Does of Iowa Part 3

I still have two more tags to fill. 

The weather turned again.  Eight inches of snow fell.  Then the temperature plunged to right above zero at night not breaking fifteen degrees during the daytime.  There was a light wind when I went back to Oakland to finish the harvest.  The tags expire the end of January.  That should give me enough time to fill them out as long as the weather will cooperate. 

Driving out across the pasture and feed lot was slow going even in four wheel drive.  The snow had settled down and was frozen. It took some push to make my way to the area where I wanted to park.  The wind was calm.  The temperature was 5 degrees.  My plan was to go back to the same spot since the forcasted wind would be out of the west.  I should not get winded as they came out of the fields.  It was pitch black, and there was no moon.  I could not see if there were any tracks near the area I wanted to hide.  The snow had blown into the lane and was knee deep in areas.  It was difficult getting to my spot.

Crunching down and getting settled, I noticed I had developed a little sweat.  Not good with these temps, but it should all be over with quickly.  The wind picked up to more than a light breeze.  I had forgotten to bring an apple along to rub over my clothing. This supposedly works for some people. The wind moved straight out of the north.  This was not good and was not in the forecast. 

As it got light, the deer came out of the fields, crossed on my left side about 30 yards away, and moved about 75 yards to my southwest.  They stood and looked at me.  I was had.  They milled around, and it was evident, I had been winded.  I started to swing the gun slowly to my left hoping I could get a shot off through the timber, but it was not going to happen.  With the movement, they took off to the south.  There must have been 25 to 30 deer in the group. 

I decided to walk down to the area they had congregated.  With the daylight, I could see they had not come up through the area where I was hiding.  The snow had drifted into areas where it was knee deep.  It appeared they had gone into the timber by going up the next lane to the west where the snow was not as deep.  If I could have predicted the wind direction, I would have been at the far south end of the timber.  With that strategy, I would not have been winded and could have gotten a shot.

By this time, I was really sweaty, and was starting to cool down.  It was time go get back to the truck.  I was on my way home by 10 AM.  It is called hunting, not shooting.

If you have a good story and or pictures of a successful hunt, send them to me and we will publish them.

Good fishing, good hunting, good luck.

Hank

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