Never Would Have Dreamed

It finally came down to the very last evening I was able to hunt in Kansas. I had just finished eating dinner at the school cafeteria while waiting on a friend that had wanted to go hunting with me all year. We took a short drive outside of town to a piece of property I had hunted twice previously in the last two days. I had hunted on other property owned by this particular person, but had not known about this one until he suggested it to me. As soon as we arrived, we put on our orange, loaded the gun, grabbed the video camera, and were on our way.

We had about a half mile walk back to where we were going to be standing in a fence line because we wanted to avoid the deer’s bedding areas. This piece of property was a huge milo field, with a nice timber line along the north edge, and about 300 acres of CRP to the east. Prior to this night, both times I had been out hunting, I had seen at least one buck, and every time they were in the CRP walking the ridges.

After standing there until sunset, I bent down to grab my jacket to leave and as I bent down I glanced up and saw the head of a deer right on one of the ridges. I glanced up with the scope and saw antlers. I struggled to keep my composure and get the camera rolling. The buck started heading our way and turned broadside at 150 yards. I let the shot go and look up and I dropped him right in his tracks.

After leaving the field in my car, no more than a mile away, I felt the car start to shake; I pulled over and saw that my tire had been shredded. How do you go from having an all-time high for the season to having a flat tire? Well, I was able to gets some friends to help jack the car up and get the donut put on so I could drive to town to replace the tire.

            Four days later I was in Iowa and a blizzard hit. It is never deer season in Iowa unless there is snow. This season was the second shotgun season Iowa had to offer and it is a tradition every year for my dad and I, along with a group of friends to head out and do pushes. After a long day, with the freezing 40 mph wind in my face I peaked around a tree and saw a buck within 30 yards running right at me. I pulled up the shotgun and let one rip and he dropped in his steps.

            Earlier in the season, while still in Kansas, I had the opportunity to take a girl out deer hunting for the first time. She wanted to go out and get her first deer. It had been a slow night and we didn’t see anything until we were walking out a little early. We squatted down and stalked to within 200 yards of the deer and I handed her the gun. The Kansas plains echoed as she dropped her – a beautiful eight pointer. This was also a great memory for the year.
            This season truly could not be any better than it already has. I still have one bow tag to fill in Iowa, but so far it has definitely been one to remember. All of those days I am able to spend in the woods with my dad and family and friends are the most memorable. Now I am spending days in the tree once again, gun seasons have passed and deer are beginning to hit the food sources hard with the cold weather.
            Whenever you get the chance, take a child, a girl, or anyone hunting. Introduce them to the sport and show them the great outdoors and what it really has to offer. No matter if you are successful or not it is truly amazing getting the chance to get out of the house, away from school, and share the great outdoors.