"Smoke Pole" Strikes in 2016
I haven't been doing much fishing as of late because deer season is in full swing around my parts. I'm fortunate enough to be in an area of the state that gun season opens Aug. 15 every year. With work and my little girl, I haven't been able to spend as much time in the woods as I'd like, but I've had the opportunity to sit a handful of times. Nearly every outing I've seen deer and this year I've seen more yearlings and young does than ever before which is a great sign. With the freezer getting a little low on meat it was about time to pull the trigger on something soon.
My evening started out a little rocky and I didn't get into the stand until late. I knew with the cool snap and overcast conditions that I needed to be in the woods early, but it was nearly 6:45 before I made it to the stand located a few hundred yards from my house. Lucky for me, the deer waited till about 7:00 before they got hungry. The first deer I saw was a little 6-pt followed by a yearling and two does. They just happened to come out downwind of me and it didn't take long for one of the younger does to get wind of something out the ordinary. She started her nose high in the air stunt and stomped the ground. The biggest doe was smart enough to hang back in the thicket so I had no opportunity to bag her. With the options at hand, I decided to take the 6-pt and squeezed a round off. He made a short trek to his final resting place and I proceeded to bask in the moment of the first deer of the year.
It was about this time that looked backed to my right and noticed another yearling standing in the roadbed. I caught a glimpse of movement to her left and a flash of antlers caught my attention. It didn't take but a few seconds and the old buck busted out the bush nosing the yearling around. I knew immediately that he was a good deer. I'm not one to take multiple deer in a hunt, but this one was too big to pass up so I took aim and let another round fly. He piled up in his tracks and I set in the stand in utter amazement of what had just happened.
The second buck turned out to be my personal best. He tipped the scales at 192 lb and measured 17" inside spread. He was a main frame 8-pt but he has an inch long G4 on his right side and nice sticker point off the back of his left main beam that made him a solid 10-pt. He's no record book deer, but he's a stud for my neck of the woods. I was tickled to death to get him and I believe he'll be finding a place on my wall in the near future.
The best part of the evening was that I was able to share the experience with my wife, daughter, dad, and uncle. It took way longer than necessary to clean those two deer, but plenty of pictures were taken, stories were told, and memories were made!
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