Well, not last minute but close ...
I was hunting this past week with a group of friends in Pittsburg NH. Got up there Saturday and I planned on hunting Sunday through Wednesday, taking Thanksgiving off and then hunting Friday.
The weather was a real mix ... everything from cold and dry to sleet, rain in the 40s, and then some snow later in the week. I spent the first couple of days in one area then the next three a few miles over the Clarkville town line in this stand:
The first day in the blind I had a doe come out in the morning and a button buck in the afternoon. Unfortunately, that was the only action all week.
Well, on Friday (my last day hunting), it was about two hours before dark when a deer leg stepped out about 85 yards out. A few seconds later I saw his head and antlers. This was a five pointer a couple of other guys saw previously who had been in the area.
Unfortunately, he was moving right to left and my scope had fogged. I was in a panic trying to clear it while he walked behind some small trees and brambles. I finally got my scope clear and found his rear leg in among the trees, and then could make out the rest of his body. He started to move again and I knew I only had a couple of seconds to get a shot before he got behind a big pine and I would not have any chance at him.
I hit an estrous doe bleat which caused him to bend his head down and look through an opening up the hill and I found a small, maybe 10" by 10" opening in the brush on his shoulder, put my crosshairs over it and squeezed the trigger. My .308 round hit him perfectly, he dropped to the ground and was dead within a couple of minutes.
Here he is:
We dragged him out to the road, field dressed him and he weighed in at 149 pounds at the registration station in Pittsburg.
It was a long week but definitely worth the wait.
I was hunting this past week with a group of friends in Pittsburg NH. Got up there Saturday and I planned on hunting Sunday through Wednesday, taking Thanksgiving off and then hunting Friday.
The weather was a real mix ... everything from cold and dry to sleet, rain in the 40s, and then some snow later in the week. I spent the first couple of days in one area then the next three a few miles over the Clarkville town line in this stand:
The first day in the blind I had a doe come out in the morning and a button buck in the afternoon. Unfortunately, that was the only action all week.
Well, on Friday (my last day hunting), it was about two hours before dark when a deer leg stepped out about 85 yards out. A few seconds later I saw his head and antlers. This was a five pointer a couple of other guys saw previously who had been in the area.
Unfortunately, he was moving right to left and my scope had fogged. I was in a panic trying to clear it while he walked behind some small trees and brambles. I finally got my scope clear and found his rear leg in among the trees, and then could make out the rest of his body. He started to move again and I knew I only had a couple of seconds to get a shot before he got behind a big pine and I would not have any chance at him.
I hit an estrous doe bleat which caused him to bend his head down and look through an opening up the hill and I found a small, maybe 10" by 10" opening in the brush on his shoulder, put my crosshairs over it and squeezed the trigger. My .308 round hit him perfectly, he dropped to the ground and was dead within a couple of minutes.
Here he is:
We dragged him out to the road, field dressed him and he weighed in at 149 pounds at the registration station in Pittsburg.
It was a long week but definitely worth the wait.