Angus
12-08-2014, 05:47 PM
As a newbie waterfowler who joined HBC a number of years ago looking for a dog training partner, I never would have imagined that I’d be out chasing big game as it never really interested me before. But after reading so many great stories about hunts on HBC, and sampling the varied game available in this great province, I finally got into chasing bigger game last year. A move to the Peace region helped that.
After blowing a few opportunities on moose or deer in the last year, I was determined to get some meat in the freezer this year. Some poor planning this fall (wedding in September, and honeymoon in November) led to only a few opportunities to get out, but I also knew that I had my mule deer doe LEH draw for the Peace in my back pocket as my last chance. Yeah, there are a lot of them up here, but I was stoked about going out after my first deer, on my own.
So with the draw good for Dec. 1 to 20, I headed out solo on Sunday afternoon, hitting some fields and timber above the Peace River. The sun was going down and it was only about -15 with some fresh snow. I had a good feeling about my chances.
A little while into my hunt, as I was about to step out of the timber into a field, there it was, out in the field in front of me. I retreated back into the timber to find a good angle and solid rest. By this time, I was busted. The doe was looking right at me. No time for hesitation, as I had made this mistake a couple times in the last year and come up empty. Shot fired from 175 yards from the 30 06. The deer stumbled and walked away slowly to the edge of the field and dropped. I waited about 5 minutes, and started walking slowly across the open field. I found the location where the deer was standing when the bullet struck, lots of blood, and a good blood trail on the fresh snow. A solid hit! As I approached the downed deer, I got about 30 yards away and stopped and crouched down. It looked dead, when all of a sudden, boing, boing, boing, gone outta site through the trees.
I followed the blood trail through the trees and down a slope, and then got to the top of a steep slope, and there was the deer, about 75 yards down a 60 degree slope. Knowing I would not get it out on my own, a couple calls were made and a couple buddies showed up to help drag it up the slope. After much effort, we got it to the top, loaded out and skinned last night. Many thanks to my two pals. Will butcher it with a friend later in the week. Can’t wait.
One huge lesson learned for this newbie: make sure the animal is dead; you never know where it will end up when it finally drops on its own.
Sorry for the crappy cell phone photo.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/doe_2_dec_2014.jpg
After blowing a few opportunities on moose or deer in the last year, I was determined to get some meat in the freezer this year. Some poor planning this fall (wedding in September, and honeymoon in November) led to only a few opportunities to get out, but I also knew that I had my mule deer doe LEH draw for the Peace in my back pocket as my last chance. Yeah, there are a lot of them up here, but I was stoked about going out after my first deer, on my own.
So with the draw good for Dec. 1 to 20, I headed out solo on Sunday afternoon, hitting some fields and timber above the Peace River. The sun was going down and it was only about -15 with some fresh snow. I had a good feeling about my chances.
A little while into my hunt, as I was about to step out of the timber into a field, there it was, out in the field in front of me. I retreated back into the timber to find a good angle and solid rest. By this time, I was busted. The doe was looking right at me. No time for hesitation, as I had made this mistake a couple times in the last year and come up empty. Shot fired from 175 yards from the 30 06. The deer stumbled and walked away slowly to the edge of the field and dropped. I waited about 5 minutes, and started walking slowly across the open field. I found the location where the deer was standing when the bullet struck, lots of blood, and a good blood trail on the fresh snow. A solid hit! As I approached the downed deer, I got about 30 yards away and stopped and crouched down. It looked dead, when all of a sudden, boing, boing, boing, gone outta site through the trees.
I followed the blood trail through the trees and down a slope, and then got to the top of a steep slope, and there was the deer, about 75 yards down a 60 degree slope. Knowing I would not get it out on my own, a couple calls were made and a couple buddies showed up to help drag it up the slope. After much effort, we got it to the top, loaded out and skinned last night. Many thanks to my two pals. Will butcher it with a friend later in the week. Can’t wait.
One huge lesson learned for this newbie: make sure the animal is dead; you never know where it will end up when it finally drops on its own.
Sorry for the crappy cell phone photo.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/doe_2_dec_2014.jpg