deer | Country Huntress

If you missed Shooting My First Deer – Part 1, read it here!

I had just shot my first deer and now the hard work started as we began to track the blood trail.

Kelli and I began make our way through the thick salal bushes that were much taller than us. To be honest, I don’t know how she cleared a path for us to follow because the second we went through, the path was swallowed up by branches and leaves again.

Following the trail!

Trying to follow a blood trail in that brush seemed impossible. We worked our way to one clearing and no blood was to be found. We looked in every direction she could’ve gone but nothing. We each took turns going back into the salal to try and see if the blood trail moved farther into it in another direction.

Eventually we decided to move from where we were to try and get farther back in the brush near where we saw bushes move. We made our way back in and again came to another small clearing. I looked down and there was another patch of blood—back to tracking once more!

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A week ago, I shot my first deer! My life has been a bit hectic lately. But when I had the chance to get out to the San Juan Islands for a late season hunt, I jumped on it. I headed up on a Saturday to meet them at the marina and they took me over to Decatur Island–a small island in the San Juans not accessible by ferry. The couple helping me hunt is the same couple that helped me catch my first salmon.

Decatur Island to the right

We ate lunch and made a game plan for the rest of the day. Kelli and I would head out to an area that they’d seen several deer before. I changed into my hunting gear and off we went. We made our way back through trees until it opened up a little bit. We found a large tree trunk that had a log in front of it that was a good spot to sit and have some cover.

Kelli and I waiting for deer!

One of my goals getting into hunting has been to find other women to hunt with. It’s a lot easier said than done. So it was an awesome feeling to be out there with another woman! We sat quietly and the craziness of everyday life faded away. One of my favorite things about hunting is feeling connected to the outdoors.

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