This morning I went bird hunting on a friends ranch. Its a large spread, but only half of it is being used for alfalfa. The other half hasn't been worked on in years, its reverting back to a wild stage,great hunting.
My dog and I are walking on a dirt path along a dried out irrigation ditch. The vegetation is is not too thick.
We are near the end of the ditch when my dog goes birdie for something on the other side of it. I found a easy to cross point and went across, my dog was a step ahead of me. As I came up the other side my dog took off to the right into some heavy brush. I was standing in moderate brush, too thick too see very far, but not so thick to move around.
A few seconds pass and my dog lets out a sort bark-yelp type sound, something I never heard from her before. Then I heard the sound of a large animal crashing through the brush towards me.
I brought my shotgun up to just before shouldering it and took the safety off. I went into self-preservation mode. The problem was that my shotgun was loaded with birdshot. I had a sidearm, but it was a Ruger Single Six, not much better.
Then at about twenty feet from me a young doe emerged from the brush. Apparently my dog bumped her.
The funny thing was that the deer was heading straight at me and did not look like she was going to alter her course to avoid me. I started waving my gun and yelling. That did the trick, she took a sharp right and kept going.
A few questions now.
Lets say, God forbid, that instead of a deer it had been bear or mountain lion, creatures that are seen in this area. Would having fired a load of birdshot into its face have detered it? Would just firing a shot in the air been better? Should I carry a more substantial handgun?
I suppose I could put a couple of rounds of buckshot or slugs in my vest, but in this situation I would not have time to load any round into my gun.
Next time I might just fire a shot into the air when I start the hunt to try and scare anything off.
One more thing. Do you think that the deer would have eventually veered off or was there the possibility that she was going to bowl me over? As I said, she was heading towards me as if she didn't know I was there. Imagine if it was a buck with large pointy antlers!
My dog and I are walking on a dirt path along a dried out irrigation ditch. The vegetation is is not too thick.
We are near the end of the ditch when my dog goes birdie for something on the other side of it. I found a easy to cross point and went across, my dog was a step ahead of me. As I came up the other side my dog took off to the right into some heavy brush. I was standing in moderate brush, too thick too see very far, but not so thick to move around.
A few seconds pass and my dog lets out a sort bark-yelp type sound, something I never heard from her before. Then I heard the sound of a large animal crashing through the brush towards me.
I brought my shotgun up to just before shouldering it and took the safety off. I went into self-preservation mode. The problem was that my shotgun was loaded with birdshot. I had a sidearm, but it was a Ruger Single Six, not much better.
Then at about twenty feet from me a young doe emerged from the brush. Apparently my dog bumped her.
The funny thing was that the deer was heading straight at me and did not look like she was going to alter her course to avoid me. I started waving my gun and yelling. That did the trick, she took a sharp right and kept going.
A few questions now.
Lets say, God forbid, that instead of a deer it had been bear or mountain lion, creatures that are seen in this area. Would having fired a load of birdshot into its face have detered it? Would just firing a shot in the air been better? Should I carry a more substantial handgun?
I suppose I could put a couple of rounds of buckshot or slugs in my vest, but in this situation I would not have time to load any round into my gun.
Next time I might just fire a shot into the air when I start the hunt to try and scare anything off.
One more thing. Do you think that the deer would have eventually veered off or was there the possibility that she was going to bowl me over? As I said, she was heading towards me as if she didn't know I was there. Imagine if it was a buck with large pointy antlers!