We have Jeanne to thank for these photos.
It was youth weekend. Sunday afternoon Peter invited Wayne to come sit in his stand. It turned out to be a lucky invitation.
Scroll all the way down. Wayne has updated this post with his story in his own words.
Jeanne even cooked a spaghetti dinner.
Thank you Peter and Jeanne!
Here is the story:
There were only 25 minutes left of daylight, and I was getting kind of worried. I had hunted with my parents all weekend and not seen anything on our land, so me and my dad decided to go to sit the last night in Peter's stand.
At around 4:20 ( it gets completely dark by 5:00 ), we heard a twig snap to our left. I had been hearing noises the whole time, but this one sounded different, like it was from a bigger animal. After that, we heard a few quieter noises in the same area. I was sitting on the right side of the stand, and my dad on the left. Since the noise had come from the left, we switched. So now I was standing, with my gun resting on side of the stand. Several minutes passed and we heard nothing, so I was starting to feel kind disappointed. After a few more minutes of silence, we switched back. Now I was back on the right side.
Suddenly, we heard a deer blow and run off. Now that I new we had just missed a chance at a deer, I was disappointed. But I knew that there was a pretty good chance that it might come back to investigate what had spooked it. So we switched once again, with me on the left. Again, several minutes went by without a sound. But then, I thought I heard something. I was pretty sure it was a deer, but I have learned not to judge an animal by just the sound of its footsteps. It sounded like something was jogging through the woods. The sound grew louder and louder, until finally I saw a flicker of movement behind the brush. By this time I was quite sure that it was a deer. Finally, it stepped out into the clearing, to my left and somewhat behind. It was looking around, like it wasn't quite sure if she was safe here. I looked at my dad. Then I put the crosshairs right on the animal's chest. It was facing me, and it looked like it might run away soon so I didn't think I would have time to wait for a broadside shot. I pulled the trigger, and the deer fell almost instantly. It lay there for a second, flailing it's legs, then blew one last time. After no more than ten seconds, it was still.
After celebrating, we went down to investigate the deer. I wasn't sure if it was a fawn or a doe. When I saw it, it was a fawn. That is alright, though. We dragged it to Peter's backyard where we gutted it and cleaned it. We snapped a few photos, then loaded it into our truck. We went in and had a great spaghetti dinner, and then headed home. I think it's funny cause I hunted more the twelve hours that weekend, and the only time that it really came down to was the last half-hour. I still had fun, of course, the rest of the time.
Thank You, Peter and Jeanne!
-Wayne
