Very cool last hunt
Massachusetts
What a way to end my season. Saturday morning I bundled up and stuck it out all day. Sat for 2 1/2 hours in the morning and saw 2 deer from stand. around 830 or so I decide to get down and do some stillhunting. Made my way across a big swamp. Once I got close to a hemlock grove I started sneaking real slow. I was able to sneak within 40 yards of 4 deer feeding. This is at 11:20am as well. I was somewhat surprised but on the other hand, it was single digits so they will be moving mid day in these conditions.
So im sitting there in the snow peaking behind a tree waiting for a shot on one of these deer. I had the scope on them for 45 mins, no lie. FINALLY one gives me a shot. Long story short, I go over and theres a branch on the ground that I had clearly hit. Fortunately it deflected my bullet enough for a clean miss. I was so bummed. What a terrible way to end the season. It is now about 1:30pm. I decide im just going to go home.
I start thinking about it. These deer never knew I was there. They cant be that far. IM also going to dream of hunting for the next 9 months. I gotta stick it out. I stillhunt for another hour or so and finally get to the end of this ridge where it looks down into the swamp. I figure either those deer that I shot at or other should probably come up this way. Sure enough, at 4:25pm with only 20 mins left to the season, here they come, the 3 from before. I pass on the smaller one and hope the big ones comes in. She does. I stop her and let a 60 yard shot go from my knee. That was it. I hit her almost perfect. What a roller coaster day. Cant believe I got within 40 yards of these deer twice even with the crunchy snow. I love stillhunting so much. Its so rewarding. This deer seems pretty old to me. Huge head, big body, few teeth left. Despite our guesses, she only dressed 112. I was very surprised. She either doesn't have much fat or the scale is off. I'm going to check on another scale. Either way, shes an old deer and I am very fortunate. Does anyone know what I can do to age her?
Bigwoods that is an awesome hunt! Congrats, thanks for sharing. And confirming I should have still hunted instead of sitting frozen to my stand in the snow storm lol.
Bigwoods , Good job. Great day in the woods for you !
The age is determined by the teeth and you can find good diagrams on line for comparison. Cut back the side face skin and take some pictures .
Man that's a big doe! Good going.
Sure looks bigger than 112.
Ya we also guessed between 130 and 140. I didn't try to make that picture look deceiving. Even hanging it just looks a lot bigger than 112. Like I said, I'm guessing she might just not have any fat on her.
Congrats man! That's a great reward for an all day hunt in those temps. Brrr...
Nice! I take it your leg healed up!
Haha yes Pro. This was one of the few times I actually got to stillhunt all year! Shot 2 deer with the broken leg then 2 more once I was out of the cast. It was certainly a rollercoaster season and I didn't get into many of the spots I had planned but all things considered, I am very fortunate.
Awesome hunt. She does look bigger than 112lbs
Great way to end the season! Thanks for taking us along!
Great job BigWoods! Congrats!
Congratulations she looks huge !! Great season !!
That's awesome BW! What a blast of a hunt. A season that looked in jeopardized due to the injury and you adapted and had a super year. Very cool! Enjoy the memories, and the vittles!
Nice work! Certainly looks like that doe is bigger than your scale read.
So I double checked the weight, its accurate at 112. Already cut her up too and literally ZERO fat at all. Just a big framed (body) deer. If she had normal body fat she probably would have been much closer to 130. I also cut the jaw open and aged her. Some diagrams tell me 4.5 yrs old and others put her at 5.5 years old. Either way, a mature deer so I am very happy! It is slightly concerning how little fat she had. With this cold and snow, I wish they were more prepared to survive the winter.
Bigwoods - if there were "few teeth left" then she was not able to eat enough. At one time she was a big and healthy deer . You did her a favor, as starvation was likely on its way. Makes me think she was older or had some tooth problems.
wow...I' trying to figure how you were able to still hunt to within 40 yards..I tried saturday evening and every step was like punching a bag of bubble wrap. crunch crunch. lol
guess being 215#s and carrying another 30 pounds in a pack didn't help trying to not break through the ice under all the snow. congrats on the last hour deer.
Well when I said she only had a few teeth left, I did not realize at the time that deer only have 6 molars. She does have all her molars, they are just pretty worn down and all rounded off.
