Twas the last day of the hunting season here. Everything was perfect as far as the spot I had picked out. I sat twice about 100 yards away from it and observed the sound of a buck walking through the area. I could here his rack hitting the branches on the nearby cedar trees. Mike heard him walk through the same area on another morning and heard him grunt and it was so loud that Mike thought it was another hunter that stopped to grunt on his call. I checked and only found big buck tracks. I was rattling on both occasions nearby.

I got there real early and got into place at about 4:30 am. It was very cold (16 degrees F without the wind). I found a spot under this ancient white cedar tree right on the old rail fence line and made myself a lounge chair seat on the ground. I put my browning coat’s game bag on the ground to sit on and had used the custom placed cedar rail fence pieced for arm rests and waited comfortably for a while. The spot was surely perfect because I could see the open field but was shielded from anything in the field seeing me from the cedars low hanging branches. My silhouette was shielded fro anything in the wood seeing me because of the rail fence junction at the base of the 4’ in diameter White Cedar giant.
The wind was perfect and at my back, the tree shielding me from it and also the direction I expected to see the deer coming from. I waited a while and made a few calls. I still had an hour and a half to daybreak. About a half hour before I did some rattling with a shed a found and half of a nice 10 pointer I got in November of 2000. I rattled at a medium force and only for half a minute or so. Sounds seemed somewhat muffled with the slight but steady wind. I then waited and heard a distant shot at about 6:30 am. By this time my legs were getting very cold from sitting so I turned with my head to the tree and curled up trying to get my legs warm and listened intently for sounds. That crashing through the woods antlers hitting the branches sound. I rattled some more, this time more fervently, and little longer. I made 2 and three-second grunt and doe bleats two times in succession for each type of call and spaced about 15 minutes apart. I then heard a crash and some loud stepping. I looked up and saw this healthy nicely racked buck coming right down the edge of the field at about 8 yards away walking with the wind. He turned in about 5 yards before the big cedar on the well-worn deer trail and jumped the fence. I used this opportunity to shift my gun and get it up into shooting position for when he appeared again on the other side of the combination broken down stone/cedar rail fence. He appeared in his entire glory broadside at 5 yards. I could taste is loins over a fire at this very moment. The safety went off smoothly as I lined up the crosshairs carefully and automatically on his heart. I squeezed the trigger and “CLICK”. The buck looked up at me and shuttered a bit but start walking on his way again. I squeezed the trigger in dismay and then quickly cycled another round. The buck stopped again and looked up and this time when the gun went “CLICK”, he took off into the wood. I quickly cycled the last round hoping this one would work. I could now see the buck about 30 yards away through some dense brush. It seemed he was standing in a hole. I shot at his neck but the bullet did not meet its mark. I found the bullet in a small cedar clump behind where the buck was standing. I try not to look at the rack when sizing up a buck but I would say that this one was a good 8 and very possibly a nice 10 pointer. And so as my Father-in-Law tells me “That’s the way it goes sometimes.” On a better note I found a great piece of property that still has a lot of good buck action even after 2 weeks of the gun season. I don’t know if this particular buck will using that run again but there most likely will be another and we may tag him during the extended bow season this year or when he’s even bigger during next years firearm buck season. I didn’t cry but thanked the Lord for the fine sighting of a beautiful animal. The gun and shells I was using were both Remington. I’ve never had a problem with either before but will have to check into this thoroughly. I did have a guy mention that Remington 3” Magnum Sluggers was having a problem, that some guys had reported misfires with them.

Just thought I would let you know in case you were using these types of slugs. A guy mentioned on my other post that the primers were set too low and the primer would have a small dent in it. This exactly describes my shell casing.

I could have jumped him with my knife with better results. We have till the end of the year to get him with the bow.





GOD BLESS
Charlie Patrick
Eastern Ontario Guided Adventures http://www3.sympatico.ca/chazpat/wildcanada.html