The Doe in the Cut-Over

Derrick Outen is a character?and yes...a sharp-shooter.  If you know him then this blog entry won?t surprise you much.  I?ve been after Derrick to let me video one of his hunts for a while and we finally lined it up.  This past Saturday morning, I met Derrick early in the morning and we set out on our hunt.

We ended up in a nice condo stand overlooking a field that is surrounded by woods. We made a point to be quiet and not use much light as we entered because sometimes deer bed down in the areas surrounding this stand and we didn?t want to spook any of them on the way in.  It didn?t take us long to get up the stand and get situated.  I also made sure I was on the side of the stand that would be filming the ?good? side of Derrick?s face just in case I had to get him on camera. 

It was 43 degrees and the air had a crispness to it that felt pretty good.  We sat and watched the sun rise from about 30 feet up in this spacious condo stand.  It was a very picturesque scene to observe as you could see for a very long distance all the way around the stand.  As the sun rose the beams of sunlight shined down onto the field for a really unique sight.  As soon as the sun hit the top of the trees it was dead in our face.  Derrick looked at me and said ?that?s why this is an afternoon stand? lol!  We leaned back to keep the sun out of our face as much as possible.  Eventually it finally got high enough not to bother us.

We sat and scanned the field for about 2 and a half hours.  We had a great aerial view of everything going on around and beneath us.  The only problem was that nothing was moving!  Derrick had some food plot product planted in the field and some corn out around the edges?everything seemed just right.  I was sure something was going to walk out at any minute.  The cut-over had been cut about a year ago and so there was thick brush surrounding the field that we were overlooking.  If a deer walked through the brush, as Derrick said he frequently sees them do, you would see the bushes and small trees moving as they came through.  Normally one wouldn?t see this kind of stuff, but being up so high you have that visual capability due to the vantage point the stand gives you.  He said if it?s a buck, sometimes you?ll just see antlers making their way through the brush in the cut-over.  The thought of that scene just kept playing over and over in my mind, but no matter how hard I thought about it? it just didn?t happen.

The clock was ticking and I had to head to the beach to celebrate the one year ?engage-iversary? with the wife.  We got down out of the stand and headed back to the shop.  Derrick said that there was another cut-over that we needed to check on the way back in.  We drove a little while and then parked the truck.  We got out and started walking.  I?ve never tried to just walk up on a deer before and didn?t really think anything like this would work.  So as we got out of the truck I was asking myself all these questions about how we were really about to pull something like this off and if so, how was I going to get it on film.  I didn?t have any answers that made sense to me.

We arrived to the edge of a cut-over and this cut-over was looking down on a really steep hillside.  Derrick said that the deer were going to be on the hillside somewhere and that we needed to be as quiet as possible.  He really knows the land well and we would be shooting at a down angle in a direction that didn?t pose any danger to anyone.  Since we were out of the stand I was free handing the camera which equals a ?shakey? video.  Also, at this location the sun was in our face again and it was bright.  We took a few steps with Derrick leading and me in the back.  After about 5 yards it was clear to see that ?quiet? wasn?t the word that would describe our entrance.  There were just too many sticks on the ground, brush in the way, briars ripping our pants, and cuckle berries.  It was thick and not fun to walk through. We got about 15 yards in and neared a tripod stand that he?s got on the hillside and he said ?there they go? and I looked up and saw 2 white tails just bounding down the brush-covered-hillside.  They were getting out of there and I mean quick like.  This is the scene that a hunter sometime sees, but hates to see it happen?that is, spooking a deer and watching them flee the scene.  Right after he said ?they?re they go? I had started turning the camera on and he was propping up on the tripod stand.  To my surprise, one of the deer got right on the edge of the woods and just stopped and turned around.  I have no idea why this deer stopped, but when she did I heard Derrick say ?You ready??  Since the sun was directly in our eyes it was really hard for me to find the deer in the camera.  I was bobbling the camera and mumbling?"uh, yea-noo, hold on, yeah I got her, go ahead".  As soon as I said ?go ahead? Derrick pulled the trigger and the shot rang out and the deer ran to the right going out of the cutover and out of our sight. 

I watched the deer in the screen and I told Derrick that I didn?t think he hit the deer.  Derrick just stared at me and we had an awkward moment of silence and then he said ?You mean to tell me that you are doubting me??  The look on his face was reminiscent of a look that the football coaches gave us when we had just messed up and they asked a question?knowing that they knew what the answer was!  I said, ?Well you could have hit it and I?m not saying that you didn?t hit it, but just from the way she ran off and the dirt I saw fly behind her? I don?t think you hit her.?  Another stare down and question??Clint, you?re really going to sit here and say that you don?t think I hit that deer??  I got the camera back out and looked at the video and the video was tough to see because of the light and me moving it around so much ?Blair-witch? style, but at the end of it you could see the deer and the shot.  We watched it back again and I said? ?You didn?t hit that deer.  I?m telling you...you missed.?  Derrick just shook his head in total disbelief that I didn?t think he hit the deer.  The look on his face was one that I can?t describe accurately here in words. I think my doubting his shot may hurt our friendship a little! Lol!  He said ?Alright?let?s go get the mule and see?but I?m telling you? I hit that deer.? 

We headed back to get his mule (yes we?re in SC, but that?s not a real mule but a larger ATV) and on the way back I was thinking to myself that there was no way he hit the deer.  I mean think about it?we just go walking through some cut-over, the deer jumps, he props up on a tri-pod, asks me if I?m ready, I give him the go ahead, and he shoots downhill at about 125 yards and he hits the deer?... all within 10 ? 15 seconds?  Come on now..the odds were just too high working against us.

We got in the mule and headed out to the location of where the deer was and sure enough?we found blood at the location where the deer was standing when he pulled the trigger.  When we found that first drop of blood Derrick gave me another long, awkward pause/stare basically letting me know that I was dumb for doubting him.  It was again reminiscent of a look you may have seen in high school football from one of your coaches.  We parked the mule and set out tracking.  Derrick had also switched guns from the rifle to a shotgun in case the deer jumped again.  We set out walking over this cutover again trailing this deer.  The briars, cuckle berries, and everything else was sticking to us and getting in our way.  Since it was early a lot of the brush was wet and so our clothes became wet after just a couple of yards tracking this doe.  We walked and trailed this deer forever and we could easily see the blood trail and this deer was really moving after the shot.  We only lost the blood trail momentarily and then regained it.  This doe ran back up the hill, made a left, and then headed back down the hill toward the creek.  We trailed this deer for about 115 yards and it took us about 20 minutes.  We kept thinking we were just about to see the deer, but then there would be more blood further up.  I told Derrick that we were going to have to add 5lbs to the weight of the deer because of how long the blood trail was.  We were both surprised at how long the deer ran.

We finally found the deer lying down the hillside near the creek.  It was a decent doe and, as bad as I hate to say it, he made a perfect shot.  I mean the bullet placement was right where it?s supposed to be.  When we saw where he hit the deer he kept giving me a hard time about me doubting him.  We drug it to the next closest road.  When we looked at the doe we noticed that the deer was really old because it only had about 4 teeth on the bottom jaw and those teeth were loose.  We also noticed that this deer had been shot earlier in the season by someone. It looked like someone grazed the top of this deer?s neck with a rifle because the hair was gone and you could see the fresh scar on the back of the deer?s neck.  I?d never seen one with that few teeth and that been shot before, much less that combination at the same time.

We headed back to the mule and brought it over to pick the deer up and guess what I got lectured about all the way to get the deer, all the way back to the shop, and all the way to the processor and back?that?s right??I can?t believe you doubted me? and on and on and on.

This is a good example of properly having the date in the pic

Below is the video I shot?be ready cause it?s quick and very shakey

All in all it was a good hunt and I won?t ever question Derrick?s shot again (whether he misses or not)! Lol! I will say though that he made a good shot and got it done in a situation that was probably not the best case scenario so I give him kudos for that.  His shot was definitely better than my video!

Regards,

Clint