Your Favorite Deer Story
02-26-2002, 06:27 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Edmonton AB Canada
Posts: 115
Your Favorite Deer Story
The board is really s l o w now. don't know why, but anyway, what's your favorite deer story? It can be a "pet" deer, hunting, anything you want. Spill your guts...
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Hunting leaves tracks on my heart and imprints memories in my head.
</img>Hunting leaves tracks on my heart and imprints memories in my head.
02-26-2002, 06:55 PM
#2
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Moscow IA USA
Posts: 23
RE: Your Favorite Deer Story
2001 Deer Season
At last, the day I had been waiting for since the day my deer season ended last year on Nov. 3rd, 2000. On the morning of Oct. 1st, 2001(opening day), I decided to try my luck at a new hot stand that I had put up in July at Lyle Johnson’s. I parked my truck in the Ag field and slowly walked across the un-cut bean field. My plan to access the stand site wasn’t the best, but would have to do, for there was no other way. As I paced through the field in the darkness of the early morning, I could already hear the deer start to run through the field, which was the last thing I wanted to happen on opening day of the season. I finally made it to the edge of the timber that I was going to hunt and was about 40 yards away from my stand when I heard more deer spook to the north, Bummer for me! I finally made it up into the stand. I couldn’t believe that bow season had come already. I was very excited.
That morning produced a doe and two little fawns. I was happy to see them, but I was not yet satisfied, not at least un-till that evening. I had gotten out of school and made my way to the stand as quick as I could. That whole evening produced no sightings of deer out of the stand. Realizing that I would see nothing out of the stand on opening evening got me thinking about opening evening last year when I had a great encounter with the wide eight pointer that I later harvested on Nov. 3rd. On that day last year, since I hadn’t seen any deer the whole evening, I figured I would get out of the stand a few minutes before dark to see if there were any deer in the grassy waterways of the standing corn field. Sure enough, standing about 100 yards away was the buck that I would have two more encounters with later in the year. After thinking about last years early encounter, I thought I would try the same tactic and get out of the stand a few minutes early just to see what happened. I quietly made my way up to the edge of the bean field and there at about 250 yards walking directly towards my parked truck were two deer. There wasn’t quite enough light out to see through my little bushnelle binoculars, but I had to make due with what I had. I could definitely tell that one of the two deer was a good sized buck because of its body size, but I could barely make out the rack on it. My truck was parked right along side of the FFA corn field, and I knew that was where the two deer were headed, straight for my truck. Since I didn’t want to take any chances on spooking more deer than I already had that day, I decided to wait for about five minutes to let the deer make their way through the field. When I could see them no longer, and figured they were in the corn field, I started to make my way straight across the bean field to my truck. I was about half way across and I looked up and could see the silhouette of a deer standing along the brushy fence line about 30 yards away from my destination. I immediately ducked down into the beans so the deer would not see me. I looked hard and could sort of pick out a rack on the buck and figured it was the one I had seen earlier. I knew he could hear me making my way through the dry beans so I decided I would try to fool him and make him think I was just another deer. The wind was in my favor, so I pulled out the grunt tube. I thought it might be too early to start using the grunt call, but I soon found out it wasn’t. After two short bursts of the grunt, he was headed my way. I didn’t know what to think, here I was out in the middle of a bean field with a buck coming straight for me… “what should I do?” I nocked an arrow and nervously waited for him. The last few minutes of shooting light were ticking away fast. As the deer closed the distance, I could still barely make out his rack because it was still in the same plane as the brushy fence line. He came to about 15 yards and walked straight to my left. As he stepped out past the view of the fence line and silhouetted his rack against the sky, I knew, then, that he was a shooter. The deer had a nice tall rack, but not very wide at all. I could also tell that the tips of his main beams came close together. While on my knees, I drew my 60 pound, High Country (Sky Force) bow to full draw and peered through the peep site. Because of the small hole, and the lack of shooting time, I opted to pass on the buck and hoped for another chance at him. He finally figured out that something, other than a deer, was hiding in the beans. He trotted off to the right for about 50 yards and then walked the rest of the way to the timber. He seemed pretty calm, so I knew he wasn’t spooked too badly.
Since the high school football season had been going since mid August, I couldn’t always make it out to the stand on some nights because of practice. On Oct. 15th, 2001, we had had an unusually short practice and with only about an hour and a half of shooting time left, and with the misty conditions, I debated on whether to go sit in the stand or not. While in the locker room I had a conversation with my long time best friend Andy Crawford. Since we had been great hunting buddies for a couple of years, I knew that I could turn to him for some quick assuring advice. Simply put, he told me to get out there, and that is exactly what I did. If not for his persuasion, I might have missed out on one of the long awaited opportunities of my short six year bow hunting career. Because I was only 17 years old, I knew that I would get many other great opportunities at other great bucks, but this is one special one that I did not want to miss.
I got situated and settled into my stand at exactly 4:28 P.M. With the dampness of the mist, I knew that deer would be hard to hear coming, so I had to keep my eyes and ears peeled. At about 4:35 P.M., I thought I had heard something coming from behind me on the other side of a small creek. With the slow turn of my head I peered over my shoulder and saw nothing. A few minutes later, I heard the same brushy noise again and could definitely tell that it was not coming from behind me, but from my right. I slowly stood up to see a beautiful buck standing only 20 yards away. I could not see him before because of a small oak tree that blocked my view. Right away, I knew that I wanted to take him. I waited un-till he went behind the oak tree again before I grabbed my bow. He then started heading my way. As soon as he popped out on my side of the small oak, he was only about 8 yards away. He was still in front of some branches that stuck out from the tree I was in, so I drew at this time. He was walking parallel to me, so I voice grunted him to a stop. He was still at about 8 yards, so I placed my ten yard pin right behind his shoulder on the center of his chest and released. The arrow connected right where I had aimed and fixed itself into the ground on the other side. The buck jumped and trotted for about 20 yards and then stopped. He wobbled and then trotted another 10 yards to where he finally expired. I then looked at my watch again and it was 4:40 P.M. I had only been in the stand for 12 minutes. How lucky was I. Because I was so excited and knew he was down, I couldn’t wait to get out of the tree and hold his rack in my hands. I got every piece out equipment I had together, lowered my bow and down I went. I grabbed my bow and nocked another arrow, just to make sure he wouldn’t get up. I walked over to my buck and gently poked him with my arrow to assure he was down. I then quickly set my bow down beside him and happily admired him for a few minutes. It was then that I had realized that this buck was the same one that I had seen on opening day.
THERE IS MORE TO THIS STORY. BUT THIS IS WHERE IM GOING TO END. A LITTLE TIRED OF TYPING AT THE MOMENT. MY BUCK ENDED UP SCORING 137 1/8.
BILL SCOTT
At last, the day I had been waiting for since the day my deer season ended last year on Nov. 3rd, 2000. On the morning of Oct. 1st, 2001(opening day), I decided to try my luck at a new hot stand that I had put up in July at Lyle Johnson’s. I parked my truck in the Ag field and slowly walked across the un-cut bean field. My plan to access the stand site wasn’t the best, but would have to do, for there was no other way. As I paced through the field in the darkness of the early morning, I could already hear the deer start to run through the field, which was the last thing I wanted to happen on opening day of the season. I finally made it to the edge of the timber that I was going to hunt and was about 40 yards away from my stand when I heard more deer spook to the north, Bummer for me! I finally made it up into the stand. I couldn’t believe that bow season had come already. I was very excited.
That morning produced a doe and two little fawns. I was happy to see them, but I was not yet satisfied, not at least un-till that evening. I had gotten out of school and made my way to the stand as quick as I could. That whole evening produced no sightings of deer out of the stand. Realizing that I would see nothing out of the stand on opening evening got me thinking about opening evening last year when I had a great encounter with the wide eight pointer that I later harvested on Nov. 3rd. On that day last year, since I hadn’t seen any deer the whole evening, I figured I would get out of the stand a few minutes before dark to see if there were any deer in the grassy waterways of the standing corn field. Sure enough, standing about 100 yards away was the buck that I would have two more encounters with later in the year. After thinking about last years early encounter, I thought I would try the same tactic and get out of the stand a few minutes early just to see what happened. I quietly made my way up to the edge of the bean field and there at about 250 yards walking directly towards my parked truck were two deer. There wasn’t quite enough light out to see through my little bushnelle binoculars, but I had to make due with what I had. I could definitely tell that one of the two deer was a good sized buck because of its body size, but I could barely make out the rack on it. My truck was parked right along side of the FFA corn field, and I knew that was where the two deer were headed, straight for my truck. Since I didn’t want to take any chances on spooking more deer than I already had that day, I decided to wait for about five minutes to let the deer make their way through the field. When I could see them no longer, and figured they were in the corn field, I started to make my way straight across the bean field to my truck. I was about half way across and I looked up and could see the silhouette of a deer standing along the brushy fence line about 30 yards away from my destination. I immediately ducked down into the beans so the deer would not see me. I looked hard and could sort of pick out a rack on the buck and figured it was the one I had seen earlier. I knew he could hear me making my way through the dry beans so I decided I would try to fool him and make him think I was just another deer. The wind was in my favor, so I pulled out the grunt tube. I thought it might be too early to start using the grunt call, but I soon found out it wasn’t. After two short bursts of the grunt, he was headed my way. I didn’t know what to think, here I was out in the middle of a bean field with a buck coming straight for me… “what should I do?” I nocked an arrow and nervously waited for him. The last few minutes of shooting light were ticking away fast. As the deer closed the distance, I could still barely make out his rack because it was still in the same plane as the brushy fence line. He came to about 15 yards and walked straight to my left. As he stepped out past the view of the fence line and silhouetted his rack against the sky, I knew, then, that he was a shooter. The deer had a nice tall rack, but not very wide at all. I could also tell that the tips of his main beams came close together. While on my knees, I drew my 60 pound, High Country (Sky Force) bow to full draw and peered through the peep site. Because of the small hole, and the lack of shooting time, I opted to pass on the buck and hoped for another chance at him. He finally figured out that something, other than a deer, was hiding in the beans. He trotted off to the right for about 50 yards and then walked the rest of the way to the timber. He seemed pretty calm, so I knew he wasn’t spooked too badly.
Since the high school football season had been going since mid August, I couldn’t always make it out to the stand on some nights because of practice. On Oct. 15th, 2001, we had had an unusually short practice and with only about an hour and a half of shooting time left, and with the misty conditions, I debated on whether to go sit in the stand or not. While in the locker room I had a conversation with my long time best friend Andy Crawford. Since we had been great hunting buddies for a couple of years, I knew that I could turn to him for some quick assuring advice. Simply put, he told me to get out there, and that is exactly what I did. If not for his persuasion, I might have missed out on one of the long awaited opportunities of my short six year bow hunting career. Because I was only 17 years old, I knew that I would get many other great opportunities at other great bucks, but this is one special one that I did not want to miss.
I got situated and settled into my stand at exactly 4:28 P.M. With the dampness of the mist, I knew that deer would be hard to hear coming, so I had to keep my eyes and ears peeled. At about 4:35 P.M., I thought I had heard something coming from behind me on the other side of a small creek. With the slow turn of my head I peered over my shoulder and saw nothing. A few minutes later, I heard the same brushy noise again and could definitely tell that it was not coming from behind me, but from my right. I slowly stood up to see a beautiful buck standing only 20 yards away. I could not see him before because of a small oak tree that blocked my view. Right away, I knew that I wanted to take him. I waited un-till he went behind the oak tree again before I grabbed my bow. He then started heading my way. As soon as he popped out on my side of the small oak, he was only about 8 yards away. He was still in front of some branches that stuck out from the tree I was in, so I drew at this time. He was walking parallel to me, so I voice grunted him to a stop. He was still at about 8 yards, so I placed my ten yard pin right behind his shoulder on the center of his chest and released. The arrow connected right where I had aimed and fixed itself into the ground on the other side. The buck jumped and trotted for about 20 yards and then stopped. He wobbled and then trotted another 10 yards to where he finally expired. I then looked at my watch again and it was 4:40 P.M. I had only been in the stand for 12 minutes. How lucky was I. Because I was so excited and knew he was down, I couldn’t wait to get out of the tree and hold his rack in my hands. I got every piece out equipment I had together, lowered my bow and down I went. I grabbed my bow and nocked another arrow, just to make sure he wouldn’t get up. I walked over to my buck and gently poked him with my arrow to assure he was down. I then quickly set my bow down beside him and happily admired him for a few minutes. It was then that I had realized that this buck was the same one that I had seen on opening day.
THERE IS MORE TO THIS STORY. BUT THIS IS WHERE IM GOING TO END. A LITTLE TIRED OF TYPING AT THE MOMENT. MY BUCK ENDED UP SCORING 137 1/8.
BILL SCOTT
02-26-2002, 07:19 PM
#3
Spike
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Hillsborough North Carolina USA
Posts: 31
RE: Your Favorite Deer Story
Ok, here goes. I was sitting in my stand around 7:25(am) and had 3 doe's come walking by at about 20 feet away. I thought it was a little dark still so ended up letting them go on by. Well, I ended up thinking that I blew my chance and started to get mad at myself. Then came 7:45(am) I had 3 more doe's come walking by. Not really sure if they were the same doe's or not, but decided to take a shot at the lead doe. I ended up seeing all the deer scatter and kept my eye on the one I aimed at until it passed by the tree I was in and could not see anymore. I then heard a crash and thought I got it. I ended up climbing down after about 20 minutes and looked for my arrow. I found the arrow covered in blood. I remember someone telling me about not stepping in the blood trail and made sure not to step onto it. As I walked farther I saw more blood and then after walking "slowly" around 30 feet or so I came upon my first deer. I was so excited. I dragged the deer out of the woods and thought to myself that I was alone. I then started to think about what I have learned by asking questions from this site and by watching my field dressing video about 100 times. Well, I field dressed and skinned the deer with really no problem besides stopping for about 5 minutes to make sure I did not cut the urinary line. I called the butcher and was on my way. I guess the story really starts when I found this site. I asked every question that came to mind and everyone answered. I did not know anything hunting, but when I found this site I seemed to have found everything.
02-26-2002, 10:10 PM
#4
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Edmonton AB Canada
Posts: 115
RE: Your Favorite Deer Story
Thanx for sharing SE Buckmaster and cahillnnc. Buckmaster, that story was told very well and I hope that maybe, please, you'll finish the story. It sounds very interesting. Cahiilnnc, good job on your first deer. And yes, the gys on the board are so friendly and helpful. I'v been on the board for 3 days and i've messed up once and they helped me. Not to mention how much I've learned. Thanx again to everyone on the board.
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Hunting leaves tracks on my heart and imprints memories in my head.
</img>Hunting leaves tracks on my heart and imprints memories in my head.
02-27-2002, 12:07 AM
#5
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: McMinnville Oregon USA
Posts: 214
RE: Your Favorite Deer Story
Greets,
Well, I have three and all are favorites, but here I will tell of my first!
I was bow hunting with a freind who knew the area. We got into the area well before daylight, he told me how to find the stand I was to climb into, and left for his stand.
I stumbled about in the woods, trying to follow his directions and doing a lousy job of being quiet. After circling the stand till nearly daylight, I found it.. I climbed up the tree and set to wait in this stand.
I hung my bow from a limb to my left, and since I had no quiver, stacked my arrows against the opposite side.
I figure about 45 minutes went by, I had anticipated the hunt so much I got little sleep the night before, and was nearly dosing..
Cruch crunch crunch.. I am now wide awake, I hear something moving in from behind me... I crane my neck around, and see a small doe moving in on me ( legal but tiny, remember she was my FIRST deer ).. I am now shaking badly, I reach for my bow, trying to be quiet, every sound I make however faint seems a thunder clap to me, BUT she keeps coming in, oblivious to me. I get my bow down, she is now right beneath me.. I reach for an arrow, and knock it off the stand!!!
Believe it or not, the deer who is now around ten yards in front of me, doesn't even flinch when the arrow sticks in the dirt below me.
I grab another arrow, this time without dropping it *G* I nock it, take aim, she is now roughly 30 yards out.. I sight down the top pin ( 20 yard pin EEK! ) I release, it hits her low in the back, bad hit by my reconning, ( had yet to learn about figuring where the arrow will pass thru the deer ).. but since the angle was right its neer where I needed to aim anyhow, passes nearly clear thru, the point coming out of her chest. She slams to the ground and jumps up, I am scared I got a bad hit I think! I grab another arrow and nock it she goes to the ground about 20 yards further. she sits there, as any arrow hit deer does, still breathing but basically dead.. Me I nearly fall trying to get out of the stand run up, and ten yards out put a second arrow in her, this time it IS a bad hit, but she's too far gone to care, just lays down and lets me come in on her to cut her throat.. Took me three days to figure out I did it right and it was ok, I nearly hung the bow up for good. But What a rush!! dfidnt stop shaking from the adrenaline for a day.
Once I figured out I done good, I set about learning more so I wouldnt make a mistake next time.
Just my uneducated opinion!
Terry
Well, I have three and all are favorites, but here I will tell of my first!
I was bow hunting with a freind who knew the area. We got into the area well before daylight, he told me how to find the stand I was to climb into, and left for his stand.
I stumbled about in the woods, trying to follow his directions and doing a lousy job of being quiet. After circling the stand till nearly daylight, I found it.. I climbed up the tree and set to wait in this stand.
I hung my bow from a limb to my left, and since I had no quiver, stacked my arrows against the opposite side.
I figure about 45 minutes went by, I had anticipated the hunt so much I got little sleep the night before, and was nearly dosing..
Cruch crunch crunch.. I am now wide awake, I hear something moving in from behind me... I crane my neck around, and see a small doe moving in on me ( legal but tiny, remember she was my FIRST deer ).. I am now shaking badly, I reach for my bow, trying to be quiet, every sound I make however faint seems a thunder clap to me, BUT she keeps coming in, oblivious to me. I get my bow down, she is now right beneath me.. I reach for an arrow, and knock it off the stand!!!
Believe it or not, the deer who is now around ten yards in front of me, doesn't even flinch when the arrow sticks in the dirt below me.
I grab another arrow, this time without dropping it *G* I nock it, take aim, she is now roughly 30 yards out.. I sight down the top pin ( 20 yard pin EEK! ) I release, it hits her low in the back, bad hit by my reconning, ( had yet to learn about figuring where the arrow will pass thru the deer ).. but since the angle was right its neer where I needed to aim anyhow, passes nearly clear thru, the point coming out of her chest. She slams to the ground and jumps up, I am scared I got a bad hit I think! I grab another arrow and nock it she goes to the ground about 20 yards further. she sits there, as any arrow hit deer does, still breathing but basically dead.. Me I nearly fall trying to get out of the stand run up, and ten yards out put a second arrow in her, this time it IS a bad hit, but she's too far gone to care, just lays down and lets me come in on her to cut her throat.. Took me three days to figure out I did it right and it was ok, I nearly hung the bow up for good. But What a rush!! dfidnt stop shaking from the adrenaline for a day.
Once I figured out I done good, I set about learning more so I wouldnt make a mistake next time.
Just my uneducated opinion!
Terry
02-27-2002, 08:03 AM
#7
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Edmonton AB Canada
Posts: 115
RE: Your Favorite Deer Story
Adui, great story and I'm glad to hear it turned out right. Your first deer is always the best.(so i hear) Cause, I haven't got my fisrt deer yet. I missed nice one and you've probably read about it in the last few days so I'll tell you my favorite deer story which I encountered last season, my first
We were pushing bush early in the season and I was a poster at a bush that they would run to. I was set up behind a fallen log that made a steady gun rest when 3 does bust out of the bush being pushed and headed straight for me. They stopped at the next bush to look back, which was 15 yards in front of me. I was shaking so much I thought they would hear my gun virating. They froliked around there for a few munutes until one of them finally caught my scent as it was toward them the whole time. There was a staredown...they looked me straight in the eye, all 3 of them. I had to breathe. they caght me move and snorted. I $h!t my pants. It scared the hell out of me, they way they made that awful sound.I didn't shoot the does because you only get 1 tag and I had my heart set on a buck. I passed up 3 spikes and missed a chance to take a big buck. So I went with an unfilled tag, but I know I'll never forget my first YEER.
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Hunting leaves tracks on my heart and imprints memories in my head.
We were pushing bush early in the season and I was a poster at a bush that they would run to. I was set up behind a fallen log that made a steady gun rest when 3 does bust out of the bush being pushed and headed straight for me. They stopped at the next bush to look back, which was 15 yards in front of me. I was shaking so much I thought they would hear my gun virating. They froliked around there for a few munutes until one of them finally caught my scent as it was toward them the whole time. There was a staredown...they looked me straight in the eye, all 3 of them. I had to breathe. they caght me move and snorted. I $h!t my pants. It scared the hell out of me, they way they made that awful sound.I didn't shoot the does because you only get 1 tag and I had my heart set on a buck. I passed up 3 spikes and missed a chance to take a big buck. So I went with an unfilled tag, but I know I'll never forget my first YEER.
</img>Hunting leaves tracks on my heart and imprints memories in my head.
02-27-2002, 09:13 AM
#8
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Fredericksburg Virginia USA
Posts: 13,672
RE: Your Favorite Deer Story
Memories are one of the best things about hunting. I will throw one out here.
It was the 1973 or 1974 season and my cousin and I hiked up an old overgrown road that ran beside a huge bean field about 20 foot in. The deer had been using the road heavily and there was a lot of rubs and a few scrapes its whole length.
Well I reached my stand which was kind of like a natural bench where two huge trees had fallen over almost on top of each other. I sat on the bottom one and leaned back against the upper one while my cousin continued on further in to his stand. As I sat there the wind started to pick up pretty heavy blowing from behind me straight across the road and out into the field.
The downed trees acted as a great wind block which made staying warm a little easier. As the sun started to rise I slowly scanned and listened up and down the overgrown road the deer used. Nothing! An hour passed and except for the occasional bird and squirrel I saw nothing. I started to really relax now and seemed more in tune with what was around me.
The wind slowed down quite a bit so I sat a bit more erect and could no see over the log behind me. After what seemed like an eternity, I heard something coming, but it was behind me! It was pretty thick back in there, but I was able to make out three doe at a steady trot as they passed. Well knowing it was the very beginning of the gun season I figured there was a good chance a buck may be hot on there trail.
I slowly stood up and turned around to face the travel lane we were unaware of before, the good thing was I could still see both ways up and down the overgrown road, but I concentrated on where the doe had just passed. With in two or three minutes I saw a HUGE rack moving along the does path, the laurels were so thick that was all I could see was the rack! Then the rack dissappeared! I then realized I was shaking like a leaf, I told myself now is no time for buck fever calm down and think!!!
Well the rack popped back up and he trotted forward. I had quit shaking and picked out the only clear opening I could see that he would pass through. The rack dropped again, I pulled the gun up and pointed it in the direction of the opening, everything started to go in slow motion. Once again the rack popped up, I kept thinking man that is a huge rack, I wish I could see him! He trotted forward again and stopped dead square in the opening and put his nose down to smell where the doe had passed! BOOM! BOOM! I shot one barrel after the other knowing that would be my only open shot. He sprung forward high into the air and out of sight!
I am thinking "My God I could not have missed at that range" I jumped into the overgrown road ejected the two empties and slapped in two more loads of double 00 buckshot, closed it up and prayed that he would come out into the overgrown road! My heart was pounding 90 mph, I thought it would come out of my chest.
Nothing!!! Man I missed the buck of a life time, then I heard some rustling over where I had shot at him. I busted through the laurel and when I hit the spot I had shot at him there he was within 6 foot of where I had shot lifting his head for the last time. He lowered his head slowly and I saw his chest expand then drop with a loud rush of air. It was over.
I tapped his eye with the gun barrel and then kneeled beside him, layed my hand on his side and said my prayer. Then I stood up and stared for a minute in disbeleif, what an animal! Well I walked back to the overgrown road, emptied the gun and leaned it against the trees I had been sitting on and went back and started to drag this monster back to the road. Right after I almost busted a gut yanking him over the two fallen trees, Tim (my cousin) shows up. At this point in time Tim had killed more deer in his short 30 years than you could shake a stick at. Tim was amazed at the size of him. Well we dressed him and proceeded on the long drag out.
He dressed out at 175 pounds, the base of the rack was as thick as my wrist and he had a very symetrical tall tined rack with 8 points, he was 21 3/4 inches on the inside of his beam, and measuring from the top of his head to the tip of the g2's was 19 1/2 inches. I had him mounted with a full shoulder mount. I lost him in a house fire on July the 9th, 1982. I have often wondered what he would have scored B&C, but I guess I will never know.
The Tazman
It was the 1973 or 1974 season and my cousin and I hiked up an old overgrown road that ran beside a huge bean field about 20 foot in. The deer had been using the road heavily and there was a lot of rubs and a few scrapes its whole length.
Well I reached my stand which was kind of like a natural bench where two huge trees had fallen over almost on top of each other. I sat on the bottom one and leaned back against the upper one while my cousin continued on further in to his stand. As I sat there the wind started to pick up pretty heavy blowing from behind me straight across the road and out into the field.
The downed trees acted as a great wind block which made staying warm a little easier. As the sun started to rise I slowly scanned and listened up and down the overgrown road the deer used. Nothing! An hour passed and except for the occasional bird and squirrel I saw nothing. I started to really relax now and seemed more in tune with what was around me.
The wind slowed down quite a bit so I sat a bit more erect and could no see over the log behind me. After what seemed like an eternity, I heard something coming, but it was behind me! It was pretty thick back in there, but I was able to make out three doe at a steady trot as they passed. Well knowing it was the very beginning of the gun season I figured there was a good chance a buck may be hot on there trail.
I slowly stood up and turned around to face the travel lane we were unaware of before, the good thing was I could still see both ways up and down the overgrown road, but I concentrated on where the doe had just passed. With in two or three minutes I saw a HUGE rack moving along the does path, the laurels were so thick that was all I could see was the rack! Then the rack dissappeared! I then realized I was shaking like a leaf, I told myself now is no time for buck fever calm down and think!!!
Well the rack popped back up and he trotted forward. I had quit shaking and picked out the only clear opening I could see that he would pass through. The rack dropped again, I pulled the gun up and pointed it in the direction of the opening, everything started to go in slow motion. Once again the rack popped up, I kept thinking man that is a huge rack, I wish I could see him! He trotted forward again and stopped dead square in the opening and put his nose down to smell where the doe had passed! BOOM! BOOM! I shot one barrel after the other knowing that would be my only open shot. He sprung forward high into the air and out of sight!
I am thinking "My God I could not have missed at that range" I jumped into the overgrown road ejected the two empties and slapped in two more loads of double 00 buckshot, closed it up and prayed that he would come out into the overgrown road! My heart was pounding 90 mph, I thought it would come out of my chest.
Nothing!!! Man I missed the buck of a life time, then I heard some rustling over where I had shot at him. I busted through the laurel and when I hit the spot I had shot at him there he was within 6 foot of where I had shot lifting his head for the last time. He lowered his head slowly and I saw his chest expand then drop with a loud rush of air. It was over.
I tapped his eye with the gun barrel and then kneeled beside him, layed my hand on his side and said my prayer. Then I stood up and stared for a minute in disbeleif, what an animal! Well I walked back to the overgrown road, emptied the gun and leaned it against the trees I had been sitting on and went back and started to drag this monster back to the road. Right after I almost busted a gut yanking him over the two fallen trees, Tim (my cousin) shows up. At this point in time Tim had killed more deer in his short 30 years than you could shake a stick at. Tim was amazed at the size of him. Well we dressed him and proceeded on the long drag out.
He dressed out at 175 pounds, the base of the rack was as thick as my wrist and he had a very symetrical tall tined rack with 8 points, he was 21 3/4 inches on the inside of his beam, and measuring from the top of his head to the tip of the g2's was 19 1/2 inches. I had him mounted with a full shoulder mount. I lost him in a house fire on July the 9th, 1982. I have often wondered what he would have scored B&C, but I guess I will never know.
The Tazman
02-27-2002, 12:27 PM
#10
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Hampton Virginia
Posts: 1,607
RE: Your Favorite Deer Story
We have a set of horns in our club house that has 15 or so shells hanging from teh rack. The story goes like this, in the 80s a guy shot a nice buck, he poked a hole in his ear with his knife and attached his tag. he then put the deer on the tailgate of his truck. He went about 3/4 of a mile back to teh hunt club were folks were getting back to eat lunch. about that time the deer jumped off of the tailgate and took off across the front of the club house, 3 different people were able to get ehots at it as it made it way to a field across the dirt road were it finally died. We guess that a pellet just knocked it out for a few minutes.