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Screw the Rules
So here's another fine harvest - this time from our first Gear Giveaway winner, Annette Shearer of Lexington, KY! It was one of those unlikely incidents in which she was about to pack it in, when all of a sudden... --K.H.
I have to admit that after 20 hours of hunting I was ready to give up on the stand I was in. Everyone else
was getting a deer and I wasn't. I hunted the stand "one more time" and was disappointed. I was ready to leave at 8:30 in the morning. I was texting on my phone, making noise of all sorts and I put my gun on safety to get down out of the stand. I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I flipped my safety back off, and swung to the left and fired. It was a 9-pointer. And a fine one I might add. I was doing everything wrong "according to the hunting rules" but you always have to have your instincts. I've heard so many stories about getting a deer when you weren't expecting it, but this was my first. Anyone else have this experience? --A.S.
Nice harvest Annette!
Funny how much time you probably spent waiting for HIM to do something wrong!
I try (often unsuccessfully) to get into my tree stand and "quiet" at least one hour before legal time. It never fails that, when I AM early, it's like all the deer have followed me out and will hang around being noisy despite the fact that I'm sweating, being noisy myself while shuffling my gear around, and only angling for a quick nap once I get in the tree!
When I finally got my buck this year, it was almost the same - I had crossed that mental "line in the sand" and decided to disengage and start to come down from the tree. That's when he showed up - probably helpful because I had "removed" myself from the hunt and felt as if I was "shooting from the hip" when he sauntered in.
Posted by: tracy | December 01, 2007 at 09:21 PM
I just had a similar experience during rifle season.
I was in my blind and the wind was all wrong. I had sat for a few hours and saw deer moving in the woods, downwind from me but nothing was coming in to my field.
I decided to quit using my grunt call and my Primos Can and just read my book.
I looked up to the far south end of my field and there was a deer standing there. My first thought was "where did that come from" and the more I looked, I realized it was a buck.
I pulled up my binoculars and could see that it was a pretty good buck and could count 4 points on one side.
I pulled up my gun and he turned broad side and feeling confident that it was at least a 7 and probably an 8, I pulled the trigger.
He was a nice 8, not a wide spread but still a nice buck.
The coolest part was, I have always shot my deer closer to my blind and always wondered if I could make a good shot at the far end of my field. Well, I did and it was my farthest shot ever...150 yards and he didn't run 50 yards from where I hit him.
Posted by: Judy Black | December 03, 2007 at 10:01 AM
Congrads on the Buck!!
We all need rules to live by, but, they're made to be broken some times.
I try and expect the unexpected, but that don't always work. Lol
I remember one time it was one of the last days of gun season and my dad went to drive out a swamp for my and a friend. Well someone else was hunting the property, only they were on the backside across the crick. I waited what seemed like forever for my dad to come out of that swamp. Instead of having my gun at the ready I had it standing at my side and I was leaning on a nice big tree. I heard a noise behind me and turned my head slightly to see a flash of red. I thought "oh boy, a fox!" I had never really seen one all that close up, and it was only 30 yards. The guy hunting behind us must have kicked it out.
My fox transformed some how into a beautiful, nice, big, buck! :O The small flash of red I had seen was his hind leg as he disappeared behind some trees for a second.
He caught me off guard and I wasn't able to make the shot on him.
Live and Learn I guess.
Posted by: Laura Bell | December 04, 2007 at 09:32 PM
I like to make up the rules as I go, so that way I don't have any to break. Acutally I chalk up all of my unlikely moments, and there are a lot, to Murphy's law. I think that is part of the fun of hunting, plus it makes our stories that much better.
Posted by: Lou Alexander | December 05, 2007 at 03:18 PM
Awsome buck! Look at that grin, that's what it's about! I too had it happen this year! I actually got out of the stand after getting a text from my friend who had just shot a nice buck (turned out to be a 10 pointer, incredible deer for her!) I was so excited to help her track him that I didnt notice a buck watching me climb down! He stayed put! I actually sat on the ground next to my stand and shot him! Needless to say, my friend had shot "my babies daddy!" I killed a 4 pointer which looked funny to her 10, but I'm glad I did afterall. Turns out he had a bad fungus near all of his lymph nodes and the back of his neck, couldn't even eat him!
Posted by: Amy Tucker | December 12, 2007 at 08:34 PM