Wed Dec 7th I headed to my area in zone 1. The weather was cold, overcast, with snow showers. The wind was all over the place with heavy gusts up to 25 mph. Starting about 12:30pm I still hunted way up into the hills. The higher I got, the more sign I saw. The deer where still in the acorns, and I pushed out three right at the end of the day on the oak flats. All does.

Thursday Dec 8th I started at 6:30am and still hunted up to the same area. This time the weather was clear and cold. Temps where in the 20's, with N NW wind about 5mph. More and more sign, fresh and old but all way up in the hills. I also saw bobcat and bear tracks. The cold weather made things more crunchy on the oak flat, making still hunting fruitless. So at 3:30pm I set up over the feeding area. About 25-30 minutes later three does go through. Cool. Oh, here comes more deer. And more. In just that few minutes I had 7 does walk by! I was psyched just to see so many deer together. The last doe was acting strange before she went over the hill. A minute later I see why. A buck followed the does. I can see him clear as day but have no shot with all the whips around. I pick a spot ahead of him and put the gun up. After rummaging a few acorns he starts walking to my lane. He's almost there...my heart is pounding. Then he just drops down the hill right before my lane. Man was that close. I put the gun down. Wait, here comes another deer. Its another buck!! He starts to eat a few acrons. I watch him, but still have no shot. Oh, one of the deer that passed by is coming back up. Its the first buck. The two bucks then proceed to spar, locking antlers. I can see them both, but still no shot. I can hear the antlers rattling. One of the bucks backs up a bit and then they lock again. I can see his shoulder through a small hole in the whips. Both bucks heads are now behind a log, still locked in their sparring match. I raise the gun slow, and put the sights on the shoulder. Breath deep, and squeeze. The shot was about 50 yards, and I knew I hit the buck good with the 12 gauge sabot slug. The other buck was looking around for a few seconds, with his rear facing me, before he walked off over the hill. I walk over...no blood or hair. I walk another 10 feet and see the deer pilled up against the tree. He ran only about 12 yards. I hit him a little low, but still clipped both lungs and busted his right shoulder and put him down. He was no monster buck by any means. 3 points on one side and a broken antler on the other side. But I was happy. Took me three hours to drag him to my vehicle by myself. We would later weigh him in 115 lbs dressed.

Sat Dec 10 I hunted 12:30-dark in my area of Zone 2 still hunting in the snow. It was sunny and mild, temps 35-40. Low wind from the west. A few fresh deer tracks and an impressive set of fresh bear tracks, but no sightings. [/align]

Congrats on your deer!

That was a thriller story. I might have had a heart attack with that incident.

Congrats on your deer. How big was the other buck? Hopefully he will be there for you to hunt next year.

jf....Jimmy here....well done! Not bad for an Allston Boy. Congrats!

Wow now that was an exciting story! And right here in our own state. Great Job and Congrats on your success. From what I can tell from talking to people this is not going to be a banna year. Not many from my club scored this year. So an extra bravo to you. Mike

Thanks guys! Even before I got the buck I thought just seeing this all go down made the hunt successful. I just kept thinking about how awesome it was to see this.I have hunted deer in many other states, including high density areas of PA, CT, and Montana and have seen good stuff. But never two bucks going at it like that.

Neither buck was large by any standard. Both where very humble scrub bucks with little 6 point type racks. (My deer's left anter was busted near the base-he was a fighter for sure)I was veryhappy with him though, it hadbeen a long time for megetting a buck in MA. And yes, I know that the otherbuck should be a bit better next year.

I had myworst year ever last year. Huntedbest part of 8 days with no sightings. This year I saw 14 deer in two zones of western MA. 2 came from an area of very low density. So it has been a better year for me. The area I saw the 12 other deer (and the two bucks) was1.5 miles up into the hills and they where there because the acorns where there. I'll be back next yearfor sure...

Geez, how long of a ride is it out to the west? It must be a good 3 hours.

A little over 3 hours to my spot in Zone 1, 2 hours to my spot in Zone 2 (and ourcamp).

When I hit zone 1 I stay in local hotels for a few days. Its even a 1.5 hour ride from our camp!!