I took my son to Indiana for opening weekend of gun season. After seeing deer last year and not getting a shot because of too much brush we decided to sit in a stand to get off of the ground. This alone was exciting to him. I used one section of a ladder stand, not too high for his first time.
We sat in a bottom that we saw the deer last year. At 7:30 2 does came in on the farm road but did not come onto our property then a nice 10 point walk across the front of us and around to the does. Then another buck came in with them. They ended up leaving in different directions not giving us a shot. Sam was very excited that we saw some deer.
That afternoon while walking in to our stand we spotted the 10 point but could not get a shot. We re-positioned the stand 75 yards across the bottom. We heard 4 shots on the property next to us that were close. I tapped Sam and said the deer are moving and to be ready. 15 minutes later a doe came in and stopped and watched Sam climb back up the ladder, we heard a couple shots and here comes the 10 point again. The doe decided it was time to leave and the buck went with her. Then 20 minutes later we hear a couple more shots 5 minutes after that I see the 10 point trotting across the bottom and it looked like it was favoring it's back leg. I thought it was wounded. I tapped Sam so he could plug his ears and pointed to the deer. It went in to a ravine and as it was coming back out it slipped back down, I thought it was because the leg being hurt. As it climbed up again I shot and the buck dropped in its tracks. Sam climbed down and I had to wait for the shakes to clear out.
We walked over to the deer that was 75 yards away. I stopped 30 yards from the deer and instructed Sam on how to approach a downed deer. He stayed back as I checked the deer. It was knocked out eyes rolled back in it’s head and still breathing so I shot it again. What happened is that it was falling back into the ravine again as I shot and I grazed it’s head. We went back to our stand and talked about what happened.
Deer head wound
As soon as we were back in our stand the neighboring property owner came walking up and checked the deer. We climbed down and he told us one of the guys hunting his property shot the antler off of the buck and rolled it into a ditch. He stated there were lots of pieces of antler that the guy had This explained why the deer was having problems running and crossing the ravine. We loaded the buck on his 4 wheeler and hauled the deer out to the road.
Sam was already making plans for the next morning hunt.
This was the first time I was able to harvest a deer while Sam was with me.
As you can see Sam’s next morning hunt was very relaxing.
I have 3 deer on my walls from this property all have the same antler development, left side first point from the tip is always small.
Sam and deer
Working on gun for Sam for next year.
Dave
