The Big Hunt
He was quick to bound off toward the creek and the end of the ridge.
As the morning wore on I was elated that so many deer were moving near my stand. I was sure that I would get that first deer if I would just be patient. At about twenty minutes before ten my patience was about to pay off. The biggest deer of the day had just stepped out of the woods. I raised my rifle and planted the crosshairs of the scope on top of his shoulder. I was calm and deliberate. He was about seventy-five or eighty yards away. I pulled the trigger steadily. The mechanism gave way, the bolt slammed the cap on the firing nipple and all that happened was a pop. No boom. No loud repeat off the surrounding trees and stones. Still looking through my scope the deer stood at attention. He questioned the sound. He knew the answer. Time to move on. Everything I had done to prepare had been squandered because I failed to fire a cap before loading my gun after it had been cleaned. Now I waited for a delayed firing to blast the bullet from my gun. I could only recock the bolt and put a new cap on to wait for another chance.
After a midday break W. L. and I returned to the woods to finish the day. I returned to my stand confident that some of the nine deer I had seen that morning would return passing by me on their way to their beds. How long I would have to wait was up to some power greater than my own.
Three o'clock came and went. So did four o'clock. Crisp, cool autumn air was all I experienced for what seemed days instead of hours. As five o'clock approached I felt sure that the deer would begin to head back to the woods. But as five thirty came and went and the sun was curving behind me and toward the western horizon I began to doubt their movement. I had counted my blessings already that I had seen more deer, while hunting, that day than I had ever seen before. But I didn't have to wait much longer to get the opportunity of a lifetime.
The light wind and silence was broken by the crackling of leaves to my left. Those same pines that had enveloped several deer that morning had come to life. A small doe made her way from the pines and into the leafless undergrowth. She was headed back to her bedding area for the evening. I had stuck by my promise not to shoot a deer for the sake of shooting a deer all day. I waited to see if another deer would follow. My wait payed off. Out of the pines came the biggest deer of the day. His rack was not huge but it was a buck and I would not let him by without at least getting off a shot.
He stepped into what would be the clearest spot that he would approach without getting into the woods behind me. I quickly put the crosshairs on his shoulder and pulled the trigger. This time there was no misfire. The buck jumped and spun around changing his direction. He ran around in front of me and headed for cover. His brief run was over after fifty yards or so. He stopped behind a pine tree that obscured him from view. He blew his last breath and crumpled to the ground.