A great 2009 deer season...

[mt_dren]

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…

 

[James R. Burke]

Congradulations. Nice to hear of a good season with your wife has a partner. I hunt with my wife. We both have a Ruger No 1 A Light sporter. Mine a .30-06 and hers a .243 both have a Leupold century limited scope. Carbon copys except for the caliber. I also reload. We both use the Nosler Partition hers is the 100 grain, mine the 165. Last year she got two one buck, and one doe so she was real happy. This year I got two bucks a seven pointer running slow at about 135 yards in the neck thru the heart, and out the shoulder it weighed in at 156. The second one was a eight pointer really fat at about 190 yards I could only see the head and neck. In Mi with a combo one needs three points on one side, and one needs four. I new it had the four. I am glad I do alot of shooting reloading. I took a off hand shot at the white spot on the neck, thought if I miss it would be a clean one. When I squeezed the trigger the deer dropped so fast I almost missed seeing it go down. Hit it right in that white spot in the neck. Weighed in at 186 which is a really big deer for hear. Glad you had a good time. Even when we dont get any it is just fun having my wife for a partner. You never forget those times. That combo for Mi is just for the U.P.

 

[andrew66]

Im glad that your season went well. Up in Canada, it was a very slow season, due to lack of snow, and the rut wasnt really happening. The bushes we hunt, are so thin, there was no way we could set up in the bush (where the deer were staying all day) But we didnt do too bad. The numbers are low, due to overpopulation of coyotes and a very harsh winter last year. But we still managed to take 9 total on our place. Only one persons tag didnt get filled