Stories

The One that Got Away II

It all started in Jacksonville Beach, I hadn’t hunted for at least 6 years and had given up on it. My little brother, Keir, told me I ought to go sit in the Cotton Patch with his 30-06 rifle while I was home. I took his advice and Dad and I got up early and headed down to the farm. I sat in the ground and was day dreaming when I heard something behind me. There were deer with serious horns behind me. When I tried to turn around to get a shot, the deer ran off. It was a beautiful warm sunny day and I thought I’d go back that afternoon. I found a large pine tree and managed to climb up it and all I could do was stand on the limb and wait. In maybe 30 minutes I look over and there are 2 spikes sparing in the corner to my right. Buck fever kicked in big time. I’d never even shot this gun and here I was with 2 deer out there. I raised the rifle and boom; one dropped by the other on just stood there looking. I’m watching this shaking like a leaf when something catch’s my eye back to the left, it a HUGE buck, the biggest I’d ever seen in real like, with horns going everywhere, standing on his back legs looking over a briar patch watching the deer I had just shot. I spun around and tried to put the scope on him but I fired and shot high. This buck then took off running across the field with me firing right behind it. I saw it run away and I had buck fever ever since.

I had to go back to Jacksonville the next day but when I got back; I started talking about this deer hunting. My neighbor, Brian Sobolewski, heard all this talk and decided he wanted to go next year. When that time came, Keir had already moved back to Meridian from Jacksonville and started working on some hunting spots. Keir had also invited some friends, Tommy and Clint and they decided to bring a couple more people on their own. We it’s opening day of deer season and we have about 7 people hunting with us. The first morning, we put Brian in the Cotton Patch and I tell him this is where the deer was that I missed and he should still be around since no one hunted. I suggest to Brian that he will probably see some doe but to wait for a while before he shoots because a buck may come out. By the time I get to my stand and settle in I hear a shot coming from the direction Brian was in. He had shot a large doe, the first one he saw and he was thrilled. That afternoon, Brian wants to hunt the same spot again. I’m thinking to myself, he won’t see anything since he just shot and killed a doe on opening day. Instead on getting back into the shooting house, Brian decided to sit next to in, on the ground in the Cotton Patch and wait. The doe finally appear and there are several playing in the field when the big buck makes his entrance. Brian raises the rifle and put the scope on him. The buck is only 20-40 yards away and is standing still, broadside to Brian. Brian squeezes the trigger and hears “click”. He hurriedly cocks the lever action 30-30 and pulls the trigger again and the buck runs off but only gets another “click”. Brian had forgot to load his rifle!

Next, it’s Keir’s turn. During the same year, Keir and I go hunting and he goes to the Basket Stand while I go the to Cotton Patch. I don’t see anything that day and just about dark I hear BOOM, BOOM, Lowry! Lowry! BOOM, BOOM Lowry! Lowry! BOOM. I hear more than one shot and I’m thinking he’s missed it and if he wounded it, it’s heading to the Archusa creek and the swamps around it. In order to get their, the deer has to cross a field 500 yards wild by 2,000 yards long. I’m thinking with my 7MM Mag., I’ll pick him off crossing the field but before I get there, Keir is calling me to come to his stand. I get there and he says he got a buck 10 or more points walk up to his stand and stop 25 yards away. Keir said he shot several times with the crosshairs right on the deer and the deer didn’t move at first. We get lights and search all over for blood. We can’t find a drop. Finally, I check Keir’s gun and I notice his scope is loose! We take the gun to a field and with the car lights on a bucket, fire 3 time and miss the bucket completely! His gun was way off. The question Keir and I have to this date is when we were looking for the deer, we heard one very loud shot in the direction the deer ran and we wondered, had just shot the deer? We never saw that lucky deer again.

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