SmallCaliberCentral

So far this season Lucas got this doe with his bow. It was short tracking, she ran about 50 yards out onto a grassy hill side where we could pull the truck right up beside her.


Last Wed. I got out in one of my stands and after about 40 minutes of daylight, two doe came running down the draw to my right and ran by me on a trail 13 yards away. I kept watching where they came from and saw a buck coming. He was on the same trail the doe took. When he walked behind a big oak tree, I drew and as soon as he stepped out from behind it I let go with an arrow at 13 yards. He was an 8 pointer.


Opening day of our firearms season I decided I wasn't going to shoot a doe the first day with the way the bucks have been chasing the doe. Shortly after first light I had two small bucks chasing a couple doe about 55-60 yards to my right. One of the doe broke off and came within 12 yards of me and I let her walk. The bucks took the other doe out across the field. About 3-4 minutes later a doe came trotting back into the woods about 22 yards away. I had gotten up in my climbing stand about 40 minutes before daylight and didn't get down till dark. I had a doe come up out of the draw to my right around 11:00 and cross the ridge I was on and watched her go down the other side and into the brush. She was 32 yards. The next morning I was in the same stand and decided if a doe came along I would shoot her with my pistol. At 7:50 three doe came running up to the top of the ridge to my left and stopped to check out the other draw before they entered it. I already had my sights on the lead doe. Shot her at 32 yards, same trail the doe was on the day before. She ran 16 yards and went down.

She was standing just behind the small brown hedge tree in the middle of the picture.


Didn't think to take a picture till we got back to the house. She was an old doe, her teeth were worn down pretty good.


Shot her with my S&W Model 29 .44 mag I bought new 30 years ago. There have been a lot of rounds go through this gun and several deer taken with it in it's life.


Lucas held off for a buck this season, but I think the doe will be in trouble for our second season. We both have two permits each for the muzzle loader season and also plan to hunt the "Late Winter Season" in Jan. This second firearms season we are going to try to help our wives get their first deer.

Great job guys. You are truly conservationist. Keep up the great work. Good luck to the wives.

Nice hunting Melvin. Sounds like you get a lot of tags for one year. Must be nice.
Thanks for posting pictures, and good luck in your upcoming hunts.

Cool hunts you guys had!! Good Luck the rest of your deer season too & I hope your wives get nice deer also.

Melvin: Now, THAT'S what I call a great season! Congrats. I hope the wives have similar luck when they get out.

I see the old M29 is dear to your heart also. I think mine will always be with me too, it's too good of a revolver and caliber to let go. All the deer I've taken with mine over the years have been shot with the old Keith 250gr cast bullet (Lyman mould No. 429421) and taken with one shot.

Great photos, good story, thanks for posting.

Good deal Melvin! It looks like you had a better season than I did, I saw a LOT of bucks in Missouri, but all of them were either running like contenders in the KY Derby, or too far off to make a reasonable shot. I settled for some tender doe meat.
It wasn't a bad trip, I got a lot of visiting in, got to see my new grand-niece, and generally had a good time, even if the deer weren't cooperative. The general consensus around Missouri is that this was just a very strange firearms season, bucks were still running with other bucks, for example, or just plain running, period. I saw a boatload of deer, most of them would slink off, even at 600 plus yards, if they saw someone. Rut behavior wasn't really in evidence, either. I don't much care, as I had a fine time visiting with family, anyway.

Melvin - Those are two dandy does you took there along with a nice buck! Congrats on the hunt! I was also going to hunt the late season in January (expecting to carry over a permit from 1st and 2nd season) but I used up both my permits during the 1st season and missed the deadline for the late season. Next year I'll be signing up for 3 permits I guess!

It was a strange three day season here in IL. We didn't hear many shots around on opening day or the next two either. A friend of ours was hunting in southern IL. and said they experienced the same thing down there. I talked to a co-worker over toward the east side of the state and he said there wasn't the activity over there like there usually is.

Here in IL. you can buy an over the counter bow permit that allows you to take two deer. All other permits are by a lottery drawing. Lucas and I both have (had) two bow permits each, two each regular "firearms" permits, two each muzzle loader permits and hopefully will be drawn for a "Late Winter" permit. The rut has been going full bore here for the last two weeks.

Squatting Wolf,
If the Late Winter season is anything like the one last year, you my be glad you have already filled your permits. Last year was the bad ice storm here in our area.

glenn asher,
Sometimes a good hunt doesn't always result in a harvest. It's the time in the outdoors spent with friends and family that matter most.

Rick,
Here in IL. we have to use an expanding type bullet. I shoot hand loads using the Win. 180 gr. XTP.

Melvin,

I had trouble last year just getting to the cabin we still in during the snow storm we had 2nd season last year! I also remember the ice storm we had in January.

We had a similar experience to yours during the 1st season this year. Not a hole lot of shooting going on where I was in Pike County. There was a fair amount but not like past years.