"A Brisk Illinois Morning" (Originally Published on Backwater Outdoors backwateroutdoormedia.com)
By: Corey Suter
On November 7, 2010, I stepped out of the truck to a brisk Illinois morning with a south wind and 39 degrees. Due to the openness of the ground, I was forced to make my approach to my stand by using what little terrain was available, slipping down a small valley in an alfalfa field, easing into a drainage ditch and walking in the water to the main creek. I slipped into my stand and as I was settling in, I noted how bright the stars were and how unusually quiet the woods were.
I started getting nervous when the sun never came up….then it hit me, daylight savings time had hit overnight and I had assumed that my phone automatically updated. It indeed…had not. I called time and temperature to confirm what I already knew, and then I debated what to do. I had well over an hour (I had already been there almost an hour) to either sit on stand, or walk back to the truck and drive around. I decided to sit tight at least for the time being. Approximately 30 minutes before legal shooting, I eased out of the stand to stretch, and set a doe in heat scent station. Putting gel scent on a tree branch exactly 20 yards from the stand and another container slightly down wind of my location but quartering so that it would cut off any approaching bucks before they could get down wind of me.
I eased quietly back in the stand and settled in, with it being still too dark to see anything, I just stared up at the stars and listened to the critters walking around below me. I thought about the rough season (for my standards) I was having. I had my first clean miss in 7 years, and then a gimme 33 yard shot that I muffed and still do not know what went wrong, but I lost a deer for the first time since 1999. I have had a great season by deer numbers, I have passed a buck at 15 yards that many bow hunters would be damn proud to see let alone shoot, and I did it by crawling into his bedroom without him having a clue. I was frustrated because nearly every hunt I have had immature bucks in range, and no does. I was set on killing a mature doe, and every time I passed a young buck, I had taken more and more grief from my lovely wife who reminded me daily that the freezer was void of venison! As I gazed up at the stars, I suddenly began thinking of my late grandfather, a mentor in my life. Jokingly (half serious) I pleaded with my late grandfather and asked him for a little help, knowing he wasn’t much of a deer hunter, I chuckled as I jeered with him…thinking to myself…hopefully he knows someone up there that has a little pull. I was not picky; I was just looking for a doe for the freezer, nothing more. If I was hunting antlers, my job would have been done some time earlier this month.
Finally darkness began to ease its grip and the horizon began to lighten to the East. Shadows became trees, and the scenery in front of me began to unfold. I sat at the base of a small ridge thick with Russian olive and other low shrubbery and hardwoods. The low ridge gave way to an open maple bottom that was mostly void of undergrowth, a residual effect of the spring and summer water which stood most of the year. Behind me was a soybean stubble field surrounded by hardwoods and bordered by a creek. I really loved the look in front as I felt I could see any deer coming for several hundred yards in most directions.
Almost as soon as it was light enough to see my hand in front of my face, I heard footsteps directly down wind and behind my stand. I eased around to see a doe. She was in range but directly behind me and in a better position than me. It was still five minutes until shooting time so I just sat tight. I never heard that deer take another step, but the next time I checked it was gone, never to be seen again. The next customers were a pair of antler-less deer, a doe and a yearling that entered the field behind me to feed on acorns and bean stubble. They were in no danger as they were several hundred yards away and making no effort to leave the acorn feast. The pair was eventually joined by two other does. I mumbled to myself…just like my ole grandpa to have a little fun teasing the heck out of me. I turned my attention back to the thicket in front of me and the wide open bottom ground to my immediate right. With the time change it was only 6:45 a.m. and I was confident the deer in the acorns were not the last I would see. I scanned repeatedly, with 10-15 mph solid winds, every moving bush and oak branch seemed to be a deer, as I was looking, I really looked over the open ground hard, glanced out at the branch I put the gel scent on and could see the dark stain in the tree where I dumped some liquid scent.
I continued my scan…security camera mode…moving slowly and leaving no detail overlooked, when suddenly I heard something take a couple steps in the leaves close. Instinctively, I glanced back to the right without moving my head much at all, and low and behold right there in the wide open at 20 yards was a beautiful doe. I will never know how she got to that point without me seeing her come in; it was literally like she popped out of the ground. I will chalk it up to a little divine intervention…apparently my grandpa DID have some pull. I actually got very excited, as the doe turned and put her nose in the air, I knew I was safely on the right side of the wind, and I eased my bow off the bow hanger.
She was actually sniffing the scent I had put out, and she turned broadside, slightly quartering away and began licking and sniffing the branch where I put the scent. Well that one is easy, its exactly 20 yards. She turned her head away and I drew…when I realized my neck gaiter was in the way. Now I have seen the pros on TV pull their mask down while at full draw to get proper anchor point, so naturally, that is what I went with. At which point my surgically repaired shoulder absolutely gave out with no warning, and in one violent motion…I wasn’t at full draw anymore. Reading the deer, I knew she was still calm and had no idea I was there, but she had turned and taken a couple steps…putting her nose back on the branch with the scent, I eased my face mask down, checked the arrow to make sure the nock was seated, and drew, settling the pin on the heart and releasing. She exploded up the hill and even though I could see it was a great hit, I was shocked at how far she ran, 60 yards up the hill, leaped over the fence and disappeared from view in the open field! With the year I have had and the recent lost deer, I was not 100% confident…but I was certainly 95% sure she was dead based on my experience. I decided with all the bucks I have seen, I would let her lay and continue hunting, but I didn’t see another deer. I got down and followed the blood trail until I found my arrow then went to the top of the hill and she was lying out in the open just past where I had last seen her. Direct hit on the top of the heart and both lungs.
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| 2010 - Doe in Illinois |
The ole girl was a hefty doe, we guessed her around 140-150 field dressed. Just like that, I had my mature doe for the freezer.
