Note: Both hunts listed here were conducted on federal land with the permission of the Department of the Interior, Washington D.C. for the Purpose of population control and to test the health of the herd.
Equipment used in the Field: 30.06 bolt action rifle, orange hunting vest, orange hunting cap, camouflage face mask, camouflage gloves, scent blocker, sun glasses, hearing protection, hooked gutting knife and hacksaw for field dressing, a bleat call, a buck grunt whistle and a pair of real deer antlers for the rutting season.
October 2, 2009, Rice Lake National Wild Life Refuge, Minnesota
First deer targeted at 4.10 P.M.
Type of Deer: doe, 140 lb.
Range: 40 yards
Location: ground blind among tall oaks in dense forest between two deer trails
Weather Conditions: Heavy rain, windy
Result: spooked by sight of gun barrel
Things to Remember: Make sure before the game comes in that the gun muzzle isn’t exposed.
Second Deer Targeted at 4.30 P.M.
Type of Deer: eight-point buck, 160 lb.
Range: 50 yards
Location: ground blind among tall oaks in dense forest between two deer trails
Weather Conditions: light rain, windy
Result: spooked by the creek of my Poncho when adjusting my stance
Things to Remember: Don’t wear anything creaky even in dampness, especially when sitting on a metal chair with no cushion.
Third Deer Targeted at 5.10 P.M.
Type of Deer, Ten-point buck, 170 lb.
Range: 30 yards
Location: ground blind among tall oaks in dense forest between two deer trails
Weather Conditions: Heavy rain, windy
Result: spooked by tent flap being blown down over rifle scope just at the trigger pull
Things to Remember: Well, It is hard to hunt deer in a hurricane.
October 4, 2009, Rice Lake National Wild Life Refuge, Minnesota
Fourth Deer Targeted at 7.20 P.M.
Type of Deer: doe, 120 lb.
Range 200 yards (coming in)
Location: tree stand at edge of forest, looking over deserted road with swamp on the far side
Weather Conditions: cold, cloudy with occasional drizzle
Result: spooked by the approach of a truck with two idiot friends of mine chasing supposed poacher.
Things to Remember: Make sure to hide your friends’ keys, before hitting the field.
October 9, 2009, Rydel National Wildlife refuge, Minnesota
Fifth Deer Targeted at 4.35 P.M.
Type of deer: Yearling doe, 100 lb.
Range: 100 yards (coming in through the trees)
Location: ground blind among trees 100 yards into the forest from ditch and soybean field
Weather Conditions: light snow, windy
Result: dropped in favor of sudden new target moving among nearby trees
Things to remember: Don’t drop a surer target for one that suddenly trots into range.
Sixth Deer Targeted at 4.40 P.M.
Type of Deer: Yearling Doe, 100 lb.
Range 15 yards
Location: ground blind among trees 100 yards into the forest from ditch and soybean field
Weather Conditions: heavy snow, windy
Result shot fired (game searched for, but not recovered)
Things to Remember: This is why they call it hunting, not shopping.
My Wife Graduates to Deer Hunter
When I first heard the approaching horns accompanied by the blare of rock music, the last of six that first night, I just knew that it was my wife, the first female hunter of the disabled hunting group I went with last year, coming back from her own successful hunt. The buck was a fat button that came in with its mother and another button buck. The shot hit home in the heart, dropping the animal fifty yards away. My wife and her female guide squealed loud enough that not a deer remained in the area, or so the men dragging the buck back from the field said to me by the fireside an hour later. That night in our tent with my guide dog Davis snoring to the distant howling of coyotes, Tori thanked me for teaching her how to shoot, so that the hunt was a success. It was then that we decided that hunting would be a sport that we and our children will make a family event, no matter where in the world we might call home.
