23 May 2007
I Hunt Deer, Therefore I Am
Posted by Darrell under: Whitetail Deer; Missouri .
I grew up hunting and fishing. The highlight of every year for me was firearm deer season. I’d anticipate opening morning for months and could never sleep the night before. There is nothing quite like having a whitetail come prancing in - just moments after shooting light.
A few years ago, I had a bad opening morning. I was on a business trip and missed the first several days of season. It made me sick to continue thinking that my entire family was together, hunting, and enjoying life, while I was chasing the almighty dollar. I vowed never again!
As soon as I returned from my trip, I headed to Ozark county (Missouri) where my family and friends were camped. It was already several days into the season and some of my family members had already departed (to return to work) and I was feeling sorry for myself.
I had set up my treestand weeks before and headed straight for it - just as dawn was begginning to break. I had located my stand in some dense brush and like a true moron I got turned around going into it. As a result, I busted a huge group of deer about 200 yds away from my stand.
I ended up waiting until I could fully see and then slowly searching out my stand. By the time I found it, it had been light for at least 15 minutes and since I had busted deer I was certain my morning was ruined. I stood there looking at my stand trying to come to grips with the war raging in my mind. I felt sorry for myself and one side of me was saying “You’ve messed it all up - just go back to camp!”. The other side was saying “There is more to this than killing deer - do what you came here for and climb up into your stand and try to enjoy yourself!”.
Fortunately, my positive side won this battle and I found myself belatedly climbing into my stand. Just moments later (literally) a nice buck, that had been laying in some thick brush about 100 yards from my stand, stood up and took off running down the valley.
I dropped that buck at about 110 yards with my Remington 870 Express 12ga Slug Gun. He was on a dead run and I didn’t hesitate to take the shot. If I’d hesitated I would have went back to camp empty handed. A lot of guys preach against shooting at running game. I’ve taken lots of game while it is running. I think I do as well under the pressure of a split second shot as I do when trying to line up on a standing animal. Regardless, If I feel I can make the shot - I take it.
On this morning, I experienced an emotional roller coaster. I went from being excited about the prospect of a hunt (even though belated) to the bottom of despair and then back to the peak of excitement.
I learned that one thing is always certain while you are hunting - and that is that nothing is ever certain. Anything can happen at anytime. So stop feeling sorry for yourself or your lot in life - just get out there and enjoy the hunt!
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