Joe Kiefer with his 5 point buck… I mean 5 point doe taken during the 2002 season.

Four Point Doe
Joe Kiefer

The opening Sunday of rifle season, I found myself sitting atop a sagebrush knob an hour before dawn in the heart of wheat country in Douglas County, Washington. Beside me was college buddy Todd West. Reminiscing the good ol’ days and catching up on the present, we laughed together while the constellations began to disintegrate into the twilight of dawn. As the terrain began to take form with the red sky horizon, I quickly became skeptical. “Todd, this is beautiful and all, but why in the heck would any deer be out here in the middle of nowhere?” “Don’t worry,” he reassured me, “any minute we’ll see deer popping up all around us.” Then deer started to sprout up where only minutes before there were none. Minutes later more deer were spotted on the opposite side of the bowl. Glassing the ridge I spotted two large bucks. Quickly dropping to the prone position, I put the riflescope on the bigger buck. It was an enormous two point, both wide and massive. Swinging my rifle further down the ridge, I located the impressive four-pointer.

What seemed like minutes probably only took a few seconds. It was decision time. I raised the crosshairs as the buck stood broadside and motionless. Confident a good shot could be made I squeezed the trigger.

Like a kid approaching a first deer, I was ecstatic to see the beautiful, typical 5X5 rack that spanned more than 18.5 inches. Odd though, we both wondered why this “buck” hadn’t rubbed its velvet off yet, especially since it was almost the middle of October. As I rolled it over ready to remove the poor deer’s reason for being a buck, SURPRISE! I couldn’t believe my eyes; its “buck-hood” was missing. This buck was actually a doe. I remember my grandpa telling me a story of a velvety spike he had shot that ended up being a doe. So although astonished, I knew it was possible. After close inspection and pictures to document the discovery, we had both determined that the only sign of anything male was the antlers; my “bucks’ undercarriage was all female.