I finally broke the firearms jinx on deer. Got this mature doe Thanksgiving morning around 1115 hours. Pictured with me is the very generous farmer who made it possible for me to have access to many hundreds of acres of Michigan farmland to hunt on this year. I suppose it helps I buy hay from him. I am a new customer for him this fall. Boy, this is some wide open country, not at all like the woodlands I am used to bow huting in!



You can see how open the land is in the photo. You can also see how dismal a day it was as this photo was taken around noon! Have seen the sun only 2 days for the month of November. It's basically been raining the entire month here.

I was hunting in a wooden shanty along the many huge drainage ditches bordering the big fields. I was chatting with my farmer friend, Oliver, who had walked over for a break from the shanty he was hunting in on a different section. We were talking about wrapping things up for the day.

While we were talking I spotted a bunch of deer on their way from the north. Oliver jumped into the shanty with me and the group of deer came in. The deer were a large group, at least nine, who came running my way (I couldn't believe it) and milled around quite aways out from the shanty. I tried shooting two other does but ended up shooting over them. This doe presented a quartering too shot and I settled my crosshairs right on her shoulder (I held high on the others) and let the slug go. The 12 ga slug hit its mark exactly where I aimed and the doe went about 10 yards before going down. She turned out to be only 120 yards away. We had over estimated the distance on the first two deer.

Entry wound:



Exit wound:



The doe's shoulder is on the right side of this photo. With her head still turned this photo looks strange.

Anyway, this is the first deer I've killed with a firearm.

I think Oliver was more excited than me. I've been hunting the farm fields all season and pretty much had no confidence. Since I was shooting a slug gun I figured I needed the deer in real close. I passed a lot up that were within the same range since the beginning of gun season. Now I know better and know this gun can reach them. We cleaned the deer and loaded her in his truck and went back to his farm. He got his fork lift out and put her on top of my SUV. Guess I will have to keep buying hay!

Congrats on the deer. Looks like a nice mature doe. Did a good job!

[ 11-29-2003, 03:12: Message edited by: Mark G ]

Congratulations Ann. Looks like you have some mighty fine steaks there.

[ 11-29-2003, 03:55: Message edited by: WyoJoe ]

Congratulations Ann!

Doe makes good eating as you know from your bow hunting.

How badly did the slug separate the muscle layers of the barrel causing the formation of hematomas?

The medium sized 4 point I hit with the 470 NE (500 gr cast GCFP bullet at 1500 fps) drilled a nice clean hole, but caused massive hematoma formation in the chest walls. Was wondering if it was related to caliber or nose shape.

Mike, I won't know about meat damage until I butcher her. I am going to let her hang in my barn for a week though. I plan to make all steaks and roasts. Maybe if I am ambitious, some jerky too! Yumm.

I will try for more tomorrow afternoon.

Hi Joe, don't be shy, post or email that recipe! Who knows, it may inspire me to make lots of jerky!

Ann,
I will have to send it by snail mail because it has some graphics on it. Is the address in Attica on your web site good to send it to?

[ 11-29-2003, 22:47: Message edited by: WyoJoe ]

Ann,

Here is another recipe that works well, but does require a dehydrator:

Mike Alexander's Recipe for Venison Jerky

3 lbs. Meat cut very lean. Slices should be 1/8 to 3/16" thick.
1/2 C. Worchestershire Sauce
1/2 C. Soy Sauce
2 Tsp. Msg
1 Tsp. Garlic Powder
1 Tsp. Onion Powder
1 Tsp. Black Pepper
1 Heaping Tsp. of Red Pepper
2 Tsp. Liquid Smoke

Place the sauce in a bowl. Individually dip the pieces in the sauce to be sure that complete coverage is achieved.In the end, the meat in a bowl should be just covered. Let meat soak in frig. 12 to 24 hours. Dry till there isn't a soft center to be felt.

For the jerky meat from a decent sized deer (after the steaks and kabob cubes are cut), it usually takes 3 recipes of the sauce to cover 10 to 12 pounds of meat for jerky. You don't want a too refined Worchestershire sauce here ... like Lee and Parrins. French's or Kroger's is better.

We put it up in 3 oz bags and keep it in the freezer. Usually lasts until the next hunting season. Is nice to be reminded why you sit out in the cold and snow while you're hunting!

Guys, you are my heros, thanks so much! What would I do with out you!

I will need these recipes, I killed another doe today. She's even bigger than the other one. I bet this second one was in the 180 to 200 pound range, live weight. She was absolutely massive.

The hunting story and photos about HER will be posted tomorrow!

WyoJoe, yep, my website addy is still good.

Congrats, Annie, may these be the first 2 of many!

BigIron

Nice deer and nice shooting. .

Hi Annie
congratulation you are a great hunter and it was a nice perfect shot.the reason i tested the slugs was mainly to see if they could be useful for bear protection. i have dreamed to travel to alaska fishing and hunting since i was a child(it was very long time ago )now as a grand dad i haven't yet done it. but if my heart disease ,diabetes and backacke gets better i'll certainly do it. i,ve heard so much about those huge grizzly and brown bears over there and i try to prepare myself before departure and find a suitable gun to bring with me.
regards
danny