antlers lurking with them- but no dice. This was a recurring theme for the next couple of miles. I probably saw another half-dozen does, but no boys accompanied them. I was pooped, at least four miles from my truck, and it was starting to snow. I sat down and had a couple Power Bars and a bottle of water, and decided to just go up to the next rise to where a small stand of Christmas trees were nestled into a rare flat spot in the canyon.
When I stumbled in and snapped the first twig in there- you guessed it- I heard the telltale crashing of several deer bounding away. Darn it! Why hadn’ t I slowed down and done it right? A little patience would have served me well. Oh well- I crept along in the direction I thought I’ d heard most of them go and when I reached a clearing in the trees I saw the rear end of a doe disappearing into a canyon and then hopping over to the next ridge. It looked like the canyon the deer disappeared into would lead me back downhill to the road, so I figured,“ What the heck, it’ s just adding on another mile.”
I eased into the chute where the doe had disappeared and took a careful look. Across a gully about 90 yards, there was a deer standing in the open looking away from me. I rubbed my eyes and fished out my binoculars because this doe looked funny to me. It had an awfully big body and had something sticking out of its head … I about lost it when I figured it out.“ What? Antlers? … SHOWTIME!“
There was no way to get down on the ground to shoot, and no friendly limb around to use as a rest- I’ d have to shoot offhand. I chambered a shell, twisted the strap around my hand for a little bit of steadiness, and peered through the scope. I confirmed there were horns on the deer, and then tried to get the crosshairs on some vitals. He was quartering away, with his head uphill pretty steeply from his rump.
He turned his head away to look at something just as I squeezed the shot off, and I watched him take an impact through my scope. I’ d expected him to bound off a bit, but before I could jack another shell into the chamber, he crumpled over backwards, and I stood there with my jaw on the ground. It had all happened so fast.
I made a mental note of the shrubberies he‘ d tumbled into- a big dead log would be pointing straight to him- and shinnied across the gorge to him. Even though it was only a 90 yard shot, it took me some time to climb down and back up on his side of the little canyon. When I got to him, I couldn’ t believe it- I knew he had decent
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