2009 Deer Hunt

In 2008, I tried deer hunting for the first time (unsuccessfully). This year, I was excited to try again. My good friend, Gerry, invited me to hunt with him the second weekend of rifle season on his family's beautiful land in the Gypsum Hills (aka: barely looks like KS). I spent the week leading up to our trip looking at the topographical map and satellite photos so I could make the most of the little time we had at the ranch. My goal was to bring home a nice and tender doe to eat, but of course, I also daydreamed a bit about shooting a big buck.

We headed out Friday after lunch and planned to hunt Friday evening and all day Saturday. That evening we spooked a doe as we were walking to the spot we planned to hunt. She caught us off guard and was out of sight before we even reached for our rifles. We sat 'til well after dark, but saw no more deer. Although we were encouraged by the number of tracks we saw on our walk back to the cabin. We had a tasty dinner at Buster's then headed back to Sun City Ranch to get some sleep.

Saturday morning we sat for several hours each at a couple different spots without seeing a deer. On our way back to the cabin for lunch, I walked through some wooded draws and scared out a couple of does. Gerry got a shot at one but didn't bring it down and we never found a blood trail. With only one evening remaining in our trip, I was definitely beginning to get discouraged.

That night I decided to hike to a different location than Gerry so as to double the chances of one of us seeing a deer. I wedged myself into a bush near the top of a steep ridge overlooking some thick woods and a pond. 20 minutes after sundown I could hardly believe it when a young buck walked into view. I thought for a minute about whether I should wait for a doe or bigger buck, but quickly realized this might be my only chance. I made a good shot, then waited for Gerry to come with the truck and a camera.


If you're really interested in hearing about the shooting and field dressing, give me a call. For the rest of you, I'll fast forward an hour or so to the point when Gerry and I had to lift the deer up the ridge to the truck. It was about a 50' rise, not straight up, but it might as well have been. I definitely owe him one. Thanks to Gerry for taking me hunting and helping with the deer and thanks to my neighbor Lee for letting me borrow his Ruger .25-06. It certainly did the trick. Gerry and I shared the meat, but next year we need to make sure he gets some of his own.