The Kill

Since 1981 i have hunted the white tail deer with my brother Clay, my pops, and occasionally uncle Pete. We have hunted the same tiny, now abandoned, apple orchard in the Parkwood area of Indiana, Pennsylvania. I cant tell you how many deer ive killed there, i cant even recall the number of buck that ive killed. I can tell you that i have streak of 6 years running with a buck, on the first day of each season. Two years ago was my largest buck, an 11 point with a 13 inch spread (thats the distance between the furtherst point of the left side to the right. This year was a wet one. I was in my tree stand by 6:30am (still dark) and it poured rain all day. By lunch time Dad and I were depressed. We were soaked and had seen very few deer and no buck. With the rain still falling after lunch we actually discussed calling it a day. We have never had that conversation before. Im sure Dad agreed to sticking with it only because i wanted to. At his age, he has given up on hunting in inclement weather. He hunts all the time, so there is no reason to suffer. By 1:30 with my stomach full of food we hiked back to our spots. I sat and soaked, until 3pm. It had just stopped raining and i spotted 3 doe running through a field over 100 yards away. I surmized that a buck might soon follow. I wondered however if i would take such a long shot. After another 20 minutes or so i stopped scoping the area where i saw the doe. I began looking elswhere. After 5 more minutes passed i caught some movement out of the corner of my eye in the field where the do were. By the time i realized it was a buck, got my gun in position and the deer in the cross hairs of the scope the buck was now at least 150 yards or more away. This is not a recomended shot, through woods, up hill, etc. But, it was now 3:30, i was wet, cold, tired and hungry and so i figured, what the hell. I pulled the trigger and to my amazement the buck dropped to the ground, intantly. Its leg moved some, as i watched it in the scope, and it looked as if he was trying to move. To no avail. I waited a few minutes, not as long as you are supposed to, and unsafely, hurried out of my stand. When i got to the deer and surveyed the rack i screamed, OH YAAAA! This was my biggest buck yet. While it only had 8 points, the points were long and high, and fat and the spread was almost 17 inches. And the bullet hole? Right behind the ear in the jugular. Ive told some that i aimed there for a quick kill. It was lucky that i saw it, lucky that i decided to shoot, and most of all lucky that i hit it. To add to the luck, it dropped in an old gravel road that was easily accessed by dads truck. No dragging! Sothe streak is alive, the tradition of hunting the first day of PA buck with Dad is still in tact, and my manhood gets another needed stroke.