Rod & Rifle Rag™ » doe

So close you could feel the heat and breeze…

CRUSTY — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:16:01 +0000

The MN Whitetail Deer Hunting Opener is one of my, and fellow hunters, favorite time of year. A time to spend with friends, family and the outdoors. Whether or not a deer is harvested by myself, I still enjoy it. The peacefulness of being in your stand solo, the crisp morning air, the warmness felt by sunshine in the afternoon, the time spent dwelling in the years events and the anticipation of seeing a Whitetail Deer is enough to bring anyone back. This year was another one to cherish and journal!
The opening morning was a clear and comfortable one. The walk into our stands, a family party of five, was as quiet as I can remember. The stillness was one that left your ears ringing in silence. As we each went our separate ways to our deer stands, each telling one another good luck, I felt the excitement between us. I climbed into my stand and got comfy. The shots around us started like a timely event, with the light of day growing. The birds started chirping, along with the other creatures of the forest waking, with the rising of the sun.
Our deer stands our within close proximity to each other. The shot that my brother fired at a little after 8am made me jump in my deer stand. It brought my attention up a notch in hopes of maybe seeing a whitetail deer that got spooked and would come in my direction. After waiting awhile, I crept down from my deer stand and headed over to investigate his shot. I came upon my two brothers and dad standing over a large Doe. As I talked to them and congratulated my brother, I noticed the fatal shot location of the Doe. Wow…a neck shot at 75-80 yards, somewhat luck (sorry bro) but none the less effective. My Dad and brother started to field dress the Doe, I left to go back to my deer stand. The rest of the morning was quiet for us with nothing seen.
We enjoyed lunch together, reminiscing about years past Whitetail Deer Hunting. The afternoon went quickly with the time to meet and leave for the day upon us. We met where the Doe lay and started to talk about the dragging out process. My two brothers went to get the “T-Bone Stretcher”, a brilliant invention by my older brother that will be incorporated on the Rod & Rifle Rag website in the future. My dad and I were talking when he whispered “Steve…Steve…”, I turned to look at him, noticed the size and direction of his eyes. I turned slowly in that direction and picked up a Doe with her head down about 30 yards from us. Now, I am roughly four feet to his right between him and the Doe. KAAABBBOOOOOMMM…..NNNNNNNNNN, thats what was happening in my left ear! I barely heard him say, “you ok Steve” with my quiet reply of “ya”. I raised my head up to see him quickly going toward the Doe, successful harvest.
We enjoyed the time getting both Doe’s out and into my brothers truck. Traditionally we stopped at KC’s on the way home to enjoy some cold beverages and warm camaraderie.

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This post was submitted by CRUSTY.

Shooting by committee

Guest Poster — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 21:35:09 +0000

One fine fall day in mid-season we decided it was time to leave the cabin and make an attempt at a deer drive. Standers were assigned their spots and four of “the brothers” started down the field road to get to the other end of the woods and start the drive. We had only gone a short distance when brother Tom whispered, “deer!”. Sure enough, 120 yards down, a nice doe was eating acorns under an oak tree right on the side of the road. We were caught in the open with nowhere to hide, but the deer seemed totally unaware of our presence. After a quickly convened family meeting it was decided that brother Glen, the youngest, should do the shooting. Glen took careful aim and let fly with a round from his .308. The dirt kicked up at the deer’s feet,but it continued to eat, oblivious to the commotion down the road. “Higher” someone whispered. Glen fired another round and managed to trim a branch right over the deer’s head. “Lower” was the unanimous verdict on that shot. And so it continued, brothers offering advice and Glen spraying lead to all points of the compass. Eventually he ran out of ammo so Tom offered his gun and the circus continued. Through all this commotion the deer was totally unconcerned, obviously word of the Virnig gang’s marksmanship had previously reached the wildlife community. After approximately 15 non-lethal shots the doe appeared perturbed at the interruption of it’s lunch hour and wandered off. Later in the day we ran into a neighboring party. They asked us how many deer were in the herd we were shooting at around noon. We just cast a knowing glance at each other and kept silent. Family honor was at stake.

Happy Birthday Steve!

Mike and RoseAnn

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This post was submitted by Mike Virnig.

Size of a Dog…..

Guest Poster — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 02:01:36 +0000

While hunting in a MN state forest with Crusty (my brother), my father & mother and youngest brother, Rob, we would go to the campground in the state forest after each day of hunting to see how many deer were hanging. At times there were nice bucks and other times just does. It was also a way for us to show everyone what we got too.
Well, about 7-8 yrs ago we saw a very impressive 10pt buck hanging. So we stopped there and started talking to a kid (13 – 14yrs old) as he was the only person at this campsite. After asking “who got this buck? at what time?” etc… this kid told us the guy that shot it was in town, and he said “I got one too!” As we all turned our heads to look at his deer hanging from the tree, all we saw was a deer the size of a German Shepard! I mean honestly, how could anyone even see that small of a deer, yet alone shoot it?? The only thing anyone said was “yep.”
We just killed this kids dream hunt in a matter of 5 seconds.
All we could do after that was say “Well, good luck tomorrow.” We got back in the truck and realized what we had done. Poor kid must have thought that those hunters are real (use your imagination).
To this day we feel bad for that kid , but it was funny at the time when he said “I got one too” and our response was priceless.

P.S. Never saw that kid again….

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This post was submitted by Tony Lust.

The Deer is Two Miles From Here

Guest Poster — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 20:00:14 +0000

Opening day of the deer hunt is always filled with excitement and anticipation, even more so when it’s your first hunt.
I had already hunted for some years with my husband before our oldest son joined us. This season would be the first hunt for our second son, Steven. Since we hunt in a MN state forest, we are a little apprehensive on opening morning if some other hunter will be in the area we’ve scouted.
All is well as we approach our stands this November morning. We wish each other success and a safe hunt as we disband, each to our own stands.
It’s an overcast morning with average MN November temperatures (cold). The darkness slowly subsides and the dawn breaks. I take in my surroundings and am thankful to be in the woods on this calm, peaceful morning.
There are occasional shots in the distance but none close enough to be one of my fellow hunters. It is late morning and I’m cold and stiff when I’m suddenly jolted by a single nearby shot. YES!!! It’s from Steve’s direction. I calm my excitement to sit quietly, watchful in case a deer heads my way.
After a time, I make my way down from my stand and head in Steve’s direction. His stand is a distance from my area, on a very wooded, slight hilltop with the ground covered in moss…hence the nickname we use, Moss Ridge. As I approach, Steve is standing in his deer stand with his rifle casually laying across his arm.
“Where’s your deer?” I ask.
He replies “I figure about 2 miles from here by now” in a very disappointed tone. He relates the story. Four does, on a nice trot, passed right in front of his stand, quiet on the mossy hillside. He got a shot off at the last one as it passed him. I chuckle silently to myself at the visual of his story.
“Well, come down Steve and we’ll check it out”. When we get to the area where he thought the deer was when he fired, sure enough, sign of a hit.
As we follow the faint blood trail, I’m hopeful my son has bagged his first deer. Suddenly, the deer jumps up in front of us. Steve confidently brings up his rifle and fires as the deer is bounding away from us. The shot drops her in her tracks.
The thrill and excitement of my son’s first hunt culminates in his bagging a nice doe. He has since taken many deer, including a couple of nice bucks. But nothing can match the memory of being a part of his first deer, standing alongside of him as he takes down that doe.
Posted in honor of Steven’s birthday…Happy Birthday, Steve!

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This post was submitted by Jan Lust.

I Had To Wait Until My Legs Were Long Enough

Guest Poster — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:32:09 +0000

When my mom remarried our family became hunters and fishermen. I was only six at the time and I wasn’t big enough to go on the hunting trips. After two or three years, I was allowed go with the family and fish while they hunted. I kept begging my new dad to tag along, promising to be quiet while he hunted. He said my legs weren’t long enough to climb over the downed trees and keep up with him. That just seemed ridiculous to an eight or nine year old. “I could climb over any old tree”, I thought. Now, I was a very small girl for my age and I began to think my legs would ever grow long enough to meet his requirement. Dad’s deer hunting stories fascinated me. He taught me how to look for signs: mushrooms dug around the base of a tree after a rain; the difference between buck and doe tracks and scat; places where they bedded down; and the different game trails.

I don’t remember how old I was when I finally got to hike along. Up before dawn and getting dressed in my brother’s hand-me-down hunting clothes was so exciting. We didn’t wear camo or the orange vest and hat. Those weren’t the stylye in the 50′s – just dull grays and browns. Off we went up the hill to the ridge where he planned to sit and hunt. It was then that I finally understood why I had to be bigger. Some of the logs we climbed over were three feet in diameter and of course the ground was not level. Indeed, I did need longer legs and a stronger body to keep up.

When we reached the first stand, we sat and waited and waited for what seemed like forever to a nine or ten year old who wasn’t used to being still that long. Then it was on to the next spot. That is how the day went. We didn’t see any deer that day, but it didn’t matter to me, because I knew that you didn’t see deer everytime you went out. Tramping through the forest and experiencing the views from the ridge tops was its own reward. When we got back to camp in the afternoon I’m sure I was exhausted from the long and tough hike, yet I know that I would never have admitted it. I didn’t want anything to keep me from being able go again. I felt proud that I could keep up.

Now, I can take my turn swapping hunting stories around the campfire.

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This post was submitted by Natalie DiGrazia.

First Deer Hunt

Guest Poster — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:48:31 +0000

While growing up in central MN, deer hunting has been a family affair that has had so many great memories. My parents both hunt, along with my three brothers. My older brother has a couple more years of hunting under his belt, not to say he has had more success though (uh oh…I’m kidding bro). So when my brother got to go deer hunting before I did, as with other experiences that he got to do first, I was pumped to get my butt out there and maybe show him up a tinge.
When I was 13-14, the time had come to map out a spot for my stand. I was as excited as a little school girl with a new dress and pair of shoes to get out into the woods. We stand hunt and rely on some other people in the woods to stir things up for us, we hunt on public land. The location for my stand was chosen with my parents and older brothers recommendation. The area has alot of rolling knolls, so the spot was at the mid point of one and on the edge. To my left was a huge gully/dip between knolls. To my right was flatter ground. Behind me the knoll continued to rise.
My first deer opener had arrived, state holiday practically in MN along with the walleye opener, and I was ready. Sitting in my stand that first time on my own was a cool thing. The sounds, the silence, the wind and cold was a neat experience, but all the time my ears were at peak tuning for any sound. Time went by and I was just itching to see a deer. Behind me I could hear a very distant cracking/rustling, I sat still and listened, the noise got closer along with a almost like panting sound. I stood up and turned to my right, with the rise of the knoll to my right.
The sound was getting closer and closer and I was looking so hard to my right, up towards to the rise of the knoll, for something to show up. Then it did….a doe…came barreling down the knoll headed right for me! I had my rifle (30-06) down towards my right hip with both hands on it watching this deer cruising right to me, head down not seeing me at all. I FROZE, the doe stopped about 10 yards away from me for a second, broadside, and looked at me as to say “what the heck are you doing there”. I was still FROZEN, never raised my gun. The doe then split, a couple leaps and out of sight.
My heart was racing, I was almost shaking because of the excitement and disappointment of not taking a shot. I raced down from stand and thought I could catch up to the deer. After a period of time trying to catch up to the deer and getting very hot, reality set in…she was gone.
20 years later I have had success hunting deer, meaning that I actually shot my gun at a deer and hit it. That first experience I think about every deer opener and as time has gone on….I chuckle about it!

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This post was submitted by CRUSTY.

One reason not to sleep in the deer stand….

Guest Poster — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:43:45 +0000

Every year a group of my old college buds get together for the rifle opener in MN. We all show up Friday afternoon at camp and usually spend the night catching up. This past year we decided to not go to sleep at all Friday night, that way we would be wide awake and out in the stands early enough to catch the deer still in the field at dawn.

During the day we set up stands out of straw bales on the various fields we hunted. The hay field, a 1000yard long, 400 yard wide field would usually support 2 stands, with another 2 in the woods to the north and south of the field. To try something new, we put a stand right on the wood line looking west, across the shorter length of the field. It was positioned so that there would be a shot straight out as well as to the north or south. We also figured that at dawn, it would offer an advantage, as the sun would come up behind us, giving us the best perspective to look out on the field, while also covering the hunter in the stand.

Well, as it turns out, being “wide awake” was negotiable… I bet I lasted a full 20 minutes in the stand before falling sound asleep. With the combination of the cold, lack of sleep and the plentiful beverages from the night before, I didn’t stand a chance. I don’t know how long I was asleep, but shortly after the sun poked out above the woods, i was jostled awake. It took a second to get my bearings, I realized I was in the bales with gun in hand. I sat up, and nearly fell back over. Looking at me wide eyed about 3 feet out from my bales is a large doe. I froze, forgot I had the gun in my hand. At the same moment, the tail goes up and the deer snorts. I was close enough to get the mist in the face…

Whats worse, the deer snorted and immediately ran to the side and into the woods, I didn’t even get the safety off on the gun. Not only did I catch hell back at camp for falling asleep and letting the deer wake me up, I didn’t even get a shot off when it was at barrel length away. Needless to say, I’ll be staying awake in the stand from here on out.

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This post was submitted by JJ.