The New Addition to our Wall

It was a crisp 14 degrees when I woke up to the alarm at 4:00 a.m. at deer camp. I rolled out of bed and put on all my camo clothing. As I was getting dressed I was listening to the beautiful sounds of the Coyotes singing to each other across the valley.

Once Dressed, I went out and started the truck to warm it up. Following the warm up I got in and embarked on the hour long drive to Crescent Lake National wildlife refuge. I pulled through the gate and headed to the hunting spot that I spent a day at last year and came eye to eye with a buck but did not get a shot off.

I sat in the truck for about 10 minutes until I felt as if it was okay to get out without disturbing the wildlife. I was the only vehicle out there that I could see or hear. It was dead silent other than the beautiful Nebraska wind. No coyotes were singing either.

I then began to walk, blindly, as the sun had yet to begin to make its appearance. I walked maybe a mile until I could start to see without the flashlight. I looked at my watch and it was quarter to 6 a.m., which shooting time was 6:08 a.m.

I turned around to see just where I was at in comparison to the truck and my heart went into my throat. I saw 5 deer not more than 150-200 yards from the truck. Due to my poor "twilight" vision I could not see if there was a buck in the group. I immediately got down on one knee and began to glass them to see what the situation was. As I looked through the binoculars I saw what was my buck, although I could not make out how many points it had.

So, I then began to crawl on my hands and knees what seemed like 700-800 yards towards the deers. When I was within 150-200 (my range with the 30/30 open sights) I glassed again to count the points. He was a 4x4 mule deer, so I decided to take him down. I quietly loaded the Winchester 94 and brought it up to aim. By now the deer were aware of my presence and I knew my time was short.

I got the buck in my sights and pulled the trigger. At the same time I heard the gun go off I heard a loud thud and noticed the deer fall to the ground, but I could not tell where I hit him. He staggered a few yards as his girlfriends ran off out of sight. I stayed on my knees and watched him. He didn't seem to want to fall down. So, I made the decision to put another bullet in him. So I shot and heard yet another distinctive thud and he was down. I waited another 10 minutes as he did not get back up.

After the second shot I looked at my watch and it said 6:44 a.m. After giving him time to die, I slowly walked over to him and when I came upon him he was gasping for air. I noticed that I hit him in the neck but the first shot was not visible. I was so excited I took 3 pictures and then backed off so he could die in peace. Within seconds he was a goner.

I then walked the 200 yards or so back to the truck to retrieve the tools necessary to field dress the deer. It took me what seemed like an hour to gut this deer. Being it was my second time doing it, and first time doing it alone, I took my time and made sure I did not cut any of the bowels or stomach.

After I got the deer dressed, dragged back to the truck, and loaded I decided to take a break and sit on the tail gate. I was looking around and noticed another group of deer, I counted them and there was at least 40. I got my binoculars out and saw at least 10 very large mule deer bucks, much bigger than mine. I was kicking myself for not being patient, but reminded myself that you have to take it when you can get it.

It was a great day and I was home by noon. I look forward to the back straps and ground venison for tacos, venison chili and jerky.