Haven’t gone to hunt bucks in Maine yet …but soon. What keeps me hunting? Adrenaline, my friends. I was just on “youtube”, checking out those already hunting. I was getting little surges of adrenaline just watching, hearing a stream nearby gurgling even on  youtube, leaves crunching and some seeing scrapes and rubs was enough to get me excited. You too?

Yes, guess, I’m in the rut as well!

It’s been warm this whole week but mother nature says snow is coming.

I recall years back as a teen hunting just south of Erroll NH near 13 mile woods with 6 inches of snow on the ground. There was nary a deer track to be seen.  So my dad and I pushed a small piece of land, hoping to see a deer. We were venison hunting, you see. 

Out popped a doe.

One of my dads friends took a shot at the doe. We checked for blood. None! Not even in snow.

“Crap” the shooter friend said, with a discouraging tone, and they turned and headed back toward camp.

“Wait,” I said, “I haven’t seen a track all day so I’m gonna follow that doe track.” 

As I turned to follow the track, the shooter friend said, “Hey, I’ll come with you! “Great,” I said, as my dad and other hunt friend headed back toward camp.

We followed those tracks for 100 yards and still didn’t find any blood.

The shooter discouraged was about to turn back when I found a tiny speck of blood. Now our adrenaline kicked in to continue. Funny thing about adrenaline! Instant energy!

We found another crimson drop melting into the snow. Then in another 30 yards we saw multiple drops. Ahead, another 30 yards lie the doe. She was down for the count! Excited, we fired a few shots into the ground to alert my dad and friends. In just minutes they arrived.

The doe was hit high in the lungs. That’s why we didn’t see any at the start.

The moral of this story is simple. Don’t just give up! Track your deer or find where your bullet missed or hit a tree. And when your deer is down, ..enjoy the adrenaline rush! 

Good Hunting