I would love to blame the missed shot on 5 rounds of chemotherapy having toasted a few brain cells, but it was nothing of the sort. My miss was the result of a full-fledged bona-fide case of buck fever brought on by self-induced stress.

New laws for the IL gun season allowed us to hunt a ½ hour after sunset this year. Unfortunately the video camera did not want to keep working under those conditions so during most of the season our hunts were cut short before the big bucks entered the field. We were filming for North American Whitetail television. After tinkering with some of the equipment, my cameraman, Kyle Hicks was able to get us a few more minutes of time before we had to give up.  It was just enough time for the big bucks to enter the bean field we were hunting, with about 10 minutes of camera light left.

Cameraman Kyle Hicks ready to film the action for NAW TV. 

My problems began when the bucks entered the field at 240 yards. I knew I would have to hold the crosshairs on the deer's back at the yardage and the Thompson Center muzzleloader would do the trick. Unfortunately the sky was brighter than the field and every time I tried to put my scope on the deer, the site picture would go whiteish, like when you have a problem with the sun and get lens flare. I could see the bucks as brownish patches of fur, but not clearly enough to make such a long shot.

As the last precious minutes ticked by I struggled to get a clear view though the scope but to no avail. With about 2 minutes of camera light left one of the bucks began to move. He walked away from the others and finally I could get a clear view of him through the scope. But I was stressing out, knowing we only had a minute or two left to pull off the shot.

That stress (buck fever) caused me to goof up and keep the crosshairs on his back, still thinking 240 yards, when in fact the buck had closed the distance by about 100 yards by the time I got a clear view of him. I pulled the trigger and skinned the hair off his back. I know the gun shoots perfectly because I hit the hair I was aiming at. It was just the wrong hair! Of course the camera captured every detail and that will be my big debut on North American Whitetail television.

The Heater Body Suit makes me look line a linebacker, but it sure kept me warm. I couldn't have taken the cold temperatures without it! 

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Kyle had to leave, so the landowner, Mark Beck, offered to film the last day for us. In the morning a small buck and a doe came out early. We decided to take the doe for management purposes (and to redeem my ego and prove my ability to shoot a deer on camera). The doe stood broadside at 100 yards, we got ready, fired the shot and she dropped in her tracks. Well guess what. Mark is a better land manager than he is a cameraman because he forgot to push the record button!

Land owner Mark Beck fills in as a cameraman for NAW TV.

Glad to be hunting!!!

No big deal. After having been diagnosed with breast cancer in August and chemo treatments ongoing, I was happy just to be hunting for the first time this year. The problems we encountered in filming the show didn't seem too great in comparison. And once in a while taking a doe is more than a herd management solution or meat in the freezer. To me, this one means a whole lot more!