By Clyde Murphy
Well here it is, finally the last day of deer season. After all year
Of scouting, stand placement and hard hunting here is the last chance to bag a good deer.
Jan. 31 2001 4:30 A.M. This morning has dawned warm at about 65
degrees and very windy. As I lay there in bed, I can hear the wind
howling outside. This will be my last chance to kill a buck this season, I think to myself. I finally drag myself out of bed, and go put on some coffee while awaiting my hunting buddy, Mr. Eldred to arrive. We have planned a long hunt for this morning, get to our stands before first light, and stay until about 12:00. Mr. Eldred gets here about 5:00 and we start walking to our stands. He has his trusty Remington Mod. 760 pump 30-06 and I have my new Customized P-14 Enfield in 300. Mag. As we are walking in a doe winds us, we see her flag as she runs off, blowing all the way. At about 5:30 I'm climbing into my stand, a 20" ladder with a shooting rail, it over looks a 10 acre clear to the right, and 5 acre green patch to the left, and a 12 year old pine plantation to the back of the stand. The ideal place to ambush a nice buck! Well as dawn approached I'm thinking of the long hours spent in stands and ground blinds this season, gosh they seem to pass
by so fast. As it gets, light enough to see I survey around with my
binoculars and don't see any sign of deer. Funny I thought there should be at least some does moving at first light. Then there it is at 8:15, a snap of a branch, the rustle of leaves and a 4 point emerges from the plantation. He meanders through and stops only to take a couple of bites of grass before leaving the area. This was the only deer I saw, before getting out of my stand at 11:30.
As Mr. Eldred and I are walking out we start talking, he too hasn't had
any luck this morning, and he didn't even see one. As we go around a
little curve in the road, a good size deer runs. Mr. Eldred and I both agree it was a buck, so I blow on my grunt tube twice�I hear him stop, but he doesn't come any closer to us. We wait there for about five minutes and he doesn't move again. So, we move 100 yards down the road and grunt twice more. The he starts coming you can hear him busting through the brush, grunting every step. I knew he would be coming out onto the road any second, and BOOM all of a sudden there he is on the road 11 yards from me!
I throw up my rifle and with the 6-18 Simmons all I can see is brown, I
put it where I think his shoulder should be a squeeze the trigger, BANG he drops right there never to move again. I didn't get a chance to weigh him, but he was guestimated at 180 LBS, one antler was broken at the base and the other splintered off about 4 inches up the horn, a really old deer that had been fighting. Mr. Eldred decided he'd wait with the deer while I went to get the four wheeler I told him that was fine with me. I get up to the truck where the four wheeler is at, and after the third pull the cord breaks! So now, we have a 180-pound buck to carry up a 200-yard hill, plus another mile before we can get to the truck! I get back down on the road, and guess what, Mr. Eldred has a 120 pound doe on the ground "I was just standing here waiting on you and she crossed the road at 30 yards" He
said,so with one shot of his trusty ole '06 he put her down. So, while he starts in field dressing them I go cut a small gum tree to serve as a carrying pole. We finally get them both up to the truck with much
struggling and strife. It was a great last day of the season, one
definitely to be remembered.
This was the first animal to be shot with my 300. Mag. Other than a
60-pound coyote, Boy was I happy with the results on both. This was
also the first time I've ever grunted a deer up, what a rush I got when he busted out of the woods at such close range. This truly was a deer
season to remember. I have been practicing good ethics and trying to manage the herd by letting small/young bucks walk and only killing the sickly and smaller does. Hopefully next year we'll have even more nice bucks on our small 120 acre Heaven.
