Thanksgiving, that was the last time I had seen a deer while hunting. Rubs, browse lines, trail camera pictures and tracks all showed the deer were still using areas I hunted. It appeared the pieces had not come together for a harvest yet. 

Sunday evening, I climbed out of a tree stand set on a creek branch overlooking a bedding area I had created by cutting trees and a food plot I had worked hard to establish. I was defeated, it was January 12 and I felt with each passing day my chances of acquiring some fresh meat was slipping away. 

Then came the morning of January 13. I sat on a ridge looking down at a valley and a ridge saddle. The spot is a pinch point and I know this time of year it is one of my better chances to see deer. As the sunlight provided a glowing warmth to the chilly morning air, I looked around and imagined how great spring turkey season will feel when it gets here. Deer season was basically done, I thought. 

I hadn’t heard any activity or seen any deer so I got up and made my way down the ridgeline, cut across a road, snuck through a flooded gravel pit and pine trees and sat down overlooking another ridge. My trail camera intel told me deer used this ridge most often in mid-mornings and with a north wind my scent would be carried away from it. 

I sat down and almost immediately a doe blew at me. I picked up my binoculars and saw a doe walking on the knoll of a hill. She was moving slowly as I picked up my .270 rifle and found her in the crosshairs. Her head and shoulder peaked out over the curve of the hill so I took a shot. She dropped right there. “Thank you God,” I said as the adrenaline started to overtake my body causing me to shake. It was only 8:20 a.m. and my morning was already off to a great start. 

I made my way across an area I had thinned trees this past summer to start the arduous drag out. She was a mature doe and probably one who had busted my case many times. 

For the next 400 yards, she made me earn every inch as I pulled her up and down hills, branches and across areas burned for deer and turkeys. My wife and a tool cart helped get me across the finish line and to the skinning phase of the hunt. 

This has been a hard deer season for me. I missed most of bow season with a knee injury and wasn’t able to hunt the Homochitto National Forest like I wanted. Observations were low and my mind started to drift towards habitat projects. 

One great start to a morning changed my perception of this deer season. There are less than two weeks in the season now and I’m going to enjoy every bit of it.