Dad and I headed into the woods to get the deer the rest of the way out of the woods shortly after daylight. It felt good to drag his deer. I’m glad that he never had to touch it. Although the drag beat the shit out of me, I’ve never felt anything that gave me such a sense of satisfaction.
We’ve packed all sorts of deer, elk, bears and moose out of the woods over the years, but I still enjoy dragging deer. There’s something about it that makes the pursuit seem that much greater. It’s like a part of the hunt that makes the kill that much more rewarding. Simply put, I enjoy it, and that’s why I do it. It is much easier to cut them up and pack them out, but that’s not the way we did it when I was growing up. Maybe that’s why dragging deer fills my veins with adrenaline.
Later in the day, my buddy Josh called me and told me that he had scored on a nice buck. He has passed a lot of bucks this year while waiting for something better. With a few days of the season left, he decided to fill his tag. I think all of the traffic in the place where he normally hunts began to get under his skin. Every time he ventured to the area he spends the most time in the woods, he saw a lot of people. He just couldn’t get away from them, so he chose to hunt some other places this year. I guess in the end, it turned to be a good choice. He said the area where he shot the deer was a good area, and he would definitely be going back there. I’m glad he was able to get it done in a place he didn’t have much familiarity. I pointed him to the area, and he took advantage of it. It’s an area I scouted about 10 years ago and never returned, but I knew it held good deer. I guess it was still good. He felt adventurous and it benefited him to try something different. I’m sure he will be going back in the future.
