Tuesday, September 18, 2007

My $200 Six Point

First you have to know that we are trying to shoot just large bucks on the famous Christmas Place. This is often easier said than done. In fact, almost every member has been fined for screwing up and shooting too small a buck. The fine is $200.
The morning was cool. Crisp air and still woods make your heart jump at every sound while you are hunting. I could hear the deer running through the hollow below me and got ready. They turned up the ridge and were right beside me in an instant. They both froze for a few seconds and I realized one was a doe and the other a small buck. She was obviously in heat and he was hot on her tail.
She broke and took off up the ridge. He was right behind her. They reached the end, then turned and raced back and stopped under my stand. A few seconds later she took off, made a big loop and they ended up right beside me again. You could have heard them from a half mile with all of the racket they were making. Up the ridge, down the ridge, back and forth they ran, but they weren’t going anywhere. I figured it was only a matter of time before another buck showed up and then I saw movement as a nice young buck showed up and got in the chase. Crashing, snorting, running, stomping they circled all around me. I knew that the biggest deer in the woods would soon be here to check this out. Ten minutes later, a flash of an antler slipping through the brush, it emerged 20 yards away into the open woods where I was hunting and froze. It’s head was directly behind a tree but I knew it was the king of the forest.
The buck started making a scrape and raking it’s horns in the limbs as I eased up and put my rifle in the fork of the tree. I aimed, just trying to see the antlers. His head was still behind the tree, but my safety was off and I put the crosshair right behind his shoulder. all he had to do was take one step for me to see the antlers and shoot. I was talking to my self “as soon as he steps out, I am going to shoot him right there.” The gun went off! Blood ran down my forehead! The buck took off! I could not believe the gun went off! All I could think was “Oh, s$%t!
Was it him, had I screwed up? I went to get help. I found Mr. Jones who had no sympathy for the scope cut on my forehead and we headed back. The big deer was in the deepest ravine on the property, and to make matters worse was a 6-point. Big, but no matter how I counted it still only had 6-points. Mr. Jones and I almost had heart attacks getting it out and boy did I catch some ribbing at the camp. They all cheered when I wrote out the check..

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh well. I would say that was money well spent. My opinion though!!! It happens.

Anonymous said...

Ah, I remember it like yesterday, we got to our stands and I had seen 6 does and 2 small bucks within 30 minutes of dawn. My field was full of deer and !!BLAM!!!. Rex and I were hunting 3 or 4 hundred yards apart. He came staggering down the trail later, spooking out all my deer, bleeding from the dreaded scope nose and said "I think I killed a monster" I was excited for him of course so we set out to track him down. I distinctly remember being the first one to fall down into the ravine as you could not stand up because of the steepness and I came eye to eye with a nice 2 year old 6pt. I don't remember if I said what I thought out loud or not. We had driven the four wheeler to the edge of the cliff, no winch of course, so we proceeded to attempt dragging a deer up an incline the 10th Mountain division would've scratched their head over, making small 1 or 2 yard increments which after trial and error we learned was fruitless unless you had a small tree to hang the deer around. Around a third of the way up I started having chest pains not because of my heart but because my lungs were not used to this kind of activity any more. After about 1 1/2 hours of much swearing, bickering, and debate as to whether to leave the deer and act like it hadn't happened we managed to get it over the crest. I don't remember anything else that day other than Rex paying a well earned fine. I think me and my old friend Ezra Brooks had a long discussion that evening. By the way I still don't buy the gun went off excuse.

Editor said...

Ah, I remember it like it was yesterday. You were not a damn bit of help as I had to drag you and the damn deer out of that hole.

Anonymous said...

Scopenose!

Andy said...

So where does the $200 go? Steak dinner for everyone, beer money, wildlife management fund?

Anonymous said...

I suppose it could be worse...you could have missed a shooter buck. Then you'd be saying, "Oh man, I'd pay $200 (or more) to have that shot back!"

Anonymous said...

Rex, I'll take your side. You wouldn't have gotten a bad case of "scope nose" if you had been ready for the shot. But, how did the gun just go off? Probably one of your ghosts!

Matt3 said...

Really cool article! I cannot wait for season to arrive we hunt in WV it is definetly a family tradition. I am getting pumped for it. Nice site!

Matt
www.fishingreeldealz.com

Anonymous said...

hBul0p Your blog is great. Articles is interesting!

Anonymous said...

AtzTQq Nice Article.

Anonymous said...

vTFkgP actually, that's brilliant. Thank you. I'm going to pass that on to a couple of people.

Anonymous said...

Please write anything else!

Anonymous said...

Good job!

Anonymous said...

Wonderful blog.

Anonymous said...

Nice Article.

Anonymous said...

Nice Article.

Anonymous said...

Hello all!

Anonymous said...

actually, that's brilliant. Thank you. I'm going to pass that on to a couple of people.

Anonymous said...

Please write anything else!

Anonymous said...

XvtIuY Nice Article.

Anonymous said...

actually, that's brilliant. Thank you. I'm going to pass that on to a couple of people.