Make Wise Choices This Deer Season

They say when it comes to whitetail deer that you can’t hunt ’em from the couch. Well, this past month, I sure put it to the test. My son Jared and I have enjoyed many hunts together over the years, but lately jobs and obligations have taken up a substantial amount of our time. We had planned to hunt a recent Saturday morning together. I had a pretty rough week at work and was looking for some downtime over the weekend. We decided to go out for supper on Friday night and get up early the next morning. I couldn’t get settled for sleep that night and woke up groggy to a pre-set alarm. To tell the truth, I was thinking more about sleep. However, I told Jared I’d be there and couldn’t let him down. I got a large mug of coffee for the ride, and I met him in plenty of time. We gathered our bows and climbers and headed off into the dark woods. A little bit after daylight, Jared had deer on him. He told me if a doe came in close, he would draw on her, and we both wanted some meat in the freezer. Sure enough, he did. He texted me that he had scored and to make sure that I kept my eyes open because the deer were moving. 

It wasn’t too much longer when a small fawn came in behind me. They’re fun to watch, and sometimes I just enjoy getting some phone camera footage. 

About 30 minutes later, a larger doe came in. I like to let them get in pretty close for me to take a bow shot, and this one did just that. She came right to my tree and started to sniff the climber strap that I’d left on the ground. I could actually look through the bottom of my climber and see her head. I let her ease off until she presented a quartering-away shot, held on the pocket behind her shoulder and let a 15-yard shot fly. I knew it was a fatal shot when it hit and she didn’t go far. So before 11 a.m., we both had deer in the bed of the truck and headed off to Jared’s skinning rack where we would get down to business. 

In no time, they were skinned and quartered and in the cooler, saving the backstraps and tenderloins for our vacuum sealer and the shoulders and hindquarters for the processor. This past weekend, we dined on incredible “tomahawk backstraps” for a Sunday supper (recipe to follow next month). It was a rare father and son double bow harvest on a Saturday morning in October because I didn’t sleep in. Hope y’all don’t miss any opportunities by choosing the couch over the deer woods.