Synopsis of Shotgun Season One

Day 2 - B-R-R-R...Not in a hurry to get outside. I did get all ready and out the door. Reaching the end of the house I heard a gun go off in my north pasture...then another shot close to the same area. The shots belonged to my mentor/neighbor. Hubby and I found out later he had gotten a doe and a buck. We helped him get them loaded into his pickup. Here is a picture of a savvy hunter and his buck for this season. Later in the day he came back and got another doe. I spent 2 1/2 hours total sitting in below zero wind chills,no close activity. Time to go in and try to get warmed up. My prize for the day was to see the success of my mentor/neighbor. Day 3 - Didn't head out the door until the afternoon, was out for 4 hours. Mentor/neighbor showed up again was between me and the deer in that particular location . He shot at one at 4:40 p.m., figured everything was said and done at that point so I came into the house . Day 4 - Spent time on the south side of our property. My all the fresh tracks in the slush. Did some tracking of the human kind. I did find one set of boot tracks headed south from our middle ravine, definitely not mine. Melting and re-freezing puts the impressions made between Sunday or Monday, when extra close gunshots were heard. Sent the deer scurrying to the north , where they like to congregate behind the garden. Arriving back to the house was the cue for them to take off at a gallop as I opened the pick-up door. Sat for a while close to the back where the deer were earlier. Saw four does, but my movement was detected by the first, "About Face -Forward RUNNNNNNN!" Golly gee...I would have been a happy hunter if the shot had hit just one. I'm thinking about one of those ground blinds Dana over at The Wild WoodsWoman has been talking about. A way to be concealed out of the elements, almost a home away from home. Last Day - Went out before sunrise. Scared a couple of shapes away from their grazing spaces. After daylight as I was trying to move to stay warm I saw a doe turn and run, an awesome buck that didn't want to stick around for more attention...I packed it up and went back to the house. I continued to watch out the windows and doors, sighting deer after 11:00 - got dressed and ready to sneak again. Spent time watching them gather out of range and running as fast as they could go to elude the enemy after being pursued for so long. While I was out I heard the elusive turkey calls ringing through the ravine valley...5 days after their season ended. Didn't remain outside. I needed to do other things to get ready for bad weather coming. Don't want to be out on the road running errands when it has the possibility of repeating last weekend. The days end was beautiful, ending the same way as last year. Wind had died down, the sun was setting, and a few deer were seen in a distance... with none finding their way into our freezer. Onto season 2 !

Opening Day of Shotgun Deer Season in Iowa

What a day ! The snow started spitting well before daylight, flakes getting bigger and more abundant as the time came to be getting into the timber. 6:50 AM rolled around ,I went out the back door to start my quest for a deer, only to have the wind whip the door out of my hand. It crashed against the rail to the steps . The thought crossed my mind that the deer standing out in the cornfield wouldn't be there by the time I got around the house . There were three fawns and three does. The fawns took off early...then the does decided the open field wasn't for them either. Half a mile down the drive there was a pickup surveying the deer activity... After the does took a route towards the neighbor's hunting plot I went back to commonly traveled paths. Stood in a couple of spots within 50 yards of each other. Heard lots of guns shots not far away, none were my own. My choice to go inside came when the freezing rain coated my gun barrel with ice. My double layer mossy oak hunters mitten/shooting gloves weren't able to keep my hands warm any longer... Got back into the house after 8:00 and ran to the window several more times, hearing guns going off , wondering what the die hards were actually achieving by staying outside being pelted by freezing rain and ice pellets. More power to them! My landowners tag allows me to hunt either December 1-5th , or December 8-16th, if I don't claim a deer in the first season . I will be back after MY deer come tomorrow....