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10/12/2005	doe	Liberty Hill, SC	7mm Rem Mag	6:50pm	75 yards
Today was an afternoon-only hunt at the Liberty Hill lease. I was debating about whether to hunt in the family stand again or get back in #3, the ground blind on the road where I killed my deer last year. Seeing that someone was already hunting near stand #3, I went for the family stand. I got in the stand and got settled and was surprised to see a deer enter the field almost immediately. It was a spike buck with a large body, but unfortunately it wasn't a shootable deer. I watched it feed for hours. Occasionally it would leave the field only to return 20 minutes later. At one point it left and a beautiful grey fox came in. I wanted to shoot the fox, wanting desperately to get a full body fox mount, but I decided that tonight I wanted a deer more. The fox grabbed an ear of corn and sprinted from the field. As soon as it was gone, the spike came back and began to feed on the wheat in the field. To my right, I heard a tree crash to the ground and watched as the spike fled in fear. Shortly after he left, a deer began to blow loudly from over where the tree fell. The woods were quiet for awhile, then the spike came back into view 30 yards up the road out of the field. This time, he kept looking into the woods to the right, and I wasn't surprised to see a large doe come into the trail. This was a shootable doe, and the spike was obviously at least a year old and was not one of her offspring. She was alone. I watched for 30 minutes, waiting for a clear shot, when finally the doe turned broadside. I heard a shot in the distance, almost as if that was my signal to take my own shot. I had a clear target, so I slipped the safety off and fired. The doe dropped to the ground, kicked for a few minutes, and was still. Deer #1 for the year is in the cooler. I got the whole thing on film, and Micki and I watched it during supper tonight.

10/12/2005

doe

Liberty Hill, SC

7mm Rem Mag

6:50pm

75 yards

Today was an afternoon-only hunt at the Liberty Hill lease. I was debating about whether to hunt in the family stand again or get back in #3, the ground blind on the road where I killed my deer last year. Seeing that someone was already hunting near stand #3, I went for the family stand. I got in the stand and got settled and was surprised to see a deer enter the field almost immediately. It was a spike buck with a large body, but unfortunately it wasn't a shootable deer. I watched it feed for hours. Occasionally it would leave the field only to return 20 minutes later.

At one point it left and a beautiful grey fox came in. I wanted to shoot the fox, wanting desperately to get a full body fox mount, but I decided that tonight I wanted a deer more. The fox grabbed an ear of corn and sprinted from the field. As soon as it was gone, the spike came back and began to feed on the wheat in the field. To my right, I heard a tree crash to the ground and watched as the spike fled in fear. Shortly after he left, a deer began to blow loudly from over where the tree fell.

The woods were quiet for awhile, then the spike came back into view 30 yards up the road out of the field. This time, he kept looking into the woods to the right, and I wasn't surprised to see a large doe come into the trail. This was a shootable doe, and the spike was obviously at least a year old and was not one of her offspring. She was alone.

I watched for 30 minutes, waiting for a clear shot, when finally the doe turned broadside. I heard a shot in the distance, almost as if that was my signal to take my own shot. I had a clear target, so I slipped the safety off and fired. The doe dropped to the ground, kicked for a few minutes, and was still. Deer #1 for the year is in the cooler. I got the whole thing on film, and Micki and I watched it during supper tonight.