HollyOn a cloudy, chilly December day in 2017 I was heading out early to the blind because I felt that it was going to be a good hunt. I was about 16 weeks pregnant at the time so I needed to pace myself walking out there.
Started seeing movement early so my anticipation grew. A few does came out and a little spike. After that nothing more cane out for awhile. Once it started getting dark I was just about to start packing up until I noticed a deer coming out to my left. My heart began to race when I realized it was a buck. It was too dark to film but I was not letting him get away.
He finally came on out in front of me. Once he was in my shooting lane about 60 yards away, I stopped him, aimed, and pulled the trigger. He then jumped, tucked his tail, and took off across the field. I knew by the way he was running that he was going down over there. So after watching the direction he ran to, I backed out and went home.
The Search
After waiting long enough, my husband and I headed out to find him. I pointed in direction he ran for my husband and I looked around the field edge for blood. He kept me at the field because of my pregnancy. Searching around the kudzu mess was rough so I let him cover that. The moment I was about to give up all hope I found blood. I hollered to my husband and he hurried through the vines and up the hill to me.
From there he followed the trail while helping me through the kudzu mess. I sure didn’t need to fall and get hurt so had to be careful. All a sudden he goes “There he is”. I looked around with my flashlight where he was pointing and finally spotted that white belly. My excitement rose fast as I fought the urge to run to him, but I knew that wouldn’t be wise.
The moment I got to my buck, I was overcome with emotions and thankfulness. I can only imagine what my growing bundle of joy was thinking as I was doing a happy dance. Probably “hey mom could you knock it off already”. My husband went for the 4-wheeler while I sat there admiring my buck.
My Twilight Trophy
My new trophy wasn’t a huge one but he was still beautiful and healthy. He was a decent 6 point with a short nub on one side. After giving thanks to God for such an amazing animal, my husband rolled up on the 4-wheeler. He backed up to where we were and strapped him to the wheeler. He didn’t want me to lift anything heavy. He sure looks out for me. At the house it was time for the processing.
That night I couldn’t help but relive that experience. Sure it wasn’t an actual “trophy” harvest but I was thrilled with what I got. Which is all that matters. Harvesting anything while pregnant IS a trophy in my opinion. This is a lifestyle, not a hobby. Harvesting game to feed the family is the main goal. Sharing those moments with my unborn child was very special.
[…] While I was 16 weeks pregnant, I finally had a decent buck come out. I got my Thompson Center .243 ready and when he walked out 60 yards in front of me, I stopped him then pulled the trigger. He jumped, tucked his tail, and took off over the hill. I named him The Twilight Buck. […]