Joanna's First Buck

This past Thursday, October 17th, I had to go to my best friends wedding rehearsal in the afternoon. Joanna had the day off, and she was going hunting. It was the first day of her planned 4 day mini vacation. The plan was to get in as much hunting as possible before the end of Iowa's early muzzleloader season which came to a close with the sunset on day 4 of her vacation. Turned out, Joanna didn't need 4 days.

She went out and sat in a fence line Thursday morning and got busted by a yearling. Nothing else showed up so she drew a line through the morning's hunt and came home to regroup.  She called me during lunch at work and we talked about where to go in the evening. We both agreed that the best place would be on the same farm but a different spot we call "the ditch". The only problem was she thought she should go to the south side of the ditch and I recommended the north side. She chose the south side.

The ditch is wooded and there was corn along the south side. Joanna is a die hard corn field hunter so it was perfect for her. She went in until she was 10 rows from the edge of the ditch. Because of the woods, the last 10 rows of corn were shorter, making it perfect to monitor deer movement and negotiate a shot. Not long into the hunt, Joanna spied movement.

She saw it was a buck and as he got closer more of his rack became visible.  She could tell it wasn't a huge buck but it was good enough to be her first buck.  He moved along the edge of the woods towards Joanna. She slowly raised her gun. He was so close she had a hard time finding him in the scope.  She finally got him lined up in the cross hairs and pulled the trigger. The puff of white smoke muzzleloaders are known for obstructed her view as the buck retreated, crashing through the corn field.

I got a text while sitting in a church in Iowa City. "Just shot at a buck, still shaking!" I snuck away and called her. I told her to call her dad and go look for some blood.  She didn't find anything at first but then noticed some blood in the corn. She followed the trail, spotty at first, then she saw something she said she'd never forget. There was an entire row of corn that was completely sprayed with blood and knew it was a good hit.  She eventually found the buck in a waterway and her dad drove right up and they got it loaded in the truck. By the time I got home the deer had been hung up and skinned out and Joanna was sitting on the couch relaxing!  

I couldn't be happier and more proud of the hunter my wife has become. Congratulations, I love you honey!