SaltyCajun.com - Another good weekend!

Our good fortunes continue as my son Connor was able to connect with his first deer of the season. We are still trying to hammer some does before our rut in Ms gets cranked up, and they are hitting our food plots hard. My step son already got one and I have passed on some yearlings and does w/ fawns that were still sporting some spots.

We got set up over a small plot Saturday afternoon, after getting my wife in another box stand overlooking a big plot down the road from us. The wind was blowing and we had periods of rain which made the two man box a nice setting for some quality time with my youngest son. Like a script from the Outdoor Channel, the rain stopped about 30 mins before dark. After 20 minutes, a big doe and two yearlings hit the plot for some supper. We watch them for a minute so I can make sure he knows which one to shoot, and he gets set up with his .270 to make his shot. The gun is dead on, and he has killed 2 deer prior to this one so I consider this a "chip shot" for him. The deer turns broadside and I hear his safety go off, so I whispered to him to take his time and take her when he is ready. I am holding my ears when the gun goes off and I can tell he made a clean hit, complete w/ mule kick and the way the deer ran off.

We get down to find nothing, no hair, no blood, no guts............NOTHING! He starts to panic and said he thinks he may have "pulled" his shot. I told him I know that deer is hit and I know we can find it, but let's back out and get the dog. Little fella was real upset with himself and I had to keep telling him that everything he did was fine and not to worry. Words did little to make him feel any better. We go pick up my wife and she is texting me that she has deer around her stand and doesn't know what to do. I told her to open the door, but that didn't work. I finally had to walk the 60 yards off the road to get the deer off the plot, so she would climb down. She had a couple of young deer and a bigger deer on the other end of the plot, which was possibly a spike and illegal in MS.

Once back at the camp, we see on the radar that we have some really bad weather coming. I decided to wait and see what the weather would do and within 20 minutes of us driving up, the thunderstorms rolle in and their was no way to get back out there that night. Now he is pacing the camp as if it was a Pope & Young trophy on the ground and he did not like the fact I was waiting until morning to go after his deer. But, I finally got him calmed down and we enjoyed some football on TV and good food. Sunday morning we get our coffee and load up everything we need for a long track. Water bottles, GPS collar on the dog, extra batteries for Garmin Astro, flagging tape, pistol, brush gun, and so on. We get to the hit site and again, so signs in daylight of a hit - ANYWHERE! but I know that deer was hit. I let the dog stretch his legs, and then we hit the woods. He had some trouble getting started, but the deer scent in this area is everywhere. I decided to trust the dog again and let him "wind" his way around and I would walk in the general direction the deer went. I turned him loose and he was gone out of sight in seconds.

I walked approximately 30 yards just easing through the pine thicket, when the Astro beeped, I look down to see the dog is showing "Treed" about 75 yards from me. I make my way over to him to find him chewing on the dead deer. Upon closer inspection, and later on cleaning it was revealed to the mystery of what happened. The deer apparently made a half step at the time of the shot and the bullet entered a little far back on the right side, but still in the rib cage. But with the turn it made, the bullet traveled through the gut and lodged under the hide of the opposite side, just in front of the hind quarter. We recovered the fully mushroomed bullet after cleaning and it did it's job, but did not exit.

My little man was one happy camper and was excited that he is now 3 for 3 on kills. He also made it known to me that he only had a couple of bullets left in his box and did not want me to purchase anymore "Reduced Recoil" ammo. He knows what they are, and has decided he wants more gunpowder to make sure that bullet exits!!!!