T'was the evening before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring except I..... I was playing a game with a football game playing in the background (Cleveland vs Houston I think). That's when I'd looked out of a window and noticed a deer grazing in the yard. I'd been waiting for my buck with the nice rack to show up but I haven't seen him in a few weeks. It's a bit tough to catch any deer on this side of the property line since I haven't gotten into baiting game animals. Because I don't have permission from the adjacent property owner to hunt his land, intentionally shooting across the property line without permission is illegal in Texas, so that's a no-go until I obtain permission. Thankfully, I caught this little buckeroo on the right side of the line. I thought he was a doe at first, but I decided to grab my M357 just in case. When I got a good look at him I thought, "That's a buck. It's go time!" He looked young and tender, a perfect size for the freezer. - For those of you that don't like long hunting stories, here's a photo.
For those still interested, here's rest of the story -
Now I just had to figure out how to get to him. I figured that he would hear any back door opening, so this proved to be a crafty stalk beginning with me moving cautiously through the house. As I moved through the interior I was mindful that he could see me through the windows. I had noticed that the squirrels run when they catch a clear glimpse of me through the glass. Anyhow, this fella was munching on what's left of the green grass in the lawn and I began working my way towards a door providing good cover and a decent line of sight. Once I got close to a door, I managed to stoop down, cocked my rifle, spun my mag to an empty chamber, held it in place, loaded my mag, and closed the bolt. There was already one in the breech which is why I selected this particular ammo, plus I'd been practicing with it recently out to 55 yards. bent down and half squatting with the top of my head and brow visible along the bottom of the windows, I grabbed a door handle, rifle in my other hand. Next I slowly turned the knob and gently, but firmly broke the seal on the door and tugged at it. It made the sound of two old dry, but sticky, dusty rubber strips separating slowly from one another. Once I managed to get the door cracked wide enough, the sound caught the spike's attention and he looked into the open door. There I froze half bent down in a squat holding my rifle - muzzle protruding out of the door like a grade-school child in P.E. playing freeze tag. After a while I thought of praying that he'd look the other way so I could move. I mean, I haven't done yoga in years. Plus I'm still sore from my off-road bike ride from the day before. When he dipped his head down I moved to sweep one leg forward so I could get a knee up in a duck walk motion. I'm trying to keep an eye on him through the bottom corner of the window of the opposing closed door. Once I got my left leg forward he looked up again. I avoided eye contact and was trying not to blink. The spike turned and looked dead at me. I did my best to imitate one of the green-plastic army men that many of us had or wanted in our youth. Once he turned his hind parts toward me, I eased my rear leg into a more comfortable position beneath my posterior and tried to lean my right shoulder against the opposing door. I still wasn't comfortable kneeling on the hard floor. I briefly considered shifting into a seated position on the floor, but decided against it because I figured I would create too much motion and make too much noise drawing attention to me. I still tried adjusting my legs to get more comfortable kneeling on the hard floor in my PJs and slippers. Mid-thought this jittery young buck whipped around again a propped his ears up, neck elongated, head straight up in the air. I then thought, "Awww damn! I blew it." But I held my infantryman pose once more caught frozen in an uncomfortable position. This time the spike began walking the fence line. I finally was able to brace my right shoulder again the opposite door. As he walked, I ease my rifle from my knee slowly raising the muzzle with the but making its way towards the crease between my chest muscle and my shoulder. He craned his neck and looked my way again so I paused mid-lift. He quickly lost interest and must have thought, "Something's not right here. It's time to for me to get going." As I watched him head towards the fence line, I leveled my rifle straight out in front of me. I thought about picking up my range finder off of the floor next to me, but didn't want to risk unzipping the case with one hand making unnecessary noise and movement. I didn't know the exact distance. My parallax wheel was set to 50 yards and I zoomed the magnification all the way up focusing on the fence. The image looked clear enough to confidently take a fatal shot. I cranked the magnification back down to around12x 16x (it's no wonder why my FOV was narrow). Mind you that I don't have a throw lever on my Vector Continental 5-30x56mm FFP scope. When I focused on the spike again he turned to walk back to my left. I could see him in my off eye, but my field of view was too narrow to see him through the scope at this magnification. Its getting close to sunset and there was intermittent cloud cover so I tried switch on my illuminated reticle, but the battery appeared to be dead. Now he's slowly walking and I'm holding my rifle steady anticipating his crossing my line of sight. He's moving slowly and cautiously. I tried to adjust my weigh and lean slightly in order to swivel my rifle in his direction. It felt like it was taking forever for him to walk into my crosshairs. He must have heard me moving because he began walking faster toward the fence. The moment came when he crossed my line of sight, but at this pace he only appeared in my crosshairs for a moment and vanished. Using my off eye I'm watching him walk across the grass. I adjusted my rifle to track him and decided to stop him myself. I called out, "Mmmmep." He slowed down for a spit second, then sped his gait back up. "Damn it!" I thought, "He's gonna hit the fence." So again I called out "MMEP!!," but louder. He paused to look. As he turned, shifting on his front hooves to look back, I switched off the safety and pressed the trigger ....
BANG !!! The report echoed through the house. Then the spike took off running. I don't remember him jumping or mule kicking. This made me question whether I’d hit him. As he bolted for the fence, upon approach he hurled himself over it. As I watched him glide through the air the way a javelin thrower might watch his missile, what stood out to me is how he hit that fence. I don't think I'll forget it. As he lept, his front half was straight as he came across the top of the fence - legs tucked -as it should, but his lower half rotated sideways pointing his hind legs towards the right perpendicular to his body - almost like a capital "L". His hind legs crossed the the fence parallel with the plank on the top of the fence. It reminded me of how an olympic high jumper manipulates and contorts her body to clear the bar. That's how his hind legs cleared the top of the fence, but sideways. I'd never seen one jump like that. I thought, "Oh yea, He's hit good!" The moment after the shot I hear someone from within the house yell, "What in THE WORLD.....!?!" I called back, "It's ok. I just shot a buck. I'm gonna give him a minute and go get him." Oh and I forgot to tell y'all............. This isn't even my house.
I closed the door, put the rifle on safe, and went to change out of my PJs and slippers - yes I was lounging. I changed into some clothes, grabbed my thermal scanner, my binoculars, a flashlight, and my rifle. I didn't have an orange vest or hat, so I wore the brightest colored shirt I had with me. Then I grabbed my boots and made my way to the door. I put them on and went into the yard. It was still lightly raining and wet outside. After about 20 minutes I went over to the spot where I thought I'd shot it and looked for blood in the ground and saw nothing. I shined the flashlight on the wet grass and still nothing. As I moved toward the fence I saw a red leaf in the grass. It looked slightly bloody so I grabbed and pinched it, smearing my thumb and index finger together across the leaf. It was nothing but a wet and discolored fallen autumn leaf. I saw another on the other side of the fence still attached to a plant stem and did the same thing. I got the same result. Since I startled someone in the house, I'd looked over my shoulder briefly and I didn't see which way the spike ran when he landed. So I decided to search in the direction his hind legs pointed while in the air. I figured that he ran in that direction because of the way he'd have to regain his footing after sliding upon landing on the other side of the fence. That part happened fast. I hopped the fence and began trying to scan the area with my AGM Asp Micro-160 thermal scanner, but I couldn't hardly see a thing for all of the moisture in the air. Everything looked white. I began my search by walking and intermittently shining my flashlight into the brush and deadfall leaves around me. I looked through the gaps between tree trunks, but I didn't see anything. I started heading towards the creek and ran into a fence line. I thought, "he didn't hit two fences," so I turned around and walked diagonally back towards the house. I checked my compass to be sure of my direction because it was getting dark and I didn't want to get disoriented and turned around. As I walked back I tried viewing my surroundings using my thermal scanner again, but this time in black hot mode....still nothing. Now my eye is sort of blind due to that thermal scanner screen and the daylight diminishing with the setting sun. I put it in my pocket. I pulled out my flash light and kept searching off to the west, still nothing. As I made my way north craning my neck from side to side I looked straight ahead and saw some white and gray amongst the trees. At first I thought it was an old rotten fallen tree. I shined my light in that direction, but couldn't make out what it was. I made my way over some logs and around some vines and it became evident that it was a downed deer. He looked smaller on the ground than he did walking across the property. I walked up behind him and kicked him in the rump. There was no movement. His ribs weren't moving; he was dead. That's when I walked around to the front of the carcass and snapped the photo below.
Next came the drag. Thankfully he didn't run more than 20-25 yards from the fence line and he was young and relatively lightweight. I couldn't tell his exact weight, but if I had to guess I'd say he weighed between 80-90 lbs.
Below are photos of the damage from the slug. I know I hit one lung for sure, it looked gelatinous, but I don't think I hit the other. I only saw blood coming from one nostril. Considering that he was quartering towards me I think I may have missed it. Examining the exit wound, it looks like I nicked his liver. When I cut out the liver, a portion of one lobe was already separated. The blood on the exit side was dark and the exit hole was farther back (mid-body).
Entry Wound
Slug smashed through this rib with no problem.
Exit wound
Note how the shot just missed hitting the last rib before exiting the body.
I retrieved a couple sections of rope from my truck, tied them together, tied one end to a thick piece of a branch I found on the ground to act as a weight. Then I whirled the weighted end of the rope around and threw the it over a couple of thick limbs, and tied him above the knees by the hind legs. Next I worked to hoist him to hang in order to bleed and clean him. That was a task with no pulley and no assistance. I tied off the rope around the trunk and slit his throat to start draining the blood. I then grabbed my sharpening stone, wet it, and began sharpening my pocket knife and my Opinel (I left my main skinning knife at home). I tested the edges on the blades with my finger. Once sharp enough I wiped the metal and stone bits off on my shirt, put the Opinel up, and took the cheap pocket knife and began cutting away the skin so I could gut him. I cut into the chest just below the sternum. I made my way up towards the abdomen using my other two fingers to lift the skin and cut the skin around the genitalia on both sides. I went up as far as I could with his legs tied shut. I then took the serrated section of the pocket knife and began sawing through the sternum. Once is cut through down towards the neck, a lot of blood poured out. I accidentally poked the heart a little with the tip of the knife. After I opened the chest up wider - spreading the ribs - I began cutting away at the diaphragm to allow the stomach and entrails to drop out together. I didn't appear the I hit the intestines or the rumen (which was pretty full). With the guts hanging out, but still suspended from the carcass, I went home to grab a gambrel because cleaning him hanging with his legs tied together proved too difficult to access the pelvis. I also grabbed my skinning knife, bone saw, a couple of heavy duty trash bags, and a plastic moving container. Then I stopped by the store on the way back to grab several bags of ice. When I came back I sharpened my skinning knife, lowered the deer to the ground, inserted the gambrel into cuts I'd already made behind his tendons, and hoisted him up just high enough to get his head off of the ground and tied him off again. I freed up the anus and finished gutting him. I then quartered him and put the quarters, back straps, liver, and heart on ice. I got tired cleaning and cutting him up. I dumped the head, hide, ribcage, and offal for the coyotes on another relative's property. I woke up tired and sore all over the next day, but I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
Gear used to take the deer:
-Benjamin Bulldog M357
-Vector Continental 5-30x56mm FFP IR riflescope
-NSA .357, 110 grain HP-DB slugs
For those still interested, here's rest of the story -
Now I just had to figure out how to get to him. I figured that he would hear any back door opening, so this proved to be a crafty stalk beginning with me moving cautiously through the house. As I moved through the interior I was mindful that he could see me through the windows. I had noticed that the squirrels run when they catch a clear glimpse of me through the glass. Anyhow, this fella was munching on what's left of the green grass in the lawn and I began working my way towards a door providing good cover and a decent line of sight. Once I got close to a door, I managed to stoop down, cocked my rifle, spun my mag to an empty chamber, held it in place, loaded my mag, and closed the bolt. There was already one in the breech which is why I selected this particular ammo, plus I'd been practicing with it recently out to 55 yards. bent down and half squatting with the top of my head and brow visible along the bottom of the windows, I grabbed a door handle, rifle in my other hand. Next I slowly turned the knob and gently, but firmly broke the seal on the door and tugged at it. It made the sound of two old dry, but sticky, dusty rubber strips separating slowly from one another. Once I managed to get the door cracked wide enough, the sound caught the spike's attention and he looked into the open door. There I froze half bent down in a squat holding my rifle - muzzle protruding out of the door like a grade-school child in P.E. playing freeze tag. After a while I thought of praying that he'd look the other way so I could move. I mean, I haven't done yoga in years. Plus I'm still sore from my off-road bike ride from the day before. When he dipped his head down I moved to sweep one leg forward so I could get a knee up in a duck walk motion. I'm trying to keep an eye on him through the bottom corner of the window of the opposing closed door. Once I got my left leg forward he looked up again. I avoided eye contact and was trying not to blink. The spike turned and looked dead at me. I did my best to imitate one of the green-plastic army men that many of us had or wanted in our youth. Once he turned his hind parts toward me, I eased my rear leg into a more comfortable position beneath my posterior and tried to lean my right shoulder against the opposing door. I still wasn't comfortable kneeling on the hard floor. I briefly considered shifting into a seated position on the floor, but decided against it because I figured I would create too much motion and make too much noise drawing attention to me. I still tried adjusting my legs to get more comfortable kneeling on the hard floor in my PJs and slippers. Mid-thought this jittery young buck whipped around again a propped his ears up, neck elongated, head straight up in the air. I then thought, "Awww damn! I blew it." But I held my infantryman pose once more caught frozen in an uncomfortable position. This time the spike began walking the fence line. I finally was able to brace my right shoulder again the opposite door. As he walked, I ease my rifle from my knee slowly raising the muzzle with the but making its way towards the crease between my chest muscle and my shoulder. He craned his neck and looked my way again so I paused mid-lift. He quickly lost interest and must have thought, "Something's not right here. It's time to for me to get going." As I watched him head towards the fence line, I leveled my rifle straight out in front of me. I thought about picking up my range finder off of the floor next to me, but didn't want to risk unzipping the case with one hand making unnecessary noise and movement. I didn't know the exact distance. My parallax wheel was set to 50 yards and I zoomed the magnification all the way up focusing on the fence. The image looked clear enough to confidently take a fatal shot. I cranked the magnification back down to around
BANG !!! The report echoed through the house. Then the spike took off running. I don't remember him jumping or mule kicking. This made me question whether I’d hit him. As he bolted for the fence, upon approach he hurled himself over it. As I watched him glide through the air the way a javelin thrower might watch his missile, what stood out to me is how he hit that fence. I don't think I'll forget it. As he lept, his front half was straight as he came across the top of the fence - legs tucked -as it should, but his lower half rotated sideways pointing his hind legs towards the right perpendicular to his body - almost like a capital "L". His hind legs crossed the the fence parallel with the plank on the top of the fence. It reminded me of how an olympic high jumper manipulates and contorts her body to clear the bar. That's how his hind legs cleared the top of the fence, but sideways. I'd never seen one jump like that. I thought, "Oh yea, He's hit good!" The moment after the shot I hear someone from within the house yell, "What in THE WORLD.....!?!" I called back, "It's ok. I just shot a buck. I'm gonna give him a minute and go get him." Oh and I forgot to tell y'all............. This isn't even my house.I closed the door, put the rifle on safe, and went to change out of my PJs and slippers - yes I was lounging. I changed into some clothes, grabbed my thermal scanner, my binoculars, a flashlight, and my rifle. I didn't have an orange vest or hat, so I wore the brightest colored shirt I had with me. Then I grabbed my boots and made my way to the door. I put them on and went into the yard. It was still lightly raining and wet outside. After about 20 minutes I went over to the spot where I thought I'd shot it and looked for blood in the ground and saw nothing. I shined the flashlight on the wet grass and still nothing. As I moved toward the fence I saw a red leaf in the grass. It looked slightly bloody so I grabbed and pinched it, smearing my thumb and index finger together across the leaf. It was nothing but a wet and discolored fallen autumn leaf. I saw another on the other side of the fence still attached to a plant stem and did the same thing. I got the same result. Since I startled someone in the house, I'd looked over my shoulder briefly and I didn't see which way the spike ran when he landed. So I decided to search in the direction his hind legs pointed while in the air. I figured that he ran in that direction because of the way he'd have to regain his footing after sliding upon landing on the other side of the fence. That part happened fast. I hopped the fence and began trying to scan the area with my AGM Asp Micro-160 thermal scanner, but I couldn't hardly see a thing for all of the moisture in the air. Everything looked white. I began my search by walking and intermittently shining my flashlight into the brush and deadfall leaves around me. I looked through the gaps between tree trunks, but I didn't see anything. I started heading towards the creek and ran into a fence line. I thought, "he didn't hit two fences," so I turned around and walked diagonally back towards the house. I checked my compass to be sure of my direction because it was getting dark and I didn't want to get disoriented and turned around. As I walked back I tried viewing my surroundings using my thermal scanner again, but this time in black hot mode....still nothing. Now my eye is sort of blind due to that thermal scanner screen and the daylight diminishing with the setting sun. I put it in my pocket. I pulled out my flash light and kept searching off to the west, still nothing. As I made my way north craning my neck from side to side I looked straight ahead and saw some white and gray amongst the trees. At first I thought it was an old rotten fallen tree. I shined my light in that direction, but couldn't make out what it was. I made my way over some logs and around some vines and it became evident that it was a downed deer. He looked smaller on the ground than he did walking across the property. I walked up behind him and kicked him in the rump. There was no movement. His ribs weren't moving; he was dead. That's when I walked around to the front of the carcass and snapped the photo below.
Next came the drag. Thankfully he didn't run more than 20-25 yards from the fence line and he was young and relatively lightweight. I couldn't tell his exact weight, but if I had to guess I'd say he weighed between 80-90 lbs.
Below are photos of the damage from the slug. I know I hit one lung for sure, it looked gelatinous, but I don't think I hit the other. I only saw blood coming from one nostril. Considering that he was quartering towards me I think I may have missed it. Examining the exit wound, it looks like I nicked his liver. When I cut out the liver, a portion of one lobe was already separated. The blood on the exit side was dark and the exit hole was farther back (mid-body).
Entry Wound
Slug smashed through this rib with no problem.
Exit wound
Note how the shot just missed hitting the last rib before exiting the body.
I retrieved a couple sections of rope from my truck, tied them together, tied one end to a thick piece of a branch I found on the ground to act as a weight. Then I whirled the weighted end of the rope around and threw the it over a couple of thick limbs, and tied him above the knees by the hind legs. Next I worked to hoist him to hang in order to bleed and clean him. That was a task with no pulley and no assistance. I tied off the rope around the trunk and slit his throat to start draining the blood. I then grabbed my sharpening stone, wet it, and began sharpening my pocket knife and my Opinel (I left my main skinning knife at home). I tested the edges on the blades with my finger. Once sharp enough I wiped the metal and stone bits off on my shirt, put the Opinel up, and took the cheap pocket knife and began cutting away the skin so I could gut him. I cut into the chest just below the sternum. I made my way up towards the abdomen using my other two fingers to lift the skin and cut the skin around the genitalia on both sides. I went up as far as I could with his legs tied shut. I then took the serrated section of the pocket knife and began sawing through the sternum. Once is cut through down towards the neck, a lot of blood poured out. I accidentally poked the heart a little with the tip of the knife. After I opened the chest up wider - spreading the ribs - I began cutting away at the diaphragm to allow the stomach and entrails to drop out together. I didn't appear the I hit the intestines or the rumen (which was pretty full). With the guts hanging out, but still suspended from the carcass, I went home to grab a gambrel because cleaning him hanging with his legs tied together proved too difficult to access the pelvis. I also grabbed my skinning knife, bone saw, a couple of heavy duty trash bags, and a plastic moving container. Then I stopped by the store on the way back to grab several bags of ice. When I came back I sharpened my skinning knife, lowered the deer to the ground, inserted the gambrel into cuts I'd already made behind his tendons, and hoisted him up just high enough to get his head off of the ground and tied him off again. I freed up the anus and finished gutting him. I then quartered him and put the quarters, back straps, liver, and heart on ice. I got tired cleaning and cutting him up. I dumped the head, hide, ribcage, and offal for the coyotes on another relative's property. I woke up tired and sore all over the next day, but I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
Gear used to take the deer:
-Benjamin Bulldog M357
-Vector Continental 5-30x56mm FFP IR riflescope
-NSA .357, 110 grain HP-DB slugs
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