Hunting Stories

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Submitted by: Anthony Jones	Submitted On: 9/19/2003 2:29:20 PM
Story Type:  Deer
Many hunters hunt all of their lives and never bag that trophy buck of a lifetime. There are many preparations that one can make to give himself an edge, or an advantage, such as pre-season scouting, stand location, and shooting practice just to name a few. But when it comes down to it, you just have to be in the right place at the right time. That is exactly what happened to me on December 26, 1997. I was in a tree in Holly Springs, MS at the crack of dawn on a cool winter morning. It was an overcast day, the rut was in full swing and the deer were moving. My stand was on the edge of a small clover patch, which I could see directly to my left. To my right was a wooded area with a steep ridge that was known to be a popular traveling area for deer. Shortly after daylight, I noticed some movement in the brush on the ridge. I could make out 1 doe, and there appeared to be another deer was chasing her, so I assumed it was probably a buck. However, they never came out in an opening, so I was unable to tell for sure. About an hour later, after seeing only one small buck, which I first assumed was the buck chasing the doe, the Big Boy stepped out. I just looked over on the ridge and standing there, looking straight in my direction was the largest buck I`d ever seen. My nerves were on edge. I knew this was a trophy, but I didn`t know if he had seen me before I saw him. I sat, frozen for about a minute, although it seemed like 20! I waited until he put his head down and started to walk down the ridge. I could wait no longer. If I was going to take a shot, now was the time since he was headed into some thick brush. I somehow managed to raise my .270 rifle with my shaking arms and put him in my crosshair. I took a deep breath and squeezed the trigger. I saw the deer take off running and my heart sank--he didn`t appear to be hit at all! I bolted another round and tried to find him in my scope, but he had run into the brush and was no longer visible. A few seconds later, I thought I heard a faint crash, but figured it was probably my imagination being optimistic. I waited as long as I could (about an entire minute) and got down from the tree. I went to the general area the buck had run, and before I knew it, I walked up on him lying in a brush pile. He had been hit in the heart and only run about 50 yards. He never bled a drop! About that time, I laid down my gun, ran to the truck and stated driving to find Dad! I think I blew the horn like a madman, and probably scared him to death. I finally found him, took him to the deer and showed him my kill. It was a tough drag up the hill out of the thicket, but our adrenaline did most of the work for us! Truly, this was the buck of a lifetime, and I had bagged him on my 20th birthday. Not that I deserved to kill him, or did anything special other than making a clean shot, but it was a truly great feeling. We later scored him and he came out to just over 158 Boone & Crockett points. Although I don`t know for sure, I imagine he was probably a 3 1/2 or 4 1/2 year old deer. My goal for this season is to bag his great-grandfather!

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