D
Deleted member 38069
Guest
Reading and daisy-chaining off of @Hunting Wife 's thread. My favorite solo hunt yet!
Back in the fall of 2013, I finally drew a Black Hills rifle tag for whitetail. It took residents about every other year to draw.
Now, Hills rifle season is Nov 1st-30th and the first two weeks are a madhouse with blaze orange everywhere. My strategy was to treestand hunt (before I got bit with the spot and stalk bug). My stand was 16' high directly above where new growth met old spruce and aspens. There was sign everywhere, I was excited.
My stand was about a hour commute from the apartment we were renting. I like to hunt mornings so I got to my stand 1½ hours before dawn. I got up in my stand and strapped myself in. Cracked open my Stanley thermos, full of black coffee. I was ready!
The date was 11/11/13, Veteran's day so I had it off. It was before a looming deployment in January so I wanted meat and to process it for the wife while I'm gone.
The morning just felt good! The drive was smooth. Getting into my stand was silent. The chest harness was snug and coffee tasted great. Like I said, morning hunts are important to me so I have a checklist. The checklist was accomplished with a hour before light still.
I started to hear the woods come alive! Foot steps at first then a squirrel was doing its morning routine. The sun started coming through the tall spruces behind me. I heard a very loud animal trail busting. I thought, here we go!
Cow elk!
False alarm!
My heart was racing and I was shaking.
It was time to stand and stretch for a while. Just then, two does were on a B-line 40 yards parallel from me. Almost exactly where the cow walked.
My phone vibrated. Weird because I had little to no signal. The wife said the dishwasher was spilling soapy water everywhere and she wanted me home.
Me: Stop the cycle and press drain. Fix it when I'm back.
Me: Not coming home until dark because I have a good feeling.
Wife: Okay goodluck.
Crisis averted.
Just then, it started snowing heavy silver dollar snowflakes.
Out of the corner of my eye, a flash of brown on that same B-line path! A buck. A small 6/8 pointer!
My Dad always taught me to look at the antlers once and decide. If yes, don't look again and focus on where his lungs are.
Remembering his advice, I calmly stood up and rested the rifle on the tree. I waited until he stopped. I could see how frantic he was to find these does. He stopped and I shot! I reloaded and relocated him five feet from his original spot but leaking blood and wondering what happened. I squeezed again.
Down he went!
I waited my self imposed 30 minutes and got down to see him. I was happy. It was gratifying and humbling. As it turns out, I had some pictures of this young buck.
If the morning didn't build up the way it did, I probably would've let him go. I still had 19 days.
I will never forget that hunt!
Back in the fall of 2013, I finally drew a Black Hills rifle tag for whitetail. It took residents about every other year to draw.
Now, Hills rifle season is Nov 1st-30th and the first two weeks are a madhouse with blaze orange everywhere. My strategy was to treestand hunt (before I got bit with the spot and stalk bug). My stand was 16' high directly above where new growth met old spruce and aspens. There was sign everywhere, I was excited.
My stand was about a hour commute from the apartment we were renting. I like to hunt mornings so I got to my stand 1½ hours before dawn. I got up in my stand and strapped myself in. Cracked open my Stanley thermos, full of black coffee. I was ready!
The date was 11/11/13, Veteran's day so I had it off. It was before a looming deployment in January so I wanted meat and to process it for the wife while I'm gone.
The morning just felt good! The drive was smooth. Getting into my stand was silent. The chest harness was snug and coffee tasted great. Like I said, morning hunts are important to me so I have a checklist. The checklist was accomplished with a hour before light still.
I started to hear the woods come alive! Foot steps at first then a squirrel was doing its morning routine. The sun started coming through the tall spruces behind me. I heard a very loud animal trail busting. I thought, here we go!
Cow elk!
False alarm!
My heart was racing and I was shaking.
It was time to stand and stretch for a while. Just then, two does were on a B-line 40 yards parallel from me. Almost exactly where the cow walked.
My phone vibrated. Weird because I had little to no signal. The wife said the dishwasher was spilling soapy water everywhere and she wanted me home.
Me: Stop the cycle and press drain. Fix it when I'm back.
Me: Not coming home until dark because I have a good feeling.
Wife: Okay goodluck.
Crisis averted.
Just then, it started snowing heavy silver dollar snowflakes.
Out of the corner of my eye, a flash of brown on that same B-line path! A buck. A small 6/8 pointer!
My Dad always taught me to look at the antlers once and decide. If yes, don't look again and focus on where his lungs are.
Remembering his advice, I calmly stood up and rested the rifle on the tree. I waited until he stopped. I could see how frantic he was to find these does. He stopped and I shot! I reloaded and relocated him five feet from his original spot but leaking blood and wondering what happened. I squeezed again.
Down he went!
I waited my self imposed 30 minutes and got down to see him. I was happy. It was gratifying and humbling. As it turns out, I had some pictures of this young buck.
If the morning didn't build up the way it did, I probably would've let him go. I still had 19 days.
I will never forget that hunt!
Last edited by a moderator:
