But there was hope. The local forecast said most of the rain would be late in the day and even Intellicast showed a lower probably of rain in the AM.
So I went to bed a little pessimistic. I decided I probably would miss the first opening day in many years.
I woke up around 2:00 and peaked outside the window. No evidence of rain, and while I could hear the wind, it wasn't screaming. Back to sleep - sort of.
Over the next couple hours I fitfully slept while peeking outside every time I woke up.
Finally a little after 4:00 I got up and let the dogs out. The forecast was now for rain by late morning, and the radar showed lots of heavy rain to the north but very little in the immediate area. I fed the dogs and sat down to think. I have a 0% chance of seeing deer if I don't go out and the temperatures were extremely mild. I'm going hunting.
I didn't have time to take a shower, but I don't worry about that too much at Mike's. The deer are somewhat used to human scent and with high winds and other hunters in the woods, the effect would hopefully not be detrimental. Within a short amount of time, I was out the door. My LED headlamp and failed since the last time I used it - with the batteries leaking and corroding. It wasn't an expensive unit, but I had grown fond of its utility.
With heavy wind and the potential for rain, I didn't want to sit in my A#1 usual spot - I'd rather be on the ground with high winds and wet. But I hadn't planned for this when I was scouting. My plan was to find a low spot somewhere that I could use as a ground blind. With the expected weather, I was only going to be hunting for a few hours anyway.
Once at Mike's I headed down into the woods. It has been an odd, warm and wet fall, resulting in most of the trees leafless, but much of the lower undergrowth (especially the honeysuckle) still leafy and greenish. Looking around in the dark with my flashlight, I found a spot among some honeysuckle that would give me some cover and good outline breaking stuff behind me. I set up my SwiveLimb as a seat - this is a great versatile treestand, it is too bad that they don't make them anymore...
I settled in for a long wait. It was about 45 minutes to shooting light. At least temperatures were at a friendly ~60F. The wind was howling, but sitting low in the ravine, it was actually kind of pleasant.
As it got light, not much was moving. Even the squirrels seemed subdued with the noisy wind. Still, as it got light, I decided the spot I had chosen in the dark was actually pretty good - the biggest negative being that I was only a few feet from a well-used deer run. I had a lot of time to think and mentally decided that with the adverse weather, I probably had about a 10% chance of seeing deer - still better than if I was sitting in my living room at home.
Sitting in a ground blind (and I use that term loosely), it felt very much like my first few years of hunting did in college. Hunting from a treestand is "better," and it makes it much easier to see. But there is something really visceral about being eye level with deer when hunting.
And even as the morning wind picked up, the ravine remained nice enough. A few hickory nuts did aim for me as the wind blew them down.
I tried not to look at my watch, but around 10:00 I decided I should probably look at the radar. If heavy rain was imminent, I wanted to be out before it got to me. I was wearing my rainsuit as a precaution, so I started fishing around in my many pockets looking for where my phone was.
As I was looking for my phone, I saw movement way ahead to the left in the form of antlers bobbing up and down. A buck was moving from the left, away from me and to the right. My .243 was on my shooting sticks, so I got it up. He was a bit far, and there were many trees in between us, but as he crossed the creek, he turned a little more to the right and into a small clearing.
To get ready for my mule deer hunt, I've been doing most of my target shooting lately at 200 yards. So with a solid rest on my Bog-Pod, I took the shot.
The buck dropped at the shot. I reloaded by .243 and after a short wait started walking toward him. He looked like he was still moving, so I put a second round into him to be sure and to put him down quickly.
As I got to the creek, I was looking for a way to get down and across it when a branch I was leaning on gave way. I nearly fell in and bonked my head on a rock, but managed to roll onto some debris, keeping my gun out of the muck as well.
The deer was a smaller 8-point, with a spread just to the width of his ears - pretty good for the area where I hunt, with lots of other hunters and nearby public land. I was happy. I'm mostly after meat when I hunt near home.
But now the real work... I packed up my stuff and headed to the truck. The radar showed torrential rain to the north, but it was only heading slowly to where I was. Shedding a few layers of clothes, I went back to the deer and field dressed him. Then it was time to drag him. Through the first creek, across the ravine. Through the second creek and up that blasted final hill.
Once at my truck, I checked in my deer on my phone. Mike walked up as I was finishing this and startled me - he was wearing a Tyvek suit as he was doing some work in his attic. We talked for a bit, before I loaded the deer and headed for home. I thanked Mike as he was walking back to his house and he thanked me for shooting the deer before noon - with memories of the previous year.
Once back at home, I unpacked and cleaned up a few things - laundry can wait for now. The antlers weren't big enough to do anything with, so I took them off an skinned him to get the meat cooling down as quickly as possible. As I was skinning, I found a major bullet fragment. The .243 isn't a real thumper, and I'd prefer the bullets stay in one piece. But the fact that I recovered the bullet meant that I had the deer and it had done its job.
I decided to drop the head off for testing by the Indiana DNR - and it would make disposing of it easier since I left the hide attached. The DNR check station appeared to be mostly college students - probably getting credit for their work.
I've had some fantastic hunting over the last 12 months. My big whitetail in 2016. Another wild hog in early 2017. Mule deer a few weeks previous. Once I process the deer, the freezer will be full again. But with a lot of vacation to burn yet, it is possible I'll get cabin fever and will have to head out again yet this year.
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