The last two years have brought about so many changes in my frame of mind. Planning ahead has become more of a priority for our household than ever before.
Over the last several months in particular, I’ve been feeling this odd need to prepare. Almost like how a mother nests before having a new baby. I’m feeling this desire to stock up with food, animals, and home projects. (Weird, right?)
Dehydrating vegetables, canning meat, butchering our chickens. We’ve come a long way in the few months we’ve been at our farm. Now that we’re officially in hunting season, filling our freezer with red meat has been on the agenda.
We have been blessed that Bryce was able to harvest a buck and a doe for our family so far this season. In the county we live in, a hunter is allowed to harvest two antler-less and one antlered deer. An antler-less deer is defined as any deer with no antlers or antlers less than three inches in height here in Ohio.
The deer we have available in our area for hunting are White Tailed deer (Odocoileus Virginianus).
Warning: This post may contain disturbing or graphic photographs.
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Deer Hunting Lingo 101
I realize some of my readers may not be familiar with the linguistics of hunting, so here are a few common terms defined for you:
Buck – Male Deer
Doe – Female Deer
Button Buck – A yearling buck who isn’t old enough to produce antlers, will have ‘lumps’ on top of it’s head.
Fawn – A baby deer
Spike – A young buck with antlers less than 5 inches
Antler – Also referred to a as a rack. These are the bony growths on top of a buck’s head. These fall off yearly.
Antlerless Deer – Either a doe, button buck, or a buck who has shed his antlers for the year.
Blind – A tent-like structure used to conceal the hunter from the deer.
Broadside – When the deer is standing with his side completely perpendicular to you. This is the best angle to take a heart and lung shot at.
Gut Shot – Poor shot placement that will lead to a very slow and painful death for the animal. The hunter may not be able to located the deer as it will be able to run long distances still.
Quartering Shot – A shot taken when the deer’s broadside is facing either a quarter turn away or towards you. The location of your shot should be adjusted accordingly.
Venison – Deer meat
Was I raised hunting?
No. Not in the slightest bit. Not once in my childhood did I desire to take the life of an animal. I wasn’t raised in a hunting family, although we lived in a rural area where it was quite common.
The closest I came to wild game was when someone gave my dad venison to make jerky. I would anxiously wait for the first bite after it came from the dehydrator – it was delicious.
Then there was the club I joined on high school that hosted a pot lock of wild game every month. I never actually contributed to the food, aside from excessive praise for their hard work.
Enter Bryce
When my husband and I began dating 14 years ago – in a vain attempt to impress him – I purchased an entire hunting outfit – topped with a faux rabbit fur lined hat. I sat out with him twice that season.
I don’t know what I expected. I wasn’t hunting, simply along for the journey. But I was flat bored out of my mind. It was cold, I couldn’t snack, and the silence was deafening.
We both decided it was best for me not to tag along for future hunting excursions.
What has changed?
There’s no one thing that has switched for me this year. I woke up one day and decided I wanted to contribute to our freezer this year. That simple.
On the morning of our 10 year anniversary, we loaded up the van and visited our local archery shop. We had plans of purchasing a crossbow and settled on a Bear X Impact Crossbow which came with a cocking aid and a scope to make it easier on myself and our 5 year old. The tips we are using for hunting (which differ from target practice) are Rage Hypodermic Crossbow Broadheads.
My husband has been bow hunting for over 17 years, so he went about showing myself and our oldest son how to safely operate the crossbow. Crossbows are much more powerful than standard compound bows and shoot the arrow (also known as a bolt) at a much higher rate of speed (rated in feet per second, or FPS).
Two nights last week I sat in our hunting blind (We have one similar to this model), fully expecting to not be able to pull the trigger once faced with a deer. I was mildly relieved when I didn’t see a single deer. I was however, pleasantly surprised how peaceful it felt compared to my last hunting excursions so many years ago.
I suppose having 3 children under 6 will make you appreciate silence more than ever before. Now I see how my husband can spend days on end in the silent chase for game!
Last night; however, about an hour before the end of legal shooting time, two does popped out of the woods. They walked almost unhesitatingly toward the tree-line where our blind sits.
My first doe
The wind was all wrong, I hadn’t used any scent elimination spray or shampoos, and I had been extra fidgety. I did wear a camouflage sweater, hat and facemask but nothing special! If you are planning on hunting but you don’t have a blind, you may want to consider going in full camo. You can find attire with RealTree or Mossy Oak.
Both does walked within 25 yards (I had a good idea of the distance thanks to our range finder) of my hunting blind and turned broadside. Shooting with the crossbow left little room for error and I knew if I had any hesitation it might simply wound her, I wouldn’t have taken the shot.
The most ethical shot placement for a deer is 1/3 of the way up the body behind the front leg. There is a small section in that area (if the deer is broadside to you) where if you shoot you can puncture both lungs and the heart. Too far back will lead to possibly wounding the animal.
I settled in behind the crossbow and remembering my husbands’ instruction, took careful aim and slowly applied pressure to the trigger of the crossbow. The thump of the crossbow as the bolt raced towards the doe at 420 feet per second startled me, and I watched as the doe ran off with a bright red streak appearing on both sides of her body right where I had aimed.
I’ve been told that it is our physical input into the bow that dictates the direction of the arrow. Everything that happens up until the moment the bow goes off is our responsibility.
It’s a strange thing, to morn the life of a beautiful animal, but also feel proud of providing for your family. We definitely won’t let her sacrifice be wasted.
My boys were so excited for me! I went up to the house and all 5 of use began trailing her. She had run back across the field and into the woods but thankfully expired quickly.
I think we will put our dehydrator to use and make jerky!