My First Deer

[jthrelf]

I took my first deer this morning at French Creek State Park in 5C. It was small doe that I hit toward the base of the neck with a 12 gauge rifled slug. She was probably about 30 yards away and dropped immediately, so I do feel good about the quick kill but I feel bad she was smaller/younger than I originally thought. Not as concerned about the amount of meat (I think it will still be plenty for my purposes), but rather the ethics. Oh well - she didn't suffer more than a few seconds from what I could see.

It's my second year hunting and last year I just got a few squirrels. Went out probably 6-7 times for deer in 5C and 5D late season, always in the morning but never saw anything. So this morning I didn't expect much of anything. Parked at about 05:45 and walked maybe 300 yards along a gravel road and into the woods with a slight slope in front of me and decent clearance all around. Sat down against a tree in a small fold-up chair and enjoyed some coffee watching the sunrise right in front of me - very nice!

At 06:30 / legal time, I put the Mossberg 500 (28 vent rib/ported barrel - just bead sights) as well as my ear pro on my lap. About 07:30 just when I was thinking of getting up to pee, I looked to my left and saw a doe. I literally thought no way! (again, wasn't expecting much on the ground on public land). Put my ear pro on, shouldered the shotgun and pushed the safety off. She was broadside and my backstop looked good. I debated taking the shot for a second but determined it was a good one. Boom.

I see a deer running away and got worried I missed, or even worse - wounded her and I felt terrible. I see another hunter / orange about 100 yards away. The deer continues to run and I know I'm not getting another shot, but am walking towards the location. A few seconds later I look down and see my downed doe, lifeless. There were two and I didn't even realize. Surprised and excited, I run back to get my pack and look around a bit to find her again. I tagged her and the other hunter came over to say hello and congrats. He helped me a bit with dressing which I was thankful for since I've never seen it in person, and I think I did a decent enough job.



She was small but it didn't look like much meat was ruined from the shot. I kept the heart and liver and took her to a butcher shop nearby. The three massive bucks at the drop-off didn't make me feel great about this little one, but again I was most concerned with a quick kill. Still debating the ethics of her age, but I didn't really know at the distance.

What do you all think? I guess maybe I'm looking for verification I didn't do so badly, or suggestions for next time.... I still have a 5D antlerless tag for late season and my antlered tag for later this week.

[lts1ow]

As long as it was a clean kill and you eat the meat, nothing to worry about.

There will ALWAYS be someone with a bigger deer, so don't worry about that.

Congrats on the first deer

[GOYABEAN]

congrats you popped your cherry on to the next one .

[gghbi]

Smaller deer have more tender meat. There are too many does out there, so you did your part. And.... congrats!

[P89]

Congrats!

[MARINE DIVISION TWO]

Congrats ! Secondly when I was presented with several doe tags years ago I would take one small doe and have it processed into cutlets only ! The best tasing melt in your mouth cutlets ever !

[pahuntnfool]

Congrats on your first!

[Gunowner99]

Great job and congratulations!

[Sandcut]

Extra doe tags are issued in those areas where antlerless deer are in this week for a reason...to keep the population in check. Shooting extra does in those areas is a management tool. Shooting a 7.5 year old doe and a 1.5 year old doe both result in one less breeding doe in the population, which helps to reduce the population. Mission accomplished!

I used to work with a guy who hunted MD. The rules were that you had to tag a doe before you could tag a buck. The one year he actually shot a doe that was so small that he actually carried it out tied to his climbing tree stand.

[Yoder]

Don't ever feel bad about making a clean kill. If it was killed by coyotes it would have died a horrible death. It's hard to tell the size if you haven't seen a lot of deer. Best way to tell is to look at their head. They look like they have a really short snout compared to an adult deer. Learning to hunt on your own is pretty bad ass. I had it easy learning from my dad. Great job.