The sun had already set when I saw movement at the edge of the woods. I waited and a deer stepped into the open. Raising my binoculars, I saw the animal was a buck whose antlers reached well out beyond his ears. He was in fact just what I was hoping to shoot for my final deer of the year.
My season to that point had been rather humdrum. I hadn’t spotted a single mature buck. I had seen a number of spikes which I, of course, had passed up, although I could have taken ONE legally. However, I really had not worried about not seeing a good deer. I knew why I had not. The reason was simple. I hunt within certain restrictions I‘ve imposed on myself that are far more limiting than those set by the State of Mississippi. Also, at this point in life, my first priority in deer hunting is not to shoot a trophy, not that I pass up a trophy when I see one, but to acquire venison for my family and friends. I had successfully done that already by shooting several antlerless deer. Some of these had been taken on family land. However, I’d shot two while hunting with my son and helping crop does on his club in Attala County. The point here is that I exercise care in not making an overkill of antlerless deer in any one location.
Still I, thankfully, had reached my primary goal for the season. We had plenty of venison and I was finally free to concentrate my efforts on getting a good buck to finish out the year. Even so, time was running out. It was now past the middle of January, and I had less than two weeks to get my “wall hanger”. So, where should I hunt? As every deer hunter knows, success depends on being in the right place at the right time.
Since we can hunt our property at French Camp by simply walking out the back door, I decided to begin there. Although I prefer to hunt hardwoods, on this outing, I went to a food plot (the only one we’d prepared for the season)) located less than half a mile from our house. It’s part of a bigger field two hundred yards long and perhaps half that wide. It lies at the bottom of a hill and is surrounded by a mixed forest of pine and hardwoods. It is an ideal afternoon stand in that the wind there seems to always blow from the east at that time of day. (Probably because of the hill) Simply put, any breeze moving blows right in your face and away from the deer. That is of course is vital to the success of hunting whitetails.
After parking my ATV in the woods nearby, I walked the short distance to a two man stand we’d set up at the west end of the field. It was approximately 3:30 when I climbed in and settled down to wait. The afternoon was quite pleasant although patches of snow still lingered under the pines after a rare twelve hour fall of the white stuff the weekend before. Happily, the weather seemed just right. Nothing happened though until the deer mentioned at the beginning of the story appeared. He stopped at the field’s north edge. Usually deer coming from that direction follow the wood line down to the food plot. I waited, but the animal showed no inclination to move in my direction. He simply stood there a good one hundred sixty yards away. (The distance had been previously measured with the aid of my range finder.) I waited, hoping he would move closer.
He did not. Rather he took a few steps toward the south side of the field as though he was going to cross and go into the woods on that side. Then he stopped again, apparently undecided as to WHAT he should do. It was obvious though the deer had no intention of coming into the green field once he’d determined no does were present. Equally obvious too was the fact that a few more steps would take him into the high sage where I would have no shot. I had to make a decision! A hundred sixty yards is not a long shot for most hunters, but for yours truly it definitely is. So, somewhat reluctantly, I raised the 7x57 and taking rest on the rail that enclosed the stand, placed the crosshairs of my scope just behind the deer’s right foreleg. I squeezed off my shot. The buck seemed to falter for a split second before springing back into the woods. I immediately sent a text to my grandson, Hayes, telling him what had happened. I was very much afraid I might need his help in finding the deer. I knew without question that because of its size, I would need help in getting it out of the woods. Hayes texted back at once and said he was one the way.
Since it was already past sunset, I decided to begin looking for the buck at once rather than waiting the usual few minutes before taking up his trail. All the while I was hoping and praying we would not face a long tracking job. My prayers were answered. No trailing at all was necessary. Deer well hit with the Hornaday Superformance round from the 7x57 Mauser usually run only a short distance, if indeed they run at all. (The same thing of course is true with any good deer rifle.) In this instance, my buck WAS well hit. My shot placement had been perfect, and the deer lay a few yards from the edge of the field. I could easily see him before I entered the woods. Hayes arrived while I was examining my “trophy.” The deer was a very heavy bodied eight point, but had a smaller rack than I had hoped for. However, does a deer hunter ever get the rack he dreams of? Probably not! Nevertheless I had a good buck, if not a great one.
My grandson and I loaded the deer onto the side by side. A few minutes later the animal was hanging from the skinning pole behind my house. I had taken my buck the first day I’d actually hunted one, and now my season was over. I didn’t expect it to end so quickly!
Editor’s note: Roy Hawkins of Choctaw County is avid outdoorsman and has his book Horizons East available on Amazon.
