jingles
10-31-2016, 11:24 AM
My wife got her PAL/CORE at the end of 2015 and has been really looking forward to this season to try and bag her first deer. She had a couple of close calls during the whitetail buck season but unfortunately wasn't able to connect. We enjoyed our time in the field and it was a great learning experience for both of us.
Alas, life got busy and although she was able to get in on some additional hunts (including being there for the harvest of my dad's mulie buck) we weren't able to dedicate much time to hunting in late September/early October and it looked like she was going to have to wait until her mulie doe draw at the end of October (Enderby area) to try and fill the tag on her first animal.
We were up bright and early this past Friday and were on top of the mountain for sunrise. It was a beautiful day with the sun finally starting to show itself after a solid week of dreary, rainy weather. We parked in a landing overlooking a large, long hillside cutblock and I spotted a large doe within 10 seconds of raising my binos to glass. She was feeding in the very upper corner of the cutblock and upon further inspection, she was with another doe. We spent some time looking them over to make sure there weren't with any other deer and we were able to confirm that they were both dry does. We ranged them at just over 500 yards, way too far to get a shot from our current location. We decided to put a stalk on and try and cut down the distance.
As soon as we entered the cutblock, it became quite apparent that it was going to be difficult to cut down the distance without the does spotting us... we tried make it to the treeline to get out of site but the does had us pegged before we got there. At that point, we were about 400 yards from the does so I made the call to try and slowly make our way to a large stump in the middle of the cutblock which would be a good rest for the wife to shoot from. Instead of making a bee line for the stump, and potentially spooking the deer, we decided to just slowly meandered our way through the block never approaching the deer straight on. In the end it worked and the deer's curiosity took over and they just watched us make our way to the stump.
The wife got in position and I ranged the deer at 260 yards.... not an exceptionally long shot but a difficult one for a novice hunter. I asked her if she had a solid rest and was comfortable taking the shot, she said yes. The one doe kept staring at us while the larger doe decided to start feeding. Unfortunately, once the larger doe presented a broadside shot she was standing right in front of the other one. My wife being the ethical hunter she is, she waited patiently for the doe to take another step and present a clear shot. It was a tense couple of minutes of waiting but eventually the larger doe took a two steps and presented a clear, quartering away shot at which point my wife's 270 rang out, the deer the dropped, and my wife had her first deer! I was beyond proud... she showed patience, she was ethical in her shot choice, and she made an absolutely perfect double-lung shot. She was extremely relieved that the deer had dropped and didn't have to suffer, that was her biggest concern with harvesting an animal.
We made our way to the downed deer and I couldn't believe how big she was. It was at this point that we both realized the amount of work that we had ahead of us.... the truck was just a small speck in the distance, we had no quad, and the cutblock was a steep maze of stumps and blow down. Fast forward 3 hours later and the deer was finally gutted and in the back of the truck! It's three days later and my back is still a little bit stiff...
In the end, it was a perfect hunt for my wife's first deer... it had a great stalk, it required patience, and it took a ton of effort and grunt work! She got the full experience and I think it will give her a much deeper appreciation for this sport that we all love! I think I've got myself a new favourite hunting partner...
Thanks for reading!
Alas, life got busy and although she was able to get in on some additional hunts (including being there for the harvest of my dad's mulie buck) we weren't able to dedicate much time to hunting in late September/early October and it looked like she was going to have to wait until her mulie doe draw at the end of October (Enderby area) to try and fill the tag on her first animal.
We were up bright and early this past Friday and were on top of the mountain for sunrise. It was a beautiful day with the sun finally starting to show itself after a solid week of dreary, rainy weather. We parked in a landing overlooking a large, long hillside cutblock and I spotted a large doe within 10 seconds of raising my binos to glass. She was feeding in the very upper corner of the cutblock and upon further inspection, she was with another doe. We spent some time looking them over to make sure there weren't with any other deer and we were able to confirm that they were both dry does. We ranged them at just over 500 yards, way too far to get a shot from our current location. We decided to put a stalk on and try and cut down the distance.
As soon as we entered the cutblock, it became quite apparent that it was going to be difficult to cut down the distance without the does spotting us... we tried make it to the treeline to get out of site but the does had us pegged before we got there. At that point, we were about 400 yards from the does so I made the call to try and slowly make our way to a large stump in the middle of the cutblock which would be a good rest for the wife to shoot from. Instead of making a bee line for the stump, and potentially spooking the deer, we decided to just slowly meandered our way through the block never approaching the deer straight on. In the end it worked and the deer's curiosity took over and they just watched us make our way to the stump.
The wife got in position and I ranged the deer at 260 yards.... not an exceptionally long shot but a difficult one for a novice hunter. I asked her if she had a solid rest and was comfortable taking the shot, she said yes. The one doe kept staring at us while the larger doe decided to start feeding. Unfortunately, once the larger doe presented a broadside shot she was standing right in front of the other one. My wife being the ethical hunter she is, she waited patiently for the doe to take another step and present a clear shot. It was a tense couple of minutes of waiting but eventually the larger doe took a two steps and presented a clear, quartering away shot at which point my wife's 270 rang out, the deer the dropped, and my wife had her first deer! I was beyond proud... she showed patience, she was ethical in her shot choice, and she made an absolutely perfect double-lung shot. She was extremely relieved that the deer had dropped and didn't have to suffer, that was her biggest concern with harvesting an animal.
We made our way to the downed deer and I couldn't believe how big she was. It was at this point that we both realized the amount of work that we had ahead of us.... the truck was just a small speck in the distance, we had no quad, and the cutblock was a steep maze of stumps and blow down. Fast forward 3 hours later and the deer was finally gutted and in the back of the truck! It's three days later and my back is still a little bit stiff...
In the end, it was a perfect hunt for my wife's first deer... it had a great stalk, it required patience, and it took a ton of effort and grunt work! She got the full experience and I think it will give her a much deeper appreciation for this sport that we all love! I think I've got myself a new favourite hunting partner...
Thanks for reading!