6.5_sWv
Beginner
- Mar 5, 2019
- 224
- 236
The second week of season was here, and my wife, daughter, went back to school and work, and my son didn't have any time off this week either. It was just my dad and I hunting this week.
I spent Monday cruising the creek bottoms looking for a buck, and I passed 3 does as they fed by me at 40yds earlier in the morning, then later in the mid morning I saw 5 more deer that were moving through thick cover. It was so thick I couldn't get a good look to see if all of them were does or not.
I wound up seeing well over 20 different squirrels that morning I assume due to the incoming rain forecasted for the next day. I hadn't seen that many squirrel all season during bow hunting or fall turkey hunts.
Monday evening I hunted a field edge again, hoping for a buck to step out, and I guess everything was up and feeding earlier in the day as I never saw a thing that eve.
Tuesday it rained and I cut up the doe from Saturday.
Wednesday, my dad and I hunted a farm that belongs to a cousin. No deer were moving until almost 10am when a yearling doe stepped out in front of my dad and he reached to grab his gun in case a buck stepped out and when he looked up to get ready, a big bodied ugly rack 4pt was running the yearling doe and my dad decided he would tag out on the 4pt. When I got to him we was telling me and showing me where the buck came from and we saw 3 more does being pushed around by a spike that was about 4 inches tall. None of them stuck around long, and I helped my dad load up his buck and we left and went home. Somehow, I didn't get a picture of him with his 2nd buck.
Wednesday evening, I decided Id go out again but to a farm I mainly spring turkey hunt. The man who owns this farm lets me hunt in return for cutting / splitting firewood. This farm is not huge, but its another option, and its pretty high in elevation compared to other places I hunt. Its about 3300 feet and it tends to get catch some weather I don't see at my house. That evening on the drive up the mountain, I noticed that the trees, grass, and everything was coated in a layer of thin crystalized ice and it made for a unique experience. I decided Id make too much noise going into the woods with the leaves coated in glass like ice, so I went to watch the back field where a draw comes out of the oaks and to a point.
Around 4:30pm, I saw a big doe and a yearling come out of the draw and began to feed. I waited for about 15 minutes watching them feed, and knew no other deer were coming out with them and when the big doe turned as much broadside as possible, I took my Winchester Mod 70 Featherweight 7x57 Mauser off safe and settled the crosshairs at the edge of the shoulder and BOOM.... the big doe lunged forward and out of sight. The yearling was hanging close so I figured the big doe didn't make it far. I found her about 20yds from where she was standing when I shot and she expired right there. Just as I found her, the sun was setting shining through the ice on the trees, giving a rare view I've not seen much.
This freezer queen filled my last doe tag for 2025 and I decided to get a little fancy and cut her into some T-Bones and Bone In "Lollipop" chops. I chunked the shoulder meat and other scrap cuts and pressure canned those in quart jars.
My wife and I did hunt yesterday evening (12-6-25) and we only saw a fox squirrel and birds, but we gave it that last go. We're likely done deer hunting unless we decide to go out during Muzzeloading season, but we have family from Florida coming in at the end of ML season so who knows.
I spent Monday cruising the creek bottoms looking for a buck, and I passed 3 does as they fed by me at 40yds earlier in the morning, then later in the mid morning I saw 5 more deer that were moving through thick cover. It was so thick I couldn't get a good look to see if all of them were does or not.
I wound up seeing well over 20 different squirrels that morning I assume due to the incoming rain forecasted for the next day. I hadn't seen that many squirrel all season during bow hunting or fall turkey hunts.
Monday evening I hunted a field edge again, hoping for a buck to step out, and I guess everything was up and feeding earlier in the day as I never saw a thing that eve.
Tuesday it rained and I cut up the doe from Saturday.
Wednesday, my dad and I hunted a farm that belongs to a cousin. No deer were moving until almost 10am when a yearling doe stepped out in front of my dad and he reached to grab his gun in case a buck stepped out and when he looked up to get ready, a big bodied ugly rack 4pt was running the yearling doe and my dad decided he would tag out on the 4pt. When I got to him we was telling me and showing me where the buck came from and we saw 3 more does being pushed around by a spike that was about 4 inches tall. None of them stuck around long, and I helped my dad load up his buck and we left and went home. Somehow, I didn't get a picture of him with his 2nd buck.
Wednesday evening, I decided Id go out again but to a farm I mainly spring turkey hunt. The man who owns this farm lets me hunt in return for cutting / splitting firewood. This farm is not huge, but its another option, and its pretty high in elevation compared to other places I hunt. Its about 3300 feet and it tends to get catch some weather I don't see at my house. That evening on the drive up the mountain, I noticed that the trees, grass, and everything was coated in a layer of thin crystalized ice and it made for a unique experience. I decided Id make too much noise going into the woods with the leaves coated in glass like ice, so I went to watch the back field where a draw comes out of the oaks and to a point.
Around 4:30pm, I saw a big doe and a yearling come out of the draw and began to feed. I waited for about 15 minutes watching them feed, and knew no other deer were coming out with them and when the big doe turned as much broadside as possible, I took my Winchester Mod 70 Featherweight 7x57 Mauser off safe and settled the crosshairs at the edge of the shoulder and BOOM.... the big doe lunged forward and out of sight. The yearling was hanging close so I figured the big doe didn't make it far. I found her about 20yds from where she was standing when I shot and she expired right there. Just as I found her, the sun was setting shining through the ice on the trees, giving a rare view I've not seen much.
This freezer queen filled my last doe tag for 2025 and I decided to get a little fancy and cut her into some T-Bones and Bone In "Lollipop" chops. I chunked the shoulder meat and other scrap cuts and pressure canned those in quart jars.
My wife and I did hunt yesterday evening (12-6-25) and we only saw a fox squirrel and birds, but we gave it that last go. We're likely done deer hunting unless we decide to go out during Muzzeloading season, but we have family from Florida coming in at the end of ML season so who knows.
