I'm a Vermont hunter. Deer tend to be few and far between where I hunt in northern VT. My sister recently bought some land in southeast Michigan and, though she doesn't hunt, strongly encouraged me to come and hunt. Vermont is rifle country and southeast MI is not. I have an old Remington 1100 with a smooth slug barrel, but no matter what I tried, the best I could do was 4+ inch groups at 50 yds with a real nice Sightron scope. Sure, I'd love to buy a new shotgun, but I really had no idea if it would make any sense. I'd never seen the land and had NO idea what the deer population was like. I knew my TC Impact would be up to the task. I bought a buck and doe license. The Impact was already sighted in in preparation for my second ML season in Vermont.
My sister took me on a tour of her property and the number of deer and sign was very impressive. I marked a likely spot with my GPS and was back there before first light the next day. The doe and fawn parade started at first light, but I passed on them. A spike wandered past, but he was kinda small and never had a clean look at him. Around 00745 a nice buck came foraging in at a distance. Watched him thru my binoculars and waited. He wandered right next to a big doe and two yearlings, maybe 50 yards out. Something else spooked the doe and they took off, but the buck stayed around. He went back to foraging. He walked behind some brush so I repositioned with a decent rest and waited for him to walk into the crosshairs. Roughly 35 yds broadside. At the shot he took off. I waited a little while and went to look for blood etc. I searched for 10 minutes and.....nothing. Finally I found a few small spots of blood. I tried to track him through tall grass and found next to nothing. I searched for a half hour in ever widening circles. Nothing. Needless to say I wasn't too happy. I went to reload and I didn't have the Barnes bullet pusher with me. I trudged back to my car, knowing I'd return and continue searching. Once reloaded I headed back out. As I returned to the area, I was walking along a path brush hogged in the grass. It was then that I crossed his trail. It was as if someone had gone by with a bucket and brush and painted his escape route with blood. I found the deer about 100 yds from where he'd been shot. A high lung shot just behind the shoulder. No exit wound. The bullet must have nicked the shoulder because it had turned rearward into the stomach. A good 8 pt by Vermont standards, though probably small by MI standards. The next day I also took a doe at 30 yards with a clean double lung pass through. She only ran about 30 yards.
My sister took me on a tour of her property and the number of deer and sign was very impressive. I marked a likely spot with my GPS and was back there before first light the next day. The doe and fawn parade started at first light, but I passed on them. A spike wandered past, but he was kinda small and never had a clean look at him. Around 00745 a nice buck came foraging in at a distance. Watched him thru my binoculars and waited. He wandered right next to a big doe and two yearlings, maybe 50 yards out. Something else spooked the doe and they took off, but the buck stayed around. He went back to foraging. He walked behind some brush so I repositioned with a decent rest and waited for him to walk into the crosshairs. Roughly 35 yds broadside. At the shot he took off. I waited a little while and went to look for blood etc. I searched for 10 minutes and.....nothing. Finally I found a few small spots of blood. I tried to track him through tall grass and found next to nothing. I searched for a half hour in ever widening circles. Nothing. Needless to say I wasn't too happy. I went to reload and I didn't have the Barnes bullet pusher with me. I trudged back to my car, knowing I'd return and continue searching. Once reloaded I headed back out. As I returned to the area, I was walking along a path brush hogged in the grass. It was then that I crossed his trail. It was as if someone had gone by with a bucket and brush and painted his escape route with blood. I found the deer about 100 yds from where he'd been shot. A high lung shot just behind the shoulder. No exit wound. The bullet must have nicked the shoulder because it had turned rearward into the stomach. A good 8 pt by Vermont standards, though probably small by MI standards. The next day I also took a doe at 30 yards with a clean double lung pass through. She only ran about 30 yards.
