I wanna apologize. Things have been crazy and have finally settled down just in time for the holidays. I had a great deer season. In total I killed 6 deer. All with my bow. I was lucky enough to find time to get out in the woods and fill all of my tags. Please forgive me for the picture quality but my camera broke and most of these are cell phone pics.

I killed my first deer of 2010 in a spot I had never hunted before other than a walk with my bow in 2009. Its a huge 30 acre field that my buddys family owns.

Doe #1 - 10/18/10



My next deer, also a doe, came 5 days later while hunting with a family friend in the next town over. I had never hunted here before and he wanted to get in the stand around noon. He sent me in a general direction and told me where to expect the deer to come from. I had come across an old dilapidated wooden ground blind and figured that it must be a good spot if someone else thought so as well. I had set my climber up on the straightest tree I could find downwind of a small swamp thicket. But right before I climbed up I had trimmed a few green limbs off a semi up rooted tree because they would block my shot at a main trail. Well to make a long story short, a doe and a fawn had come out of the swamp around 5:15pm and the doe fed her way right in to feast on the green limbs I had just cut hours before. She was practically underneath me at a mere 8 yards. She looked up and made me but it was too late. I hit full draw as she jumped 5 yards and stopped. She was hard quartering but I aimed for the exit and the Goldtip zipped right through her with ease, exiting out her lower brisket. She went 30 yards and piled up into an old fence.



My next deer came on 10/31/10, Halloween. Not much of a story to this one. I was in my favorite tree and she had come by with 2 button bucks. And well, I've read articles saying does will run off button bucks when they come into estrus and with another doe tag in my pocket and the rut not more than a week away, when she came by at 18 yards, I gave it to her too. She went about 60 yards before piling up in a ravine. She was a big old girl, dressed 125lbs



My next deer, also another doe came on 11/11/10. This one I shot out of the same tree as the Halloween doe. I let her feed for 45 minutes with the two orphaned button bucks and she didnt have a boyfriend. So I had a fourth dmp on me and she bit the dust too at 42 yards. I shot her with a 3 blade NAP Bloodrunner. What a terrible name for this broadhead. I mean, yes, she piled up within sight but the blood trail was minimal, even with a perfect double lung hit.



So now comes 11/14/10. The last day of my weeks vacation from work. I was back to hunting at my friends property in the field and before I went out, his dad had asked me to take another doe if I got the chance and I obliged. So as it happened, about 30min before dark, a young doe had fed her way in to exactly 61 yards. She was perfectly broadside and absolutely relaxed. I don't reccommend shooting this far with a bow unless you are absolutely confident in your equipment. I have the utmost confidence in my equipment. I practice each year out to 70 yards and can keep 3 arrows in a 4" circle and 70 yards. So I knew I could make the shot. I hit full draw and let her fly. The flight of the arrow was so beautiful as it arched up real high and look as if it was going to go over her back and then zipped straight through her lungs. I didn't see her go down because of the high grass so I let her lay overnight and returned the next morning to find out she only went 50 yards.



So now this brings us to my last deer of 2010. 11/25/10, Thanksgiving and my 19th birthday. This day found me in my favorite tree that I had already taken 2 does out of this season. I got in my perch about an hour before daylight and sat tight. Daylight came and I saw a nice 8pt running around 3 does. He was grunting and chasing but never coming near me for a shot. He ended up walking off with the 3 does and after I watched them walk away, I looked over at the two button bucks I had orphaned earlier who were now bedded down 25 yards to my left. I sat tight and about 45min later, when the buttons had fallen asleep, a small but very cool looking four point had come by and jumped them from their beds as if they were does. He was basically a very heavy spike with browtines. I had him at 30 yards quartering away and was at full draw when my phone started buzzing. I let down and picked up the call. It was my friends stepdad tellin me he had just smoked a nice 6 point. 15min into the phone call and I looked up to see the 8 point that was with the does was working scrapes on the hill about 100 yards out and was more importantly, alone.

I told Mike I'd call him back and he certainly understood. So I watched the buck work a scrape for about 5 seconds before I threw a grunt at him. Nothing. Grunted again. Nothing. Snort wheeze. He looks my way. I give him another grunt and man did he turn and come running down the hill! He stopped facing me at 40 yards looking around. I had ditched my grunt tube at this point and grabbed my bow. When he stopped, I was at full draw and waiting for him to turn. From a dead stop, he started walking toward me with his ears back, hair standing up and stiff legged. He was slightly quartering toward me but I stopped him with a loud "MEH!" at 31 yards and the Slick Trick tipped GoldTip buried itself right behind his right front leg. He ran 20 yards uphill, tipped over and rolled another 10 back down the hill. He was down for the count. I couldn't sit still I was so jacked up. I had to stay up in the tree for 15 minutes just to calm down. I couldn't speak when I called Mike back. He's not my biggest buck but I'm dang proud of him. No other deer that I've killed put on a show like that.
He turned out to be a solid 3.5 year old 8pt probably in the 80" range. I love how symmetrical his rack is.



Hope you folks enjoyed reading about my season as much as I enjoyed creating these memories. Merry Christmas and thanks for reading.

[ADjam5]

Brings a tear to my eye on how hard my boy has been workin' these last few months...Sniff... Sniff...
All I can get out is...Thats my boy!

[PA RIDGE RUNNER]

Congratulations Joe you sure hit it big this year. That should keep you grinning till next season. Help your dad to calm down a little. Lol

[Herbie]

Congrats Joe. Great job filling not only you freezer, but that of another. Nothing wrong with sharing the bounty that you worked so hard to collect on.

It should also be noted that Joe passed on several does while hunting the Picarosa. We actually have game cam pics of the does with Joe in the background, on stand.

[charles m]

Joe I knew about all the deer from FB but it was great to finally hear the stories. Great season.