Now before you guys laugh, I know it's a small deer, but I don't really care as I look for meat before antlers. Just wanted to give you guys a rundown of todays opener for Ohio's season.....
Got in the woods around 0600, so that things could settle down for an hour or so before legal hours. I sat on the corner of a field, behind me a river makes a bend, so the deer are funneled to where I sat to cross the river where there is an overgrown field with trees averaging 2-3" diameter. I sat there for about 2.5hrs, and only saw one deer cross the field about 150-200yds away from me at a dead sprint. About 0930, I decided to get up and stretch my legs, so I went across the river on a log jam(don't worry, I put my pistol in the shoulder holster...safety first!!). I checked the overgrown field and sat down for a bit, then figured why not still hunt to the south. With the wind in my face, I made it about 250yds. when I saw some orange. It ended up being one of the only other guys allowed to hunt on this property. We chatted for awhile, then went our seperate ways. I made it to the far north end of the overgrown field as the guy had told me that he saw a group of about 12 deer run from that area. On my way there, I scared a doe off of one of the hillsides that surround this riverbottom, and watched her scurry up over the top. I sat for about 2 hrs. or so with nothing but squirrels to keep me company, and of course took a nap as most of us find ourselves doing while in the woods. When I woke up, I figured I would make my way back to head home, and hunt at the homeplace. Of course, a doe and her two young'uns decided they would try and sneak in, and of course they saw me way before I could get a shot....oh well...maybe tomorrow. As I was nearing the point that I needed to cross the river, I noticed a deer walking by itself about sixty yds away. I hunkered down on my knees, and grunted a few times on the grunt call, while at the same time looking down, and slowly moving forward about five yds. to a sapling to rest the pistol against. He was facing me when I shot, and as the sound was echoing through the trees, all I see is his butt sit down on the ground, and the rest of him tip over. It was just like you see on the hunting shows. Ended up being a 37yds. shot or so, and it hit him in the base of the neck, just below the top edge of the back. When skinning him, I found the bullet in one of the back legs. All said and done, it penetrated just over 24" of deer and passed through a lung, liver, and clipped a couple of ribs off where they meet the backbone. Needless to say, I need to go out tomorrow and get his momma, but I'm pretty impressed with the .41mag/Gold dot combo...it is just about perfect for whitetails. Enjoy the picture.
~~~Amos
