On the first day of the season I was able to get a couple of does. We usually make jerky and sausage out of them, however this year I brought home some of the steaks and cooked them in a few recipes over a couple of weeks. The wife was really impressed with how they tasted and she decided she wanted more so she should go deer hunting with me. She had gone shooting with me a few times this summer and she is a pretty good shot, but in the nine years we have been married she has never wanted to go hunting.
We finally got a chance to go on the last day of rifle season. It was a windy and cold day...definitely not the way I wanted her to start hunting, but I didn't want risk her changing her mind over the next year. The morning was a bust as the only ones we saw were 300+ yard shots in the wind and there we some yearlings that ran past us. The wind really picked up in the afternoon, which I thought she would want to go home
. Instead, we decided to hide behind an old piece of farm equipment that hasn't moved in years. After a couple hours of waiting, we watched some does come in about 175-200 yards away, but she couldn't get comfortable due to the wind. The does ran off and I thought we were done for the season so I stood up and turned around...there were 10 does looking at us less than 100 yards away. I motioned the wife to get setup really quick and she was able to get setup within seconds. The deer were getting nervous and starting to move. The doe she was aiming at dropped in her tracks when she fired and didn't even take a step. She was cold but thrilled
. It was a great end to the season and perhaps the best season ever. She said she had a ton of fun and definitely wants to go again next year with her 788.
So now I really do need another 243, but in varmint…