We had jumped this buck and doe a few hours earlier on the drive back from the morning hunt and only got a glimpse of the 2 deer before they hopped the fence and disappeared into the swamp. It was clear this was a young doe born early enough to come into estrus its first year, making a tempting situation for any buck this late in the season. As we watched the buck follow the doe into the oaks we all agreed it was a shooter as he was tall, and much wider than his ears.
Once back at camp we ate lunch and watched some football before taking a nap until the evening hunt. After about 15 minutes I woke up thinking about that deer and having a new motivation to find some deer moving on the ranch. I decided to get back out and walk the pine blocks hoping to find some deer bedded down such as the ones we jumped earlier. Walking along slowly I crept up on several groups of hogs and turkeys but not a single deer until back at the spot where we jumped the doe and buck earlier. I didn't see the doe until right on her pine row and quickly got the gun up, she had an eye on me but wasn't too spooked as I glassed for the buck behind her and sure enough there he was! Right behind her a few rows directly facing me and clearly more interested about her than in me. After a 30 second staredown he finally turned to head further back in the pines and I took a broadside shot. The doe quickly bounced off into the next block but I did not see the buck...
As I sat where I shot and glassed the pines where they fed I began to run through scenarios of shooting over the buck, it was a quick shot from standing position, I was certainly shaking a bit after the staredown and was worried. the 15 minutes I waited seemed like an eternity until I got up to check for blood. I got to where I shot the deer and found nothing, not a single drop. Frustrated I left my hat to mark where I shot and thought it was best to go back to the cabin and get my dad and pointer to start the task of tracking the buck, 2 steps away from where I hit the deer there he was on the bottom portion of the next pine row!
I breathed a sigh of relief as I sat by the buck and saw how much prettier he was up close. I hit him a inch high behind his shoulder and couldn't have planned it better if I wanted to, truly something to be thankful for on Thanksgiving.
The week before the holiday I hit the ducks pretty hard, finally warming up to shooting after a few hunts and getting some wood ducks for some nice camp appetizers. All in all it was a pretty good week.
