Author Topic: Bad day in the woods yesterday (Read 732 times)

grouper sandwich · « **on:** December 21, 2003, 10:37:27 AM »

My in-laws have a small parcel of land in the Florida panhandle that I have permission to hunt. It is wedged between two larger pieces of land, one a cattle ranch and the other was just sold to an outfitter who is selling day hunts. Anyway, I have countless dollars and man hours invested on this little slice of land to attract deer and form it into mine and my brother-in-law's little private hunting paradise, which it was until yesterday.

Yesterday was the opening day of the Florida antlerless deer season in the NW management region. Anyone who is familair with Florida and it's policy of relentless slaughter of any buck with 5" spikes or more (two per day for a 90 day season) and it's near prohibition on antlerless harvest, would understand that any legal opportunity to take a doe is met with enthusiasm. So I grabbed my 14 year old nephew and headed to the land. We climbed into my well placed double stand at about 6:30 and waited for the sun to appear. Not long after the appearance of first light, the barage started. Rifle shot after rifle shot pierced the icy (22* at sunrise) morning air. At about 7:30 I realized why we had all of sudden stopped the endless parade of deer through our property and into our food plot. A loud BLAM nearly tossed me out of the stand as a high powered rifle shot, with connection, echoed out from about 15 yards over the property line. I turned to my nephew and said, son, that was our deer that they just killed and it was going to come out on that trail right there, as I pointed towards the corner of the plot. Now discouraged I decided to stick it out for a few more hours. Two more shots were heard form the adjoining prpoerty, all seemingling coming from an area of where deer would be intercepted coming to our property. It sucked, but was certainly fair. About 9:30, and 15-20 rifle shots in the area later, we diecided to call it a morning. Discouraged, we climbed down and retrieved the truck.

On the way out I saw one of the neighbors who was preparing some land to build a house on. I asked him about the land that had recently sold and he told me the name of the buyer and his intended purpose. I knew the name and had had dealings with the man's father in the past. To say that I was concerned would be an understatement. The name brought up visions of big money, contempt for others, and of someone who considers themselves above the law, or least willing to flaunt it. With this consideration, I decided that I would, however, return for the evening hunt...

grouper sandwich · « **Reply #1 on:** December 21, 2003, 11:30:51 AM »

After leaving the woods I contacted various parties that I know who had gone hunting on this spectacularly beautiful last day of fall. I first spoke with party #1 who informed me that he had gotten a deer and was headed to his cousins' walk in cooler to sotre it next to the one that he had gotten on Thursday afternoon. He had another friend of ours in tow with him. This fellas morning didn't quite turn out as well, but he did get to at least see a deer, if not kill a deer. He said that he was headed back in the evening and would be bringing home the venison then. I haven't heard from him, but I would imagine that he did as he said that he would as the deer in Gadsden county had ants in their pants all day long yesterday and walked early and often.

Next up was party#2, who had taken yet another friend and his boys hunting on our Black Coyote lease in Georgia. They reported that not only did they not see any deer, they didn't even hear any shots. Talk about a stark contrast! Anyway, I explained a little bit about how the morning had gone and party #2 felt as I did. It sucked, but what could I do.

Well, it was decided that we'd head back to Tallahassee, get some lunch and take a siesta. The afternoon hunt would surely produce better results than than morning, I thought.

About 2:00 we loaded back up and once again headed west down I-10. We arrived shortly before 3:00 and took our time dressing for the afternoon sit and wait. We climbed into the stand about 3:20 and had just gotten comfortable when the afternoon onslaught began. I looked at my nephew and said, "they're walking this afternoon boy, we're going to get us deer now". I knew that any action, if it were to happen, wouldn't be until around 5:00, so we settled in for the long wait ahead...

grouper sandwich · « **Reply #2 on:** December 21, 2003, 02:11:36 PM »

The shooting seemed to be even more intense in the afternoon than it had been in the morning with my nephew and I counting 15 rifle shots, with connection, by about 5:30. At about 5:35 I looked at him and said, "it's going to happen soon, I can feel it." The woods came alive with a flock doves feeding on rye seed and several squirrels doing their squirrely routine. The turkeys were rather vocal this afternoon as well with several cutting up in the swampy bottom of the adjoining property. As the light fell to flickers and the big orange ball slipped below the trees in the west, the activity in the woods increased. I had that feeling, something was about to happen...

BLAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just up the property line and maybe 15'-30' in, a rifle bullet made contact with a deer. Crash, trip, stumble, fall, boom were the sounds heard as the deer made it's death run. The fellow who shot the deer, placed there by a "professional" guide, was so close to my stand that I could actually hear him eject his spent case. I turned to my newphew, almost in disgust, and said, "well, that was our deer that we've been waiting on and they got him". He looked and me and said that we should go get him and take it. Of course I explained to him what was wrong with that and he agreed that it was simply tough luck that we were in the poistion that we were in. It was obvious that the new property owner had scouted his new land well and knew exactly where the deer would be headed and by what path. At least we got to see a nice sunset. Just then I heard something at the treeline to my right. A doe was trying to slip into the food plot for a last second snack. Ahaha, maybe all is not lost. I nudged my nephew and said, in a quiet whisper, deer. His response was even more startling. "Yeah, uncle GS, right there in front of us". Holy smokes, one had actually slipped into the food plot undetected. The deer that I saw was the second deer. Things were looking up. It was our turn now. The 17th, and final, rifle shot of the day was being prepared...

grouper sandwich · « **Reply #3 on:** December 21, 2003, 04:21:03 PM »

As the fat doe stepped between us and the last pine branch in the way, I eased the safety off and put the cross hairs at an intercept point. The seconds seemed like hours while we waited on the deer. Finally it stepped out into full view. It was quartering away at about 40 yards. I put the cross hairs on the last set of ribs on the left side of the animal in the middle of the chest, firmly gripped the trigger, took a breath and squeezed. The primer ignited the 66 grains of IMR 4831 which pushed the 140 grain balistic tip bullet down the barrel of a 7mm Magnum. The bullet found it's mark and the deer spun and was flipped over on it's side. It made one desperate attempt to right itself but quickly crashed back down to the earth, it's head still raised. I trained the crosshairs on the back of it's head and again gained a firm grip on the trigger of the 700 BDL. But the head did not stay raised long. Slowly after a second or two the deers head dropped to the ground as the last shards of life faded from it's broken body. The deed was done, we had weathered the storm and against tall odds, harvested our deer.

I turned to my nephew and said, "now that's how you kill a deer". He agreed and we both enjoyed the silence of the moment. The sure happiness of fulfilling a quest is a wonderful thing. After about 5 minutes in the stand I told my nephew that we'd give it another five and then get down to load her up and head to the skinning poll. He agreed and we both settled in. I trained my eyes back out into the food plot. WHAT? Where in the hell is the deer? It's gone! Crap, it's up and it's walking away! What the bloody heel, it's dead! Oh crap, crisis management needed! I quickly raised the rifle but it was too late, the deer had slipped behind some trees. I sat for a second and listened but could hear nothing. I told my nephew to hold tight as I strapped the rifle on my back and did the fireman slide down the ladder onto the ground. I qucily made my way around the backside of the tree line to where I had last seen the deer. It popped up about 10' from me, nearly scaring me to death. It couldn't run, but quickly carried it's slumping body towards the fence line. I through up the rifle, quickly found the moving deer, squezed the trigger and...the safety was on. I clicked off the safety, reshouldered the rifle as the deer squeezed through a hole in the fence and onto the neighboring property. Oh my god, what just happened? I couldn't lose this deer, it's dead!

I called for my nephew to come down from the treestand and to bring my fanny pack. I retrieved two flashlights from it and we looked for sign. Nothing, not a single drop of blood, no hair, nothing!. Now I hit this deer solid. It did a black flip and a spin when the bullet made impact. There's no way that that can happen and it not leave blood. But there was none. Ok, the deer has crossed the property line and I don't have permission to track it. I call back to Tallahassee and located the cell phone number of the property owner who agrees to meet me at the gate of his property. Thank you, I say to myself. Now I can find my deer and rescue myself from this horrendous low that has taken over such a glorious high. Or so I thought...

grouper sandwich · « **Reply #4 on:** December 21, 2003, 05:20:01 PM »

I reach the gate, get out of the truck and introduce myself. I'm greeted with "you're property is too small to hunt on and all that you're donig is taking deer from me and your other neighbors". Huh? Well, good make your acquaintance. Then he says, was that you that coughed in your stand this morning? I nodded to the affrimative. He then tells me that it messed up one of his clients and that if I was going to be in there, on my property mind you, that I would need to be more quiet and respectful of him and his clients because they are paying $200 a day to hunt and it's not right to have some guy on a small parcel mess up thier hunt. This from the mouth of the guy who's set hunters on ALL of the trails leading to my property and has killed SIX deer in one day, including a spike buck, as they attempted to make it to me. Yeah, I'm being real freaking disrespectful alright. I slowly sense that this bad night is getting worse. It was only the beginning. He proceeds to scold me about how I'm being irresponsible hunting where I am because he has hunters just over the property line and in the line of my fire. Now remember, my in-laws have owned and hunted this land for twenty years. This guy has owned his land for 30 DAYS and is now acting as if it is he who will make the rules and enforce them. All the while he has a client with him who seems a little shocked at the exchange that is going on.

Well, one thing leads to another and he meets me in the woods just over the property line to help look for the deer. We search but find no sign. He says that he thinks that I missed the deer or just grazed it. I insist that I hit it solid. I show him where the deer crossed the line at, through a hole in the fence. Well, he goes crazy about the hole. "Who cut this hole in the fence"? "I'm plugigng it up"! I informed him that the fence was errected by my in-laws over ten years ago and if they felt that they wanted to cut holes in it, then so be it. He then says, "well, your fnece is over the line anyway". I said, fine, we'll REMOVE it. As you can see, this is just getting worse. Anyway, he comes on our side of the line because he wants to see where the deer was shot at (read: wants to checkout what we're doing). I agree, we've got nothing to hide. He comments that he knew we had a feeder because he was burning on his land one day and he heard it go off (read: I've already snooped on your land and knew where the deer were going to). He then scolds me for having a food plot saying that, "this is why you're pulling deer off of my property, they're coming in here for this rye". Well DUH! He then says that he has no more time to spend on my deer that he has to locate one for his client. He says that he has my number and will call if they find it. Yeah, whatever. He then states that he wants to be a good neighbor but can't be if what we're doing is hurting him. We'll see. We have discussed it, as a family, and have decided that we will NOT change what we're doing because someone else has come in and doesn't want us there. We also found out that we have a 15' easment on his property. My father-in-law is thinking of changing our entrance to now go through his property and his gate to access ours. Anyway, our little honey hole has suddenly turned into a hell hole. But we won't be run off, I can assure you of that.

He did, however, thank me for calling to gain access and not just taking it upon myself to tresspass. And his client seemed to be a very well mannered man who didn't get involved in any of the proceedings and made an honest attempt to help locate the deer. I wanted to thank him as it certainly wasn't his responsibility to do so. If I knew who he was, I'd thank him personally.

As for the deer and no sign. Best thing we can figure is that the balistic tip bullet fragmented upon striking a rib and didn't get penetration. The deer was probably bleeding badly internally, but nothing externally. I can tell you that when the deer left the plot, it was hurt bad and barely had the strength to move. I'm sure that it went no more than a 100 yards inside of his property, layed down, and expired. But I'll never know and can only wonder from here on out. I'll never use those on deer again. Needless to say, it was a BAD DAY IN THE WOODS! =(

Graybeard · « **Reply #5 on:** December 21, 2003, 05:56:19 PM »

Ballistic Tips, magnum rifles and close ranges are NOT a good combination. Personally I'm not a fan of magnum rifles for small soft game like deer but if you use one a Nosler PT is well worth the cost.

GB

grouper sandwich · « **Reply #6 on:** December 22, 2003, 01:57:10 AM »

Quote from: Graybeard

Ballistic Tips, magnum rifles and close ranges are NOT a good combination. Personally I'm not a fan of magnum rifles for small soft game like deer but if you use one a Nosler PT is well worth the cost.

GB

GB, you're exactly right. The sad part is is that I was warned not to load these bullets, but I'm stubburn. It's now cost me a lost animal and it's cost an animal a grueling death. I won't load them again. I'm sticking with Barnes X and Sierra Game Kings from here on out. Neither of those bullets has ever failed for me. BTW, that's the first deer that I've ever lost and the feeling is indescribable. I couldn't sleep on Saturday night and paced for most of the day yesterday.

huntsman · « **Reply #7 on:** December 22, 2003, 05:19:06 AM »

The deer herd in the Florida panhandle must be in really sad shape indeed if the bag limit is 2 buck deer per day! With the slaughter of the number of antlerless deer you witnessed, it may well be possible that it will be years before the herd recovers a healthy balance, and then only if FL changes its tune about deer harvest. I feel for your situation, but I wouldn't push my luck with the neighboring landowner. A high fence (if legal in FL) is surely next if he remains convinced you are killing "his deer". With the nature of his operation, there won't be many deer left to squabble over in the next year or two. The good news is that he will surely put himself out of business. A few disgusted clients who see no deer for $200 a day will shut things down in a hurry.

Its sad and shameful when deer hunting anywhere comes down to what you are describing. :cry:

grouper sandwich · « **Reply #8 on:** December 22, 2003, 09:53:10 AM »

Yeah, deer management in Florida is an absolutle joke. The latest figures from the state of Florida (no tag system so how do they know what is harvested?) indicate that roughly 140,000 deer are harvested in Florida each year, 110,000 bucks and 30,000 does. The QDMA is though of as a damn terrorist organization in Florida. And it's not just the state, the hunters are deathly against shooting does in Florida. It's sad, really.

I'm on a lease in Georgia where they have real managment and a real deer herd. I only hunt this piece of property in Florida during the one week a year when antlerless deer are legal and during bow season when it's legal to take a doe.

PA-Joe · « **Reply #9 on:** December 22, 2003, 11:16:53 AM »

Just a thought, did you check all around where you orginally shot your deer. Just last week I had a clean shot at a deer 30 yards away broad side. Waited 1 hour walked to the spot no signs of a kill anywhere. no hair no blood on a broad side. 15 minutes later, after thinking about it I remembers see a deer run to the south and then into the woods. Sure enough 30 yards from where the inital shot was I found a small blood trail. 10 yards later one dead deer. If you are certain the shot was good that deer is most likely there on your property.

grouper sandwich · « **Reply #10 on:** December 22, 2003, 12:31:47 PM »

Nah, I saw it go through the fence into his property. The shot was good, and the deer died, I was just not able to recover it. Had I had full permission to search, I would've stayed there all night looking.