Patience Pays Off

First of all, I'm still here. I haven't forgotten that I (attempt) to write a blog, but the firearms deer season opened the Monday before Thanksgiving for us here in western NC, and I've spent all my spare time in a stand or ground blind the last two weeks. It's been a strange start to the season here, with some people saying they have been seeing lots of rut activity with bucks chasing does, and other people seeing little to no rut activity. I'm sure the strange temperature swings we have been having haven't helped. As I sit here writing this on December 3, it's 71 degrees outside and I'm in short sleeves. Several days ago we were having lows in the 20's, and highs in the 50's, which is closer to typical for this time of year. I'm sure the deer must be just as confused as I am right now!

Opening day of gun season had me chomping at the bit all day at work. As soon as the school day was over, I headed for the house to get ready and headed for a ground blind I had set up on a friend's farm about 5 minutes away from home. My brother-in-law Trent and I had been seeing a fair number of deer in this field during bow and muzzle loader seasons, and had several does and young bucks on our trail cameras. I was hunting the lower end of a fairly large field, not far from the tree stand where Trent had harvested his first deer last year, an 8 point buck, during bow season.

At this point, I should probably admit that I had only harvested one buck in my deer hunting career, a 3 point buck that was my first deer. I didn't start deer hunting until I was in high school, and it wasn't until I was a senior in college that I got my first deer. I think a lot of this was due to a lack of areas to hunt back then, or seeing does during buck only seasons. For whatever reason, it took me a while to finally get that first deer, but that deer ignited a passion for deer hunting. In the years since, I had passed on several young bucks, with the idea that I would take does for meat and let the little bucks grow. Here in North Carolina we are fortunate to have the opportunity to take 6 deer a year, (something that I have never done), but only two of those deer can be antlered bucks in my area of the state. I think this was another reason I passed a lot of small bucks, thinking I would "save" my tags for that big one that I was sure would come by the next minute, or hour, or day. Over the years, I have usually been lucky enough to take a deer or two each season, but that nice buck always eluded me.

My First Deer - Thanksgiving 2005

Going back to opening afternoon, I got in the ground blind around 4:00pm, and for the next hour or so I heard a few shots in the distance, but didn't see any deer. As it approached time for the sun to start going down, I noticed a deer had just stepped out of the woods into the edge of the field, about 50 yards from my blind. It had it's head down feeding, and I couldn't tell if it was a doe or buck because of the the way the field dropped off at the edge. About that time, the deer picked it's head up and I could tell it was a nice buck! I didn't give myself too much time to think about it, knowing that buck fever was sure to set in at any second. After the shot I couldn't see the deer, but I felt confident that I had made a clean shot. I got out of the blind as fast as possible and went to check. After about two steps, I could see my buck laying just over the little hill on the edge of the field. It was an 8 point buck with a symmetrical rack that was 16" wide.

My 8 point from this year

It's strange reflecting on this hunt, because this is by far my biggest deer to date, and probably the biggest buck I've seen while hunting. I know it's not a record book deer or one like you might see on a hunting show, but for me it is a definite trophy and the memories of this hunt will stick with me for a long time. Best of all, not only do I have the memories, but I have some wonderful, nutritious meat in the freezer, and a good supply of venison jerky, one of my absolute favorite foods.

After opening day and working Tuesday, I spent the rest of Thanksgiving break hunting, enjoying time with family, and freezing venison and making jerky. I can't think of a better way to spend a week than this. I've seen a few more deer since opening day, but so far this is the only tag I've filled this year. This week and next week are still buck-only, and our last week is either sex season again. I'm going to be out there as much as possible, just enjoying God's creation. The deer are a bonus, no matter how big their antlers are.

Thanks for stopping by!

- Joseph