Top_Heavy's World

She was exotic, her dark skin smooth and inviting. I was drawn to the tiny speckles of light, like glitter, on her upper chest... the tiny beads of sweat glistened in the candle light and my eyes were drawn, like the moisture itself, down and in, to the center of her chest. My hands brushed her long, dark hair back and her dark eyes were already looking at me. I was overwhelmed by her beauty, unable to speak. She moved towards me, her arm going out of my vision as she reached for my belt. My zipper was pulled down followed by the jeans themselves. She looked down and started to make a "yummy" sound but quickly looked up at me and said "Extense, taken for a week will not only increase size, but also performance...." WHAT THE HELL?! I quickly awoke in a very strange mood, somewhat pissed off and somewhat unable to remember where I was. My physical condition showed that at my age I can't even have "one of those dreams" correctly (perhaps the commercial was a subconcious suggestion?)and as the commercial I was hearing in my sleep continued on the TV in the living room, reality and my senses came flooding back to me. I was asleep on the waterbed in the guest room at Todd's house and a stupid infomercial was playing on the Man's Channel. Todd was snoring on the recliner... still in his clothes! I couldn't find the remote, so I just killed the sound and realized I had to be up in an hour. I flopped back onto the bed and closed my eyes.
Still pissy about my 3:00 infomercial, I led the way N along the W fence of the bean field farm we hunted on Saturday. The hope was to stay along that fence to the end of the valley and wait there for the deer as they returned to the park at dawn. Paul and I were in position easy enough and the new snow made it quiet. It was still snowing as we settled in and dropped our bipods. We waited about 30 minutes until dawn and as if by design, the snow stopped as shooting time opened and deer were visible on the terraces below us. We could see 2 deer with in yards of where we had laid last night, and we were within feet of where I had taken the first deer yesterday, so range and scope settings were simple. I made proper adjustments, 4" high at 100 yards was perfect, and Paul turned the custom dials. I waited until both were broadside and I counted down. On "three" we both fired and a deer took off running across the top of the terrace. I froze for a split second, knowing I couldn't have missed, the shot felt perfect and in my minds eye I could see the tiny entry hole on the side of the deer, 1/3 of the way down, on the back part of the shoulder, not quite a "high shoulder" shot, but still perfect. I refocused on Paul's deer and cycled the tight Nesika action. She stopped part way up the terrace, having been on the lower side when he shot. She was basically at a 45 degree angle going up the steep trail and quartering away from me. The crosshairs settled on the tiny fluff of hair at the base of her neck. I have to admit, 22X NightForce optics allow you to see things like never before. I held for a brief moment and the light competion trigger started the sequence. The heavy gun moved back and left and I saw the impact as the picture went black. The loud impact reverberated for a second in the valley and Paul said "Nice Shot". We waited another 1/2 hour and nothing else came out to play, so we moved to investigate my shooting. The big doe was hit 1 vertebrae back from where I believe I was aiming, I didn't take into account for the wind coming off the terrace and I think I was 2" back... doesn't much matter, she was harvested cleanly and no meat was wasted. I popped over the terrace and just as expected, the first deer was just behind the clump of grass, the tiny bullet hole as I expected. She had dropped so fast that we both thought I missed, when actually there was a 3rd deer we hadn't seen.
The deer were tagged and then loaded into the truck and we followed another friend to his property. This farm was a long and narrow 80 acres and at the bottom there was a heavy timber that ran the length of the farm. Paul and I took our positions and Todd walked the far fence. 29 deer busted away from me and across the CRP field E of us. At 600 yards the deer stopped and offered great long range targets, but we didn't have permission on this property so I had to pass. I was bumbed about missing a perfect opportunity, standing deer at a measured yardage with nothing in the way and my gun set at the proper setting... 16.75" high at 100 yds... I reset the dials and we regrouped. The deer crossed the road on the N end of the section and then crossed diagonally across the next section. We finally caught up with them in the 3rd section and as Todd looked over the plat book, they crossed again into the 4th section. For those of you who don't know what that means, a section is a 1 mile by 1 mile square of land, and in this area, there was a road around them. The deer stopped in the middle bowl of the 4th section, straight S of a house Todd knew. A quick cell call and we had permission for that entire mile! I drove out of sight and laid out the stalk. I led the way over the first hill, through a grass buffer strip and to the top of the next hill. We were almost exactly in the center of the section over looking a pile of deer at 191 yards. We slid into position, I could see the deer in the scope, but my bipod was short enough I would have hit the top of the ridge. TIP TO REMEMBER! Look down your barrel as you set up for a shot to be sure your bullet will clear! I learned this the hard way many years ago, and it saved me here. We slid higher and everyone got into position. I counted down again and at "three" my rifle barked, Todd's rifle was 1/2 cut off by my shot and Paul's shot was heard after Todd's. Paul waited long enough that his deer was flinching from my shot and he missed barely over the shoulder. I tried to cycle the bolt, but I had some snow melt on the black gun and it refroze, the bolt was frozen shut... I was done with this herd. Todd's bullet took his deer between the eyes and the tracking job was very short! My deer took a couple of steps and stood, stiff legged for a mere second before Paul put her down for good. I had to laugh, he shot at the only standing deer in the field and wanted to argue with me when I tried to explain why... He saw the original pencil hole when we got up to her. Todd unloaded the clip, each shot harder than the one before it as the deer scattered and ran. Crazy as it might be, they were running right towards the park we hunt along... only 2 more sections.
We all went back to the bean field for the final evening of season. Todd and I went to the tip of the terrace where we hunted Saturday night and Paul watched the S end of the field where there were so many tracks. Todd found the Swisher Sweet Cigars under 4" of snow (he forgot them last night) and after fighting a wet lighter I was enjoying a great afternoon in my favorite fashion. I was on the face of the terrace as the sun had melted the snow away. I set my hips on a big dirt mound and by laying parallel to the terrace itself, I was very comfortable. I was blowing smoke rings and looking for the snowmobile we could hear when a group of 27 deer came racing around the terrace we were on. I didn't have time to do anything but pick up my rifle and lean backwards for a shot. I let the first 5 deer pass me, the stopped from 20 to 40 yards away, and I picked out a monster doe a few yards farther. The band stopped and stood looking at us, Todd was leaning out past my head, I am glad as the distance from my ear to his chamber was measured in inches, the sound would surely have ruptured my ear drum. He leaned forward with the semi automatic rifle and I twisted farther and farther to my left... you must picture this, I am laying with my feet towards the deer, my waist is facing N up the terrace, I am rolling my shoulders S and the gun is pointing over my waist and towards my feet to focus on the deer. All of this is done off hand with the scope still on 22X! I couldn't even get close enough to the scope to see the full field of view, there was a black circle around the deer, filling almost 1/2 of the scope. I called the count and at the movement, my doe was down. Todd was slow enough that I heard his rifle "CLICK"... he failed to load the rifle! Deer were running in all directions and I rolled upright and set the gun on the top of the terrace. I cycled the bolt (wiped it dry after the issues a couple of hours before) and started locating tagets. Buck, keep looking... Buck, keep looking... Buck... the field was clear in front of me and I couldnt find a single doe! A group of does dropped below us and Todd made a fantastic 200 yard running shot. She cartwheeled into the timber, hit only yards before she would have been safe.
We laughed and replayed the position I was in and the look on Todd's face when his gun didn't fire... A single doe popped over the terrace about 50 yards away and saw us hunched over laughing, curious, she looked right at us and started walking our way. I just leaned over farther and Todd layed the rifle across the broad of my back. The impact was obvious, even with the echo of the shot still ringing. Paul was just behind a rise in the field facing S and never even saw a deer! I am sorry Paul, I wish you hadn't listened to my idea about watching that corner.
Season ended at darkness, a long a wonderful season. The weekend proved to be fruitful, 21 deer total. 10 for me, 3 for Todd, 4 for Paul and 4 for Todd's friend, the landowner that allowed us to hunt.