The Countertop Chronicles

Sometimes it pays to get the hell out of dodge.

Sitting in DC, no matter who I talk to, its just a constant barrage of bullshit. Leaving the city of talking points, therefor, is bound to be a refreshing change.

With that in mind, and considering this new moon is the start of this years rut, I decided to head south, to North Carolina and get an on the ground feel for what the election will bring (and with the hope of landing a buck Sarah Palin could be proud of).

Yesterday afternoon saw us outside the Eastern Carolina town of Keanansville where I learned the local bucks are mostly dog driven and just not too big.

Spend some time at the Keanansville bait and tackle as folks hauled in the first bucks of this falls big buck contest. Some nice bodied deer, but a little lacking in the rack department.

We headed out to greener pastures though, a 3,000 acre QDMA managed property with gated access (not high fence, simply gates at the driveway to prevent folks from coming in

They put me on a stand overlooking a river bottom and under some powerlines. Had about a 1500 view down in both directions and sat down around 5pm to watch the action.

And action it was. At a range of about 800 yards (too far for me to shoot) I witnessed 3 bucks in a battle royale on a grassy bluff overlooking the river. I was mesmerized, when I decided to look the other way and saw 5 medium sized does grazing.

All of a sudden a small 6 pointer, probab ly 2 year old, buck jumped out into the field. He had a nice rack for his age, and will certainly be a wall hanger, but not yet.

He too became a bit skittish, and I was hoping a dominant buck would appear, but none did. Instead a couple of more does wandered out.

Still, as the sun went down, I could hear deer fighting all around. Eventually, a nice sized doe materialized, and with shooting time down I decided to take her with a 185 yard shot to put food in the fridge. The 140 grain sierra game king powered by 54.5 grains of h4831 was just devastating, putting a small slit into her left side and blowing a good chunch of her heart and lungs out a softball sized hole on the right side. She was knocked down, then sprang up and ran about 20 yards leaving a river of blood behind.

Word to the wise, if your hunting in the afternoon, don’t forget a flashlight. And have a backup. Its tough to dress a deer in the dark.

My buddy final picked me up, and under the lights of his truck, I gutted her and then hung her over night.

Its now 6:15 am, and a brisk 31 degrees. I’m in a different stand, closer to where those bucks are and along a line of heavy scrapes and rubs between some food plots, a watering hole, and the nasty tangled brush the big boys love.

Can’t see anything, but can hear lots of deer. Shooting time starts in 20 minutes or so.