Deerslayer's:
First Kill, First Buck, First bullet, Second candy bar
Patience - sooooo patient, Last 2-hour stint in the woods.
Near heart attack.
Deerslayer's Trophy Page
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On Saturday, November 28, 1996, at about 3:30pm, a doe came in.
I couldn't make it for hunting opening weekend. It was the last weekend, and I was running out of time, out of candybars, and it seemed that the first hunting trip in my life would be a bust. (Or is that bust-less?!)
Suddenly, there was some movement past the thicket, about 50 yards behind the doe. When the shape came out, it was a buck!! Nice-sized one, antlers that might as well be elk size for the first-timer, even though it was a fork-horn. My heart rate tripled. (Bad week to try to quit coffee!) He started eating, next to the doe, facing me. "Turn, would you?," I was muttering. He was in my scope for ten minutes, still facing me. (Can he not hear my pounding heart??) Finally, he turned, and took a step. A shot rang out, the buck jumped up a little.(I was surprised by how easily the trigger, well, triggered. I could smell gunpowder. I don't remember the rifle kicking.) "Oh. That was ME!!" Adjusting my stance, I lowered the rifle, only to see the doe running to the thicket, tail waving wildly, and the buck running left to right, running out of sight. Oh No!! I'd blown my one chance.
It was getting late, and for sure, not enough time for another buck to come in. Not after THAT racket.
One of my hunting mentors, I call him 'MadDog', came over from his hunting spot and both of us picked up a small blood trail (OK, OK, .... it was a gusher). Surprisingly, the buck had run about 50 yards, and dropped.
I guess I didn't blow my chance after all...
A year later, MadDog and his wife 'Syl' surprised me by presenting me the horns of my kill (picture above). Surprisingly, the horns were still attached to the rest of the head!! (Heck, I would have been satisfied with the horns themselves)
I won't be able to thank them enough. Thanks a million, guys!!!
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