Two days, two deer

Yesterday before dark my neighbor John - who I also let hunt on my property - shot a buck. I heard one loud bang from over on his property and towards the river. A little while later Kelly came from his tree stand on my property. He also heard the loud gunshot and then heard a pistol shot. Since Kelly knows John he drove over to see if John got his deer. Over the past few weeks Kelly has been watching two bucks in my pasture, and after seeing John's deer, Kelly believes John shot the smaller of the two bucks.

Tonight Kelly shot a buck on my property. Shortly before dusk. One shot was all it took. The sound echoed off the ridge west of my place. Kelly is not sure if this is the other of the two bucks he had seen earlier. Another neighbor of mine, Grant, had seen 18 deer in Wyatt's field south of mine last week, so there are a number of deer around. I think the one Kelly shot is a good sized buck. His antlers are 5 points on each side.

I went with Kelly as he drove out to the middle pasture to get his deer. The deer had just crossed the river and just had come up from the little low area near the river. His legs were still wet from the river crossing. The buck had crossed the river to come service a doe on my side of the river. Same old story... male chases a female and gets in trouble for it.

I helped Kelly as he gut the deer by his pickup's headlights as it was now dark. He saved the liver for his dad. The rest of the insides will be eaten by birds and other animals. The last time Kelly shot a deer here the insides were completely gone by the next afternoon. Steam rose from the buck's body into the cool night air though the buck's lower legs were cold and wet from the river crossing.

As we drove back to the house we saw a doe cross in front of us. The loud gunshot and our being in the pasture hadn't kept the other deer away for long. Else she is kind of dumb.

Two less deer - that is good. There are too many around here. It can be dangerous to drive at night.