# Deer Season has ended for yet another year.



## SDHandgunner (Jun 22, 2004)

Our South Dakota East River Deer Season this year was quite long. Our regular season opened on November 20th and ran for 16 days. The day after our regular season closed the first part of the special Antlerless Season opened and ran for 7 days. Then on January 1st the second part of the Antlerless Season opened and ended on January 9th. During the special Antlerless Season any unused Any Deer Tags that were not filled during the Regular Season reverted to Antlerless Tags.

Bewteen my wife Bonnie and I we had 1 Any Deer Tag and 3 Antlerless Deer Tags. Bonnie and I were fortunate enough to get to hunt (at least part of the day) 27 of the 32 day season. We saw a lot of game and totally enjoyed ourselves.

The very first day of the season I wounded a nice big doe with the .30-30 AI Contender. The shot was farther than I thought, and the bullet struck the doe in the lower leg breaking the leg below the knee. I tracked here into the 5 foot tall Rice Cane and Bull Rushes, jumped her twice but never did get another shot at her. Last I saw of the doe she was crossing over into Minnesota.

I was bummed. Later on that Day I missed a nice doe, again misjudged the distance, and shot right under her. Again farther than I thought. The next couple days we didn't see much for Deer, and on the 5th day of the season I decided to move to a different part of the Mud Lake Bottom. Sure enough it worked. A Doe and 2 Fawns entered the meadow directly in front of us, and Bonnie managed to take the Doe making a nice shot with the .243 Ruger.

The I decided to try something I have not done before. On a whim I bought a Lohman Rattle Box and Grunt Tube. Well Bonnie and I were set up in a Ground Blind overlooking a meadow. I felt pretty good about our location. About 20 minutes after we had been on stand I started banging around the Lohman Rattle Box, with a few Buck Grunts mixed in. I did this on and off for about 15 minutes, and all of a sudden a dandy 5x5 Whitetail Buck showed up on the far side of the meadow in amongst some Big Round Hay Bales. Long story short, I never did get a shot at the Buck, but thoroughly enjoy watching the show he put on. It was indeed educational.

A couple days later we again moved to a different location in the Mud Lake Bottom up by the old town of White Rock South Dakota. I again used the Lohman Rattle Box and Grunt Tube, and this time called in a 3x4 Whitetail Buck. This guy too put on quite a show but at a little over 200 yards the .243 ended his day.

Since my sister decided to get married during Minnesota's Deer Season my Nephew and Nephew in Law didn't get much chance to hunt. So being the good Brother and Uncle that I am, I gave my Sister and her family the first two deer we harvested. Besides with a lot of season left, and being busy with work I didn't have time to process the deer anyway.

The first leg of our special Antlerless Season came and went without us connecting on another Deer. Oh I missed a couple of shots that should have been EASY, but that's how it goes some days. Then on the 3rd to the last day of the season for the year Bonnie connected on a big fat Whitetail Doe. The shot was right at 250 yards, and bullet placement was perfect striking the Doe low in the chest right behind the shoulder, taking out the top of the heart, bottom of the lungs and exiting behind the off side shoulder. Bonnie was shooting my new Stainless-Synthetic Ruger KM77RFP MKII in .223. The ammo was Winchester / USA White Box 55gr. Pointed Soft Point Ammo, and I was very impressed with the bullet performance. After the shot the doe ran about 100 yards and collapsed stone dead.

I hope everyone else had an enjoyable Deer Season this past year. I know I sure did, and I am sure my Wife did also. In fact this is the first year that Bonnie and I have the house to ourselves since our children were born. With the youngest going off to College this past fall, Bonnie and I had the opportunity to spean a lot of time together out hunting, something that hadn't been happening when the kids were still home. Yep it was indeed a great year, and I have my old Hunting Partner back again.

Larry


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## mr.trooper (Aug 3, 2004)

Sounds good larry.

hopefully youl have a GREAT season next time round'. i know im looking forward to next deer season! Im already planning my trip and readying my equipment!


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