HUNTER: Sallie Doty
STATE: South Dakota
SOCIAL LINKS:
– https://www.instagram.com/sallie_doty/
– bowmarnutrition.com/sallie
SEASON: Archery

HUNTING PRODUCTS

SOCIAL STORY

WHITETAIL STORY

(Via Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/sallie_doty/ – https://www.instagram.com/p/B4shW9hlgFe/ )

The weather was in the mid 50’s, so I figured I wouldn’t see much for deer until the end of the evening. I had a mouse below me bouncing around and squirrels were everywhere making nests. There was very little wind so every noise was amplified. I thought I heard a either a squirrel or two small bucks sparing for part of the afternoon in front of me. An hour before quitting time I decided to stand up and stretch my legs. As I was stretching whatever was far off in the shrubs decided to walk my way. It was a doe and an older deer from what I could initially see. I decided to stay standing and be ready with my bow. The doe cruised by and then looked up in the tree. She knew I wasnt supposed to be there. Soon enough the buck also stopped and looked up. I was so focused on the doe I didn’t really have time to look at him. She of course stomped her feet and bowed her head at me to which I thought, “if you dont like what you see move along.” She began to raise her tail and trot off. Not super fast, but she didn’t want to hang around. He also started to trot. This is when I actually saw the deer. As he was running I drew back on my bow then grunted. He stopped with his head behind a tree. I hoped that he would take a few steps before he decided to take off to allow some vitals to be exposed. After two small steps exposed the lungs from 20 yards I released an arrow. He took off running across a dirt field and turned the corner and I think I eventually heard a dirt nap. It was around 4:40pm. I decided to get down and check the arrow since there was a few small branches in the way. It was covered in ethical shot blood. I didn’t track through the dirt but caught up with the trail later on to see he probably ran about 250 yards. I so conveniently forgot my tarp and my knife…of course. I had a dull one in the glove compartment that I used. I fed the lad owner’s cat their fair share of liver and heart. He and I loaded the deer up to drive back to Pierre since I went there alone. I wanted to as always extend a thank you to our gracious landowner friend who has allowed me 5 bucks off of his place. This is my biggest buck to date!