Emma Sue's Deer

One of the greatest joys in hunting is being with someone you care about when they shoot their first deer. This year I had the opportunity to be with my daughter-in-law, more like a daughter, Emily when she shot her first deer.

On the last day of rifle season I was sitting in a blind looking over the new right of way that had crossed our property in 2014. The clover had finally popped up nice and green and a mild fall had allowed it to stay vibrant into late November and I had watched deer on the right of way all morning.

After an unsuccessful morning hunt in another location, Emily and Ryan crept into the blind from the back side without alerting the deer to their arrival.

The deer were about 100 yards down the right of way and feeding while we took our time and waited for a nice broad side shot. There was also a button buck down there that we wanted to keep alive.

Eventually we picked one and Emily made her shot. At the shot, of course, the deer took off into the woods. At the shot I thought that it looked like the shot was good, but I've been fooled before.

Arriving at the site of the shot we had difficulty finding sign of a hit, but we eventually found some blood with signs of gut contents in it. That worried me a little and there wasn't a clear blood trail moving away from the area.

I've shot deer before with a rifle and not had much sign at the point of impact so I just started searching in the direction that the deer ran after the shot. Finding a large fallen tree to walk on above the briars I saw patches of brown and white in the briars and knew we had her deer.

I alerted Emily that her deer was down and hope I never forget the look on her face.

The doe had only traveled about thirty yards and the shot was a great one. The bile must have been from the shot or shattered lead taking out the esophagus, but the lungs were destroyed and the heart had been hit as well. I'll have to admit that the briars made for the toughest 30 yard deer recovery I've had.

The doe weighed 95 pounds, tying for the heaviest doe shot on our property, a true trophy doe.

Leave Emma Sue's First Deer and take a look at our deer droppings.