Fox Collectors

Today was the penultimate day of the late deer season (doe only, rifle/shotgun depending on zone) here in PA. I had a plan. Play hooky from work. Work from home until about noon. Drive the 45 minutes to a 4,000 acre public hunting ground and walk the frozen lake edge facing the western edge (Sunny side). I was hoping to catch some deer sunning themselves on the hillside.





I took my CSMC 20 gauge rifled SXS and the first thing I did was kick up a hen pheasant about 100 yards from my truck, oh well...

I walked to the edge of the lake(I figured the ice was about 7 inches thick) for about 3/4 of a a mile when two deer got up from the sunny hillside. The doe took off like a bat out of hell and the illegal 8 point just stood there like he needed a minute to get his shite together. I tried to get a bead on the doe but everything happened too fast and the brush was just too thick. A month ago that buck would have been sausage.



It was a one of those 28 degree blue bird days and I could not have had more fun. There was also a yote sighting about 400 yards away walking across the frozen lake. I had a few too many layers on and got a bit sweaty that made the dusk sit a bit uncomfortable but I can't complain. It was a very nice curtain call to my deer season where I'll ending up eating my tags due to being too selective during bow season and things just not going my way during the balance coupled with a personal commitment tomorrow.(Saturday)

My sister turns 70 tomorrow and she loves to fish, we live about an hour from the Altantic. I bought her a Van Staal reel which I think will blow her away, and my brother got her a matching rod. (Shimano Terez)I'll miss the last hours of the last day of deer season because of this but I can't think of a better reason.

good to see that rifled 20 bore in the field . what range is it regulated to

100 yards all day long in about the size of a coffee can lid, at 50 yards with a rest about 3 inches.

I have been very happy with the groups I get.

Roger, we call those hunts "Armed walks" in Va. We do it quite often. Sometimes wonder whether there is a point to carrying a gun, but we always do. The running joke is you are never going to need more then the 2 shells in the chamber.

Nice pics Roger. I'll bet anyone under the age of 40 or so doesn't know what a coffee can looks like. We're showing our age now.

Nice pictures Roger. Sounds like a very enjoyable day.

If possible, I always try to walk ground I hunt when there there is fresh snow.

Tag or not, it helps to understand how the deer are using the property because it is so easy to see where they came from and where they are going.

I had not walked this public ground in 3 years and amazingly, things have chaged a lot due to the amount of storm damage. There were whole areas that were not easily walkable that used to have great trails to sneak around on. That's how I got overheated early on, being too stubborn to not go where I should have had better sense. It was like an obstacle course of blow downs with stickers added for fun. I was lucky that the lake edge still had soft powder on it and it made for easy quiet walking. My body is a little sore today from all the exercise.

EDIT: I forgot to add that if buckshot were still legal I would have carried a Fox SXS. Most likely my XE 12 gauge. I wish it could talk, If I had to bet I'd like to think it had been on a few deer hunts back in the day.

Roger,
Sounds like a perfect day to me deer or no deer to drag back. I’m with you as it relates to snow on the ground. It always shows the topography better and you see ridges, draws and other undulations along with trails and traffic patterns. Thanks for the great pics!