The Black Eyed Beauty

Yes, as my brother noted in his previous post, I have filled my first tag of the year!  I was able to harvest a huge doe on our farm here in Boone County.  Not only was it a successful hunt, but I was able to capture it all on video for the first time!  Below is the story, video, and pictures from an awesome Sunday evening hunt.....

Our property is dominated by thick, rugged timber.  On the north part of the property sits a 5 acre field though.  This year it was planted to corn, and has already been harvested.  The picked corn acts as a deer magnet and they love to filter into the field just before dark to fill their bellies.  It's this food source that I key in on. 

I went out Saturday night, October 20th but the deer didn't start showing up until right as legal shooting light expired.  So I thought I'd try it again on Sunday, but show up a little later than usual because of their habits. 

Here's the intro to the hunt....

Yes, I have a black eye.  Last Tuesday, while working on a treestand, I was trying to persuade a ladder stand section to fit into place.  Unfortunately for me, one of my swings missed it's target, glanced off the lander stand rung, and connected directly with my face.  By now, the bruising is almost gone, but I had a heck of a shiner for about a week.

So Trish & Caleb are in the truck across the field waiting and watching.  It was a bit of a gamble to bring Caleb and try to contain a 2 year old in a truck for over an hour, but we had weapons.  Trish brought a laptop and Winnie the Pooh movie (Caleb's favorite), but the laptop battery ran out after 10 minutes!!  To make matters worse, Caleb filled his diaper with #2 goo and us being "parents of the year" forgot to bring a diaper bag!!  Fortunately I always carry a roll of toilet paper in the truck and I had an extra diaper floating around loose in the back seat!  As always, my wife was amazing keeping him occupied in the truck.  Here's the proof.....

As I waited and watched the sun sink lower, the only movement was from that of a hungry Fox Squirrel, picking up kernels of corn out of the field.  Then, shortly after sunset, the deer showed up.  I watched as 3 deer came from across the road to the north and out into the picked corn.  They made their way, slowly at first, towards my position, until they saw my decoy.  Now I had purchased my first deer decoy at Theisens earlier in the day and that was part of the reason why I wanted to hunt so bad this night.  The decoy, affectionately named Heather, was below me at 15 yards.  When these deer saw this decoy, they approached warily.  Heather was in an "alert" pose and I think it made these other deer a bit skittish.  The big doe I had my sights on approached closely, stomping her front foot and looking for the cause of the alarm.  When she'd had enough, she turned, directly broadside to me, and I let it fly.  Here's the tape.......

Now I'm no professional camera man by any means, but I was pretty excited to get all this on tape with just a little Sony Handycam strapped to the tree behind me!  While it's not Outdoor Channel material, it's pretty darn good for a novice like myself.

In the excitement that followed I wrapped up the shot with a few words......

It was an awesome hunt and I owe a HUGE thanks to my AMAZING wife for all her help after the shot.  We had a lot of work with it being such a warm night.  We got her out of the field and into the freezer before the end of the night.  Here's a few more pics of the eventful hunt.

My arrow.  Equipped with a Rage broadhead, it was a complete pass through shot and she didn't go 50 yards!

Caleb & I before all the work started.

Finally hung up & ready for processing.

This hunt is one I'll never forget.  It was extra special to have my wife and son right there for the whole thing.  It's nice having my antlerless tag filled with some fresh meat in the freezer, and now with the rut ahead, I can focus on taking down a buck.