Chris and his sister Amanda with his doe.

Chris' First Deer by Chris W.


I had been hunting on the backside of our property watching a meadow where we had seen several deer come out to feed. I was sitting in a little shack where I could put the barrel of the rifle between boards if the opportunity presented itself. I had been there between 10-15 minutes when I saw a doe jumped out into the meadow about 100 yards away. I grabbed the 30-30, and put it between the boards. The first 2 shots I cleanly missed. The doe ran off, then stopped, and then ran back towards me. By this time she was about 120 yards away from me. I shot the third time and it was a hit. I knew I hit her as she kicked back legs really high. Then she began to run off again, going about 50 yards and then dropped. A neighbor came along and helped me drag it out.

Way to Go Chris!
(by the way, Chris and Amanda are Mamaflinter's and Doug's kids! )

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Corey's deer By Randy Dunn

Here are some photos of my stepson Corey's (17 years of age) Bucks he took during the 2002 big game season. All in all he took 1 buck and 2 doe with the bow and a nice buck with the shotgun.

The one on the left he took up the road on a neighbors lot in a thicket that divides 2, 90 acre fields an connects 2, 200 acre woods, a natural "hot spot" for deer to pass through. The landowner only allows Corey to hunt there, (via summer help) and only with a bow. This was his first Buck with a bow. After the shot he called me from the tree, with a walkie-talkie, shouting, "oh my God, Randy are you there, I just shot a big one, randy are you there?"

After he stopped to see if I was there, I talked him into calming down, lowering his bow, and after a few min, to climb down and sit by the bottom of his tree and wait for me to come up (about a half mile up the road). So I grabbed my coat and a flashlight and headed up the road, When I got there He was standing out in the field with his arms up in the air in a "victory stance", I could see his grin from the road. He bagged a nice 7-point,
His first buck with a Bow.

The right hand buck was taken on Thanksgiving Day, we had Corey hunting up the road because he was having good luck there, and that gave us more "room" down on our property.
But on Thanksgiving Day, he asked if he could hunt with us and use his new shotgun he worked for during the summer. So after 2 big meals, we returned home with about 1 hour of daylight and headed out.

I made it just past the back yard, (too much turkey) and told Corey to go to the other side of the field and to sit down under a tree on the edge of the woods, we were waiting for deer to come out of the woods and park to feed in our wheat field. They did. 1 large doe running like mad from a monster buck, I drew up and followed the running buck until I saw I was swinging towards Corey's position, and pulled up, after he ran by, and to Corey's side of the field, the doe looked like she winded Corey and came to a full stop, so did the buck.

Corey stepped out from under his tree, dropped to one knee, and took one shot. His mother and I freaked out more than him due to its size, and rack,, he hadn't spent the last 25 years trying to bag a buck like that.

Anyway we're real proud of our son. We had to ask him to "back off" after this deer so we could put some meat in the almost full freezer (this was his 4th deer this year). Nice hunting Corey!

(Corey's Buck made the NYS Big buck clubs record book!)

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De's Deer

 

I remember it was a week after the 99’ shotgun season opened. I knew it was the actually a week after because my significant other (Randy) got a nice ten point buck the first day of the season and now he was back at work. The only other person in the wood was our hunting buddy Rob.I remember it was a week after the 99’ shotgun season opened. I knew it was the actually a week after because my significant other (Randy) got a nice ten point buck the first day of the season and now he was back at work. The only other person in the wood was our hunting buddy Rob.

It wasn’t that cold for hunting season about mid thirties. It had been in the 70’s during the first week. I chose to hunt from the ground. It is something about being eye level with them that makes the hunt more exciting for me.
I made my way to the woods, with my gun over one shoulder; I went to a wonderful spot. It was only about a quarter of a mile from my front door, on the edge of the hardwoods and a thicket on our land. It was pitch black and I had to set up my small chair and camouflage blanket, this happens most of the time during the morning hunts.

Finally I got settled in and quite comfortable, then I witnessed the sun come up through the trees and send its powerful rays to make the maples come alive. After an hour or so, from the left of me he came. His head held high and focused on the path in front of him. I thought for a moment that I was the intruder here and this was his realm. Without too much hesitation I automatically kneeled behind the blind and readied my gun. I gave a short prayer to God as if was meant to be, he was a beautiful animal. I heard my heart thunder in my chest and pounding in breath. I lined up my sights and slowly squeezed the trigger.

It’s funny how time slows down after the fact, and you remember so many things from an instant and forget other things from that same moment. You don’t think about how much a 12 gauge kicks, where the bullet hit, but do remember selective things; like the smell of the forest, the light through the leaves, or remember that I stood to see him running straight away and then an instant later, he stumbled to the ground. Sometimes I wonder what would make me do this to such a magnificent animal. Then it all comes back to me, in the woods, it’s peaceful, beautiful, and when I’m hunting I’m part of it all. I’m the hunter, I’m a provider, this deer was my prey, and is now venison for my family.