Fa, A Long Long Way to Run...

Well, it wasn't really that far, and I didn't run. But the buck did run, after my shot apparently missed him!

The pre-dawn was beautiful after a stormy night, and I decided to take advantage of the warm 50 degree morning. I left the house at 5:15am, trekked up the mountain along our half-mile of dirt road, and found the 4-wheeler path to the east ridge. It is easy to get fooled in the woods when it is dark, even using a flash light. I found it humorous that I had initially gone past the 4-wheeler trail without even knowing it! Once I realized where I was, it was easy to see where I needed to be. I was not running, but I was traveling on foot, so it was 5:50am by the time I sat down on my rock to await the deer that I hoped would come by. It was still completely dark at this time. Sitting in the pitch dark up on a mountain in the woods is a unique experience in my world and I would recommend it to anyone!

Last night we had strong winds and a wind advisory was issued concerning 45 mph gusts. Some of the gusts were still lingering, and it was especially whipping around up on the ridge where I was perched under an oak tree. Sometimes down at the house we can hear wind rushing through the trees up on the ridges but we can't even feel a breeze in our yard. I suspect it was like that this morning. Where I was on that east ridge, there was nothing to block the gusts of wind, and sometimes they were bone-chilling! I wonder what the wind-chill was? Good thing the air temperature was pleasant when the wind was not blowing, or else I would have been rather cold wearing only a sweat-shirt against those blasts of wind!

It was actually refreshing to feel the wind in my face and hear the creaking of trees around me and see the woods come gradually into focus with the brightening of the dawn. And it was exciting to see a line of deer come up the hill below my position around 7:00am. I let the first small one pass by, hoping that the others would be larger. The next one was indeed a larger buck!

Now, I can't explain what happened next. He was just about 150 feet away and I had him directly in my site. I pulled the trigger... I should have hit him directly in the neck! He just stood there and looked at me! I could hear a couple of the deer behind him running off, but he did not. Well, I decided after a few seconds that another shot was warranted, so I took it, right at his neck. Again, he just looked at me. I thought for sure he would fall right down, and to tell the truth, he made me feel a bit sad the way he was looking at me! I got up and started to walk toward him. After I had taken several steps and he was still standing there, I guess I should have shot again. Two other deer that I had not even seen before galloped away down the hill and that was when the buck I had shot at trotted away in the direction he had come. I was dumbfounded. I couldn't even find any blood where he was standing, but I don't know how I could have missed him?!?!

I'm thinking some target practice may be in order before I try to get another deer....

It was now time to go back to the house and get off to work for the day. I didn't figure I would have much hunting success now, even if I had time to stay in the woods.

My hunt could be classified as a failure, but I did enjoy the nice walks through my woods and feeling like I was part of God's nature once again. Perhaps next time I will get a deer?

The nice thing is that God has blessed us with the 3 deer that Matthew got this weekend so it's not like my family was depending on this buck to stave off starvation. I guess we have well over 100 pounds of good venison stored up (and some of it made a delicious meal Sunday evening!). And we soon will be butchering some more of our hogs, so we will be stocked up with pork again, too. Even if we had no ability to buy anything in a grocery store, my family would still be eating very well throughout this winter! Thank you, Lord!