Doe in the snow

375hh1973

Beginner
Mar 31, 2007
193
64
Went up the 14th to the Baldwin, MI area for the opener on the 15th. Forecast was for nice cool temps with SOME snow on the way.

Perfect!!!

The 15th came and we got a little bit of snow. Didn't see much opening day. Few pileated woodpeckers, chickadees, and 2 squirrels. No deer. My dad saw big bodied deer with a bunch of antler but it was behind brush and never presented a good shot.

I had ordered a Seekins Havak PH2 in 6.5prc a long time ago and hadn't expected it in til January at the earliest. Well, my LGS called and said its in along with a Night Force so I had thrown it together and shot it. Wow. Talk about accurate. Only ammo I could find was the Hornady 147gr ELD-M and it is crazy accurate. So, what the hell, throw that rifle in the line up along with my Marlin .45/70 for the thick stuff and my Weatherby .257 for the long stuff.

Anyway woke up on the 16th and it started to snow.

And snow.

Hunted a few areas on my property, nothing was moving. Even the birds went away. Few flocks of snow geese flying over, that was it.

On the 17th, the snow machine really kicked in. Hunted the morning and saw nothing. No deer, no birds, nadda. Decided to walk, saw no tracks even. Like everything just disappeared. Walked back to the cabin and had some brunch. Dad saw nothing. TV said expect a ton of snow. Sounds like nap time to me...

Decided to hunt a clearing in the afternoon.

The .257wby was up in the rotation. It is crazy accurate with the Weatherby factory load 100gr Barnes TTSX. Grabbed my shooting stick and a Mt Dew and headed for my area.

Sat down and got situated, got my cell phone out (keeps me from getting bored and leaving), got my mt dew out, shooting stick in place. Looked across the clearing and saw a deer. Whoa. Big deer. It walked into my lane and it was a spike. We have a 3pt on a side minimum so he was safe. As I was watching him, I saw movement to the left and saw a small doe. She was with 2 other bigger does. OK, game on. They were about 140 yards across the clearing, about 1 jack pine into the woods.

Could never get one of the bigger ones to present a shot. Watched them for 15 minutes, then they disappeared into the pines.

Snow beginning to fall hard. Visibility going.

10 minutes later, see movement.

Doe moving thru the middle of my clearing. Not exactly running but moving with purpose. Like something bumped it.

I enjoy eating doe back straps, and the forecast wasn't looking promising.

High shoulder shot, and I was happy.

snowy field 1.jpg

snowy field 2.jpg.257 doe.jpg

Im glad I had all that 3500fps at 103 yards LOL
 
Congrats on some great eating. You’ll love that havak 6.5 PRC. My two havaks are my go to rifles. My 6.5 havak is extremely accurate. 124gr hammer hunters have been fantastic in it.
 
The extra FPS is so the bullet can catch up to the deer.

Seriously, good for you. That's some heavy snow and I don't want to think about dressing and dragging a deer through it.
 
The extra FPS is so the bullet can catch up to the deer.

Seriously, good for you. That's some heavy snow and I don't want to think about dressing and dragging a deer through it.


Drag it to a two track about 200 yds away. Went and got the truck and took it back to my cabin. Hung it up and gutted it. Havent done one in the field in years, I probably have forgotten how!
 
Looks like the Bee stung her pretty good!
Where is your cabin located?
We got a lot of snow here in Cader Springs and deer movement has been minimal. We are hunting the swamps so we are seeing a few deer.
Congratulations on your successful hunt.

JD338
 
Looks like the Bee stung her pretty good!
Where is your cabin located?
We got a lot of snow here in Cader Springs and deer movement has been minimal. We are hunting the swamps so we are seeing a few deer.
Congratulations on your successful hunt.

JD338
JD

Im about 3 miles south and about 3 miles west of Baldwin

Small private lake

Woods has matured and not nearly as many deer. This year we had zero acorns
 
Drag it to a two track about 200 yds away. Went and got the truck and took it back to my cabin. Hung it up and gutted it. Havent done one in the field in years, I probably have forgotten how!
Hey, any time you can drive your deer somewhere to work on it is a good day. Still, 200 yards is enough to work up a good sweat, especially in the deep white stuff.
 
Went up the 14th to the Baldwin, MI area for the opener on the 15th. Forecast was for nice cool temps with SOME snow on the way.

Perfect!!!

The 15th came and we got a little bit of snow. Didn't see much opening day. Few pileated woodpeckers, chickadees, and 2 squirrels. No deer. My dad saw big bodied deer with a bunch of antler but it was behind brush and never presented a good shot.

I had ordered a Seekins Havak PH2 in 6.5prc a long time ago and hadn't expected it in til January at the earliest. Well, my LGS called and said its in along with a Night Force so I had thrown it together and shot it. Wow. Talk about accurate. Only ammo I could find was the Hornady 147gr ELD-M and it is crazy accurate. So, what the hell, throw that rifle in the line up along with my Marlin .45/70 for the thick stuff and my Weatherby .257 for the long stuff.

Anyway woke up on the 16th and it started to snow.

And snow.

Hunted a few areas on my property, nothing was moving. Even the birds went away. Few flocks of snow geese flying over, that was it.

On the 17th, the snow machine really kicked in. Hunted the morning and saw nothing. No deer, no birds, nadda. Decided to walk, saw no tracks even. Like everything just disappeared. Walked back to the cabin and had some brunch. Dad saw nothing. TV said expect a ton of snow. Sounds like nap time to me...

Decided to hunt a clearing in the afternoon.

The .257wby was up in the rotation. It is crazy accurate with the Weatherby factory load 100gr Barnes TTSX. Grabbed my shooting stick and a Mt Dew and headed for my area.

Sat down and got situated, got my cell phone out (keeps me from getting bored and leaving), got my mt dew out, shooting stick in place. Looked across the clearing and saw a deer. Whoa. Big deer. It walked into my lane and it was a spike. We have a 3pt on a side minimum so he was safe. As I was watching him, I saw movement to the left and saw a small doe. She was with 2 other bigger does. OK, game on. They were about 140 yards across the clearing, about 1 jack pine into the woods.

Could never get one of the bigger ones to present a shot. Watched them for 15 minutes, then they disappeared into the pines.

Snow beginning to fall hard. Visibility going.

10 minutes later, see movement.

Doe moving thru the middle of my clearing. Not exactly running but moving with purpose. Like something bumped it.

I enjoy eating doe back straps, and the forecast wasn't looking promising.

High shoulder shot, and I was happy.

View attachment 18262

View attachment 18263View attachment 18265

Im glad I had all that 3500fps at 103 yards LOL
Great story. Thanks for sharing. The shooter, the rifle, and the load all did their parts. Dan
 
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