[gfrey]

Hi, I had to register to send this reply.
I live in Wisconsin and for the gun deer season (opened sat nov 20, closed nov 29) I shot my rifle 3 times. 3 deer down. 1 doe 1 3pt buck and 1 fawn doe. That is the short reply. 1 in the freezer, the rest gone to friends.
The long reply... (sorry, you can skip if you want)
last year I bought a bow. This year we had a baby in July. Good thing I already had the bow. I didn't see much in Jefferson county where I live (about 1 hour east of Madison.) for early bow season, but I went up north near Necedah, WI for gun season on public land. I had a hunters choice permit (in WI a gun license allows you to shoot 1 antlered deer, 3" or longer. A hunters choice allows you to shoot a doe instead in a specified unit) so the first deer that walked by was PROBABLY gonna get it. When she walked up to 40 yards from me I thought hmm, I wonder if she wants to go home with me?? she leaped at the chance, and 1 shot straight thru the heart. she went <20 yards and piled up in my sight. After lunch my friend said if you see a buck shoot him, (party hunting during gun season is legal in WI, under certain rules. e-mail me if you want to know them) so I watched a LOT of hunters walk by me on public land, and the deer they kicked out by me. About 4:05 pm I heard a lot if running deer. One ran past me, but i saw no antlers, but one stopped with just a nose showing from behind a tree. It turns out there were two deer, a buck and a doe, and they ran around near my stand for about 10 minutes, the buck never presented a good shot.. I thought well, he said shoot one, and I hadn't heard him shoot... so I kept watch, when the doe stepped out in the open about 45 yards from me I thought the gig was up, but she stepped across the lane and into the trees. The buck stepped into the lane and I asked him if he wanted to go home with me. He collapsed at the thought. (I also recovered part of my bullet, first time for that) I called my friend over and he tagged the buck. Thus ended the opening day.
We skip to Monday, on private land near Princeton, WI. My father-in-law had a bonus tag, (only antlerless) and said shoot one if you see it.
Well the fog lifted about 7:30 and about 7:50 I saw not one deer but two. I slowly lifted my rifle and watched them come down the path. I thought the first one was pretty small.. but the second one looked bigger. Well after I asked her if she wanted to come home with me the two deer started running, and one stopped in the thick stuff about 25 yards from my treestand. The other one ran out of sight I was pretty sure the deer i shot kept running. Now.... am I looking at the one I shot or the small one? I knew I had registered a good hit, I saw the fur fly on the chest and she picked up her front hoof on the near side before she ran.

So I watch this deer, not sure if it is the one I shot or not, and I wasn't about to shoot a second deer when I wasn't sure about the first. The one I was watching walked off toward my father in law. About 10 minutes later I heard boom..., boom boom boom. I thought oh no, he just shot the little one. so I waited another 20 minutes, then walked to where I shot at the deer, and marked it with a glove. I walked over to my father in law and he was walking toward me, a deer lay directly between us. I asked him if that was the deer he shot and he said "what deer?". He looked all over where he shot at a head and found no blood or hair anywhere.(that little one we think now, it also ran back past me just before I climbed down, so I KNEW it hadn't been hit. We tracked the blood from my marking straight to the deer I found on the ground. a fawn doe.
I hope I didn't go on too long with this, I really was blessed this year, I have been deer hunting for 5 years, and this year is the most I have ever shot. (got 1 spike buck in 95 with a borrowed rifle, 1 fawn buck with my truck. I got 1 fawn doe in 96 (chased her 3 hours, I hit her when she was running, had to follow her forever. decided I wasn't gonna do that no more.) I bought my OWN rifle, a cousin reloads that exact caliber (what... did he influence _MY_ decision? NAHH, I wanted to shoot .30-06!) and reloaded an excellent load right off the bat practiced over 80 rounds to get comfortable BEFORE season, in 97 saw deer, but took 1 shot, clean miss. (wife was really upset with out meat) in 98 asked a spike buck if he wanted to go home with me. He did.
I like deer hunting, my wife said I can go as long as I bring home meat. So I really haven't been hunting a big rack, just meat.
I will try to keep future posts shorter.
Ger