I was sitting with my back against an oak tree and butt on the ground. Had just put up a few branches as some cover for a blind and got settled. The does came out and soon cleared the brush, my set trigger already set, I placed the blade and the buckhorn in alignment and squeezed off the shot.
Buckaroo! She kicked like a bronco out of the chute. The other does scattered thru the brush. I was still and quiet, listening for any movement in the leaves. I slowly, quietly, and carefully reloaded, powder-patch-ball, yes, that order, powder-patch-ball, I repeated in my mind. I made my way slowly to the edge of the thicket.
No blood? I made a move back to the left, then back right, YES! A speck of red... I very slowly moved thru the thick. More blood, but only some drops. Then I saw a huge splotch and my deer laying just past there 5 yards away. She was near the end. Dispatched second shot. As I saw the smoke exit her side, the mixed emotion in taking an animal hit me. The natural world can supply us with so much, we tend to forget the wonder of it all until we hunt. I looked up for a moment as she passed on, her spirit now to be reborn in another form.
I thought to myself, Lord thank you, thank you. Truly a Thanksgiving.