Well, lighting finally struck on Opening Day of muzzleloader season this year for me. I've been hunting with the crew (Freddy/Tim/Scott/David/Max) for about eight years now. The very first year out I had an opportunity at a nice buck and missed, only to have the confused buck walk right up to me while I was trying to reload and then not present a shot again. I've passed on some "borderline" bucks in the years since that first encounter. I get teased about my definition of "borderline" by the crew because generally speaking, a borderline buck that wanders by me gets shot later by one of the crew. It happens so often that the rest of the crew often takes turns deciding who gets to hunt near me so they can take the deer I pass! it's ok, by now most of you know that I'm not a big buck hunter at heart, preferring to take does for the freezer.
I enjoy the fellowship that we share at camp. I've seen some MONSTER bucks taken by the group as a whole. Most of all, I simply enjoy the time we all get to spend together enjoying the great outdoors. Taking a nice deer for myself has always been secondary. The morning hunt found my in my usual stand but the deer simply weren't moving very well. I saw two deer at daybreak and that was it. The rest of the crew saw one deer total, so I counted my blessings. After having some lunch at camp (thanks Amy and Abby!), stand choices were made for the afternoon hunt and I was blessed to hunt with Freddy. You see, my vision is not the best and I often miss seeing what others easily pick up. For those of you that don't know it, Freddy has better than 20/20 vision. Plus, hunting together always adds the social aspect to the hunt. Simply put, we have fun! At 4 pm, I spot a deer feeding along. A good sign from our point of view. Maybe the deer will be on their feet early this afternoon.
Awhile later, more deer show up, mostly does and fawns. The doe killer in me is salivating but we're after horns this evening. Soon, we have seven or eight deer, all does and yearlings, feeding in range but light is fading fast! Suddenly, Freddy says big deer. I look at his body language (Freddy's that is) and he's serious. The next words are "Shooter" and "Get Turned Around". That set into motion a calamity of events that had me banging and clanging everything I touched. I had to get my seat turned and the leg banged into part of the blind. Then I had to move even more to get positioned right Then the window stuck and we had to work that out. Light is fading fast so there was a sense of urgency. As I'm easing the muzzleloader out the opening, I manage to bang the gun on the blind. The deer never raise their heads! Finally, gun out the opening. Freddy asks if I want a sandbag Sure, why not. After getting that resolved, finally ready to make this happen!
Freddy ranges him at 106 yards. I find the deer in my scope among the does. His head is down feeding hard and a glimpse of his antlers confirms why Freddy called shooter! Focusing on shot details, Freddy's voice fades as I prepare to fire. The buck finally takes a decent angle and BOOM! The air fills with white smoke and that's all I see. Luckily, Freddy had him in the binos at the shot and followed him out of sight. A solid hit according to my extra set of eagle eyes! The does remain in view confused at what just happened. Now the adrenaline races through my system and my legs start to shake. Happens on every big game kill. Some fist bumps and a few texts, then on to the tracking. For those of you that don't know, my color blindness makes blood tracking almost impossible for me. Freddy is amazing and I have to get almost to ground level to see what he sees walking. As the trail increases, I shine the light ahead looking for parts of a downed deer. There, in the creek, lies a tall rack 8 pointer. Later, the scales tip at 172 lbs.
I'd done it! Many, many thanks Freddy, Amy, Abby, Hody and crew! I am truly blessed!
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You deserve it!!!