South Dakota Deer Hunt part 2

It's hunting not harvesting!

I must say that other than the full moon screwing with the deer movement, it was an excellent trip.

We stayed at the Prarie Creek lodge for $35 per night per night, per person. It was clean, had a full kitchen and laundry room. The added bonus was the hot tub. It was very nice after a 800 mile drive.

The weather was warm, that made for mud. Does anybody know the good things about mud? Yeah, I don't either.

The deer were moving about all night long. It made for hard hunting. I did however get a shot at filling my second tag. I had traded the high power rifle for my very first rifle. A Thompson Center Contender in 357 Maximum. As a brief aside, I have never killed anything bigger than a rabbit with this rifle. It has a maximum effective range of 150 yards. The key word is 'Stalk'. I saw plenty of deer between 163 and 242 yards. I did see a decent 3x3 at 140 yards. I attempted to get closer, but to no avail, we always saw each other at the same time and he disappeared into the trees. As the sky was turning red with the setting sun, I spotted a doe to the West. I fiqured the range to be just over 150 yards. I was standing. I leaned my off side against a fence post and rested the crosshairs high on her back> I squeezed the trigger and the rifle bucked against my shoulder. The rifle settled back down and int the sights I saw something almost shocking. The deer was just standing there. I reloaded and she was gone. It was not to be. I spent a half an hour looking for blood when I checked the range it was 113 yards. I shot over the top. That's why they call it hunting not harvesting.