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Yeah…so remember when I left most of last week to go hunting??? Well I’m gonna do it again. Each of the MN Militia has been dispersed to the far corners of the state to seek out Bambi….or preferably his elder kin.

So I’ll leave you all to wallow in another Vikings loss, the latest gossip about Britney Spears and/or the latest dumbass idea our politicians came up with. Good luck!

If anyone is looking for me, tell them to wait. If I’m not back in a few days, wait longer.

UPDATE : Well I’m back and it was another wonderful hunt. To be honest I had VERY low expectations going into this year. We were down to five hunters, we had no doe licenses, land disputes had reduced the amount of land we had access to, and the local coyote population had basically wiped out all of this springs fawns.

However, despite not having the tags to shoot them I think the entire weekend was one big long highlight reel of beautiful shooting opportunities. They were just all chances on does…which I didn’t have a permit for.

Early Sunday morning I did have a chance at a buck. While hunkered down in the tree line, I heard something coming up behind me. Soon enough, a very large doe was standing next to me less than 10 feet away. I could see from shadows on the ground there were two more deer behind her. But she knew something was up, the wind was not in her favor so I think she heard my breathing….or my heart. Either way she spooked and ran 20 yards and then stood broadside to me. As did the two behind her…turned out to be another doe, although very small. And a fork-horn buck, also very small. All broadside to me at 20 yards. They even permitted me to stand up and bring the gun to my shoulder. Although I passed on the opportunity.

I got a slight amount of razing for it but I’m happy with my decision. From my point of few. It was a small buck, I’m inclined to wait for a larger one. Plus I had his mother and sister as a backdrop…which for a point blank shot, sure as hell my slug would rip right through him. Plus despite his small size he already had a fork-horn, which to me says he’s got good genetics. I’m inclined to let him breed next year and spread those genes. Assuming he makes it to next year….which considering his practice of presenting a broadside target at short-range to a hunter he knows is there, is somewhat in doubt.

In the end I had to settle for tag-teaming a nice 9-point buck with my father. And the tag team was definitely needed, as this damn thing was the toughest SOB I’ve ever seen. I’ll save you the gory details, but my respect for the whitetails resilience and constitution went up a couple notches this weekend.