Very 1st deer hunt bags large doe.

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scaryFORDman

New member
I am 40 years old and went with a friend on my first deer hunt yesterday.
Went on old mine property in Sullivan County Indiana, we sat on top of one of the spill piles right next to a 4 wheeler trail against a pine tree with some branches stacked up around us for cover. It was pretty cold just sitting there not moving much. We waited for about 2 hours after sunrise and saw noting but a few turkeys out about 75 yards. Then we saw 3 doe coming in on us. One was large and the other 2 were smaller(younger) they served themselves up to us. My friend let me take my choice and the first shot. The larger one (the one I had a bead on) walked right up on the trail, but wouldn't show me her broad side. I waited for a few more seconds and she started walking right toward us. I didn't think I should wait any longer, I was afraid she would detect us if she got too close. So I aimed at her lower throat , since she was walking right straight toward me. I got her jugular at about 30-35 yards. She dropped like a rock, wiggled around for a bit and it was over. One of the smaller ones bolted when I shot, the other stood right next to the downed one and looked at her. My friend brought up his smoke pole and cracked her.
My doe field dressed at 144lbs. Got a nice clean kill with NO meat damge.
I was affraid my shotgun wasn't adequate since it is just an old Mosberg 12 with a smooth bore and NO sights or scope, just a bead. It must have worked good, bescause I got her pretty much where I aimed.
I had a good experience, now I have to fill my Buck tag.
Sorry this is so long, but I am pretty stoked.
 
Nice job, and good shot. Sometimes you gotta shoot 'em when you gotta shoot 'em. Don't overcook the meat. :)
 
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congrats on first deer. I got skunked this year.:( missed a nice 8 point and could have shot a nice doe on openiing day but was holding out for a buck. that was a mistake. good luck on filling your buck tag.:)
 
Nice work, I'm 42 and my second deer season just ended with no luck. Nice to know there's someone else out there who started late and hunts with a shotgun. Enjoy that venison.
 
Congratulations! Nothing like a nice doe for flavor!

Don't overcook the meat.
Click to expand...
Try cooking a 3 rump pound roast with four cloves of garlic and two strips of bacon (optional) in the crockpot all day, adding potatoes, carrots and onions for the last few hours. When it's supper time pour off some juice and use it to make a brown gravy for your potatoes. Afterwards you can ask yourself, "Is this meat overcooked?"
 
There's a big difference between slow-cooked venison and over-cooked venison....
I've used the crock with success with venison, too.

I like it because you can just leave it alone and let it cook without having to mess with it. My kind of cookin'.
 
Although I won't agree with the shot you took (especially with a slug gun with no sights) I congratulate you on your first deer. I shot a 150 lb doe last Sunday and we cooked up her tenderloins tonight and they were gooood.. Stuffed them with cream cheese, green peppers and wrapped it all up in bacon.
 
Not trying to start a war here, just wanting to know what you mean when you said you didn't agree with the shot I took? What should I have done?
 
Obviously you know your shotgun well enough to hit a deer at 35 yards. TFL is a place where people will disagree at times but I think that the fact you hit the deer within a couple of inches of your aim point demonstrates weapon proficiency and proper careful mindset.

Beretta, you might recall that the 12 gauge shotgun is pretty much the same weapon as 75+/- caliber muskets that our ancestors used to fight 300 years of wars in Europe and take game all over the world. Its limitations and strengths are well known. Now we know that much of the military weakness of these weapons below 75 yards was psychological, with good evidence of soldiers in the Napoleonic era deliberately firing high to avoid hitting the enemy.

I could see a 150 yard shotgun shot being problematic but a 35 yard shot? For a rifled slug (modern equivalent of the Minnie Ball) the frontal lethal zone for a deer's chest would be an oval roughly 8-10 inches high and 6-8 inches wide. I've seen people cleanly miss broadside deer at under 100 yards with a scoped rifle and it was more a human error factor than a problem with their weapon. My 2 cents.

Fremmer, I do know what you mean about overcooked. Have you ever fried up thin "steak fingers" with salt, pepper and a flour coating and then have to answer the phone or something so a few of them are just 10-20 seconds overdone? Talk about disappointment.
 
MeekandMild, I was under the impression he wasn't aiming for the chest, he was going for a neck shot, which is a low percentage shot. Didn't mean to start anything. I've seen on 2 seperate occasions people in my party trying to take neck or head shots and ending up crippling the deer badly, both of which didn't kill the deer. I'm glad he got it done, and it sounds like she couldn't have gone any faster.
 
Your first deer hunt is always special. I can still remember mine and always will. Cube that roast and pressure cook it with some cream of mushroom soup, Ohhhh Baby, my stomach is growling now.:D Congrats on a quick clean kill and many more now that your hooked like the rest of us.:D
 
Congrats. on your first deer. It seems like after the first deer the next one comes easier. Now you can concentrate on you a good buck to put on the wall.
 
Beretta, I am not trying to argue with you or defend my shot....I am a novice that wants to learn. I don't understand what you are saying. Are you trying to say that I shouldn't have went for the neck shot? Because if I had missed, I would have crippled a perfectly good, healthy Deer?
I just want to learn and get input from all angles. If I did wrong, I want to know .....and I want to know what I COULD have done differently.
 
Neck shots can be a great success or failure and it depends all on where the shot hits. Last year I shot a 6 point in the neck but it was not a good neck shot. It was standing straight on facing me. Oh yea at times there was lots of blood to track it by, but after 2 hours of tracking that sucker, I finally put it down with another shot. From now on I will try for broadside shoulder shots.
 
You took the only shot that you had. You hit where you aimed, and the deer died quickly. So you didn't do anything wrong.
 
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