Haunting Memories
10-11-2013, 02:03 PM
#12
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 21,193
Mine centered around my nephew about 30 years or more ago. My sister was divorced and no MAN STUFF ever seemed to happen with my nephew. So I used to take him fishing, camping, and then I asked him if he wanted to try deer hunting. He was so excited. I guess I was too.
Well I got him a Remington Model 760 pump 30-06 rifle, I was using my Remington 742 semi auto 30-06 rifles. We went to the range and he sighted in. Then I had him take hunter's safety and he passed. So we were all set.
I hunted with two other guys back then as my friend owned 700 acres of beautiful woods. And we camped on the land in a trailer. So we got my nephew all set opening day. He came back late that afternoon and said he never saw anything. We were shocked as we had put him on the best stand in the woods.
So the next day I told him I would sit with him. So we went out and took the stand and he was really nervous for some reason. Then he finally admitted he saw deer the day before, but nothing he wanted to shoot. That again seemed strange as we had doe tags.
Well we were not there twenty minutes and in came three or four does and a nice little four pointer. We both had tags to fill on bucks or doe so I whispered for him to take the buck and I would take a smaller one. So we both got set to shoot I told him I would shoot right after him. I heard him shoot out one side of the blind and I shot out the other side of the blind, dropping my deer. I then saw that big buck, running straight away from us. I kept yelling for him to shoot, and he shot again. I figured he was wounded, right? No one misses a gimmie shot. So since he had not dropped, I put my scope under his tail (I hate to shoot a deer in the rear, but I hate tracking and dragging worse) and gave him the old Wisconsin booster shot. He dropped like a rock then.
So we went to my deer and I showed him how to field dress a deer. I was careful to explain to him how to do it all. And he watched but never said anything. Then we went to his deer and I told him to have at it. Well he knelt there, and looked at me, his eyes were wide as saucers. And he looked frozen. So I started explaining again to him how to field dress the deer. Finally he made a little cut but again, he was very reluctant to open the stomach cavity. Well now I was getting kind of upset. It was cold and I was wet, I wanted to get back to camp. So I opened the body cavity and told him to reach in there and roll the guts towards him, cut the fat behind the stomach, etc. And he started crying and begging me not to make him do it.
Well I was raised, you shot it, you cleaned it. Then he started this, "I am going to throw up" story. And he kept crying. I then blew my temper and basically really reprimanded him brutally for being such a child. I'd never seen anyone afraid of a little deer blood or guts. And I let him know what I thought about the whole situation.
I ended up gutting his deer as he stood there blubbering like a two year old. He tagged it of course. And then I told him to drag it back to camp. I have to admit, I was mad at him. I mean, I was really excited to take him hunting and he acted like a child.
But the icing on the cake was, at camp he starts telling his BS story of shooting the deer to my friends. I lost it!! I then told them what a pain in the you know where he was, and how he blubbered like a child. They of course thought I was kidding, making a joke, so they laugh, and teased him. Until they learned that I was not kidding. They tried to make him feel better, but you could see he was devastated.
We went back home after opening weekend as I had to work. But what I regret is.. my nephew never hunted again in his life. He never told the story of his first buck. In fact after we skinned that buck, or I should say, I skinned that buck, he'd never even hit the deer. I always wish I would have handled that situation better. The worst part is as I reflect on that incident, I never knew how much like my father I acted that day. You see my father was very strict. I realized I sounded just like he would have been. Worse, when he was told the story, he chewed his grandson out too. So yes, I nave a temper and when its tripped.. I can do really stupid things. But every time I see my nephew, we never talk about his one deer hunt.
Well I got him a Remington Model 760 pump 30-06 rifle, I was using my Remington 742 semi auto 30-06 rifles. We went to the range and he sighted in. Then I had him take hunter's safety and he passed. So we were all set.
I hunted with two other guys back then as my friend owned 700 acres of beautiful woods. And we camped on the land in a trailer. So we got my nephew all set opening day. He came back late that afternoon and said he never saw anything. We were shocked as we had put him on the best stand in the woods.
So the next day I told him I would sit with him. So we went out and took the stand and he was really nervous for some reason. Then he finally admitted he saw deer the day before, but nothing he wanted to shoot. That again seemed strange as we had doe tags.
Well we were not there twenty minutes and in came three or four does and a nice little four pointer. We both had tags to fill on bucks or doe so I whispered for him to take the buck and I would take a smaller one. So we both got set to shoot I told him I would shoot right after him. I heard him shoot out one side of the blind and I shot out the other side of the blind, dropping my deer. I then saw that big buck, running straight away from us. I kept yelling for him to shoot, and he shot again. I figured he was wounded, right? No one misses a gimmie shot. So since he had not dropped, I put my scope under his tail (I hate to shoot a deer in the rear, but I hate tracking and dragging worse) and gave him the old Wisconsin booster shot. He dropped like a rock then.
So we went to my deer and I showed him how to field dress a deer. I was careful to explain to him how to do it all. And he watched but never said anything. Then we went to his deer and I told him to have at it. Well he knelt there, and looked at me, his eyes were wide as saucers. And he looked frozen. So I started explaining again to him how to field dress the deer. Finally he made a little cut but again, he was very reluctant to open the stomach cavity. Well now I was getting kind of upset. It was cold and I was wet, I wanted to get back to camp. So I opened the body cavity and told him to reach in there and roll the guts towards him, cut the fat behind the stomach, etc. And he started crying and begging me not to make him do it.
Well I was raised, you shot it, you cleaned it. Then he started this, "I am going to throw up" story. And he kept crying. I then blew my temper and basically really reprimanded him brutally for being such a child. I'd never seen anyone afraid of a little deer blood or guts. And I let him know what I thought about the whole situation.
I ended up gutting his deer as he stood there blubbering like a two year old. He tagged it of course. And then I told him to drag it back to camp. I have to admit, I was mad at him. I mean, I was really excited to take him hunting and he acted like a child.
But the icing on the cake was, at camp he starts telling his BS story of shooting the deer to my friends. I lost it!! I then told them what a pain in the you know where he was, and how he blubbered like a child. They of course thought I was kidding, making a joke, so they laugh, and teased him. Until they learned that I was not kidding. They tried to make him feel better, but you could see he was devastated.
We went back home after opening weekend as I had to work. But what I regret is.. my nephew never hunted again in his life. He never told the story of his first buck. In fact after we skinned that buck, or I should say, I skinned that buck, he'd never even hit the deer. I always wish I would have handled that situation better. The worst part is as I reflect on that incident, I never knew how much like my father I acted that day. You see my father was very strict. I realized I sounded just like he would have been. Worse, when he was told the story, he chewed his grandson out too. So yes, I nave a temper and when its tripped.. I can do really stupid things. But every time I see my nephew, we never talk about his one deer hunt.
10-11-2013, 02:44 PM
#13
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Comance county, OK
Posts: 11,409
One evening in the late 1960s i watched a big buck bed down in the huckleberry patch about 1/4 mile from my parents home. Deer season was open and i hiked over there early the next morning. The deer jumped up from his bed and i shot at him with my .30-40 Krag. Was absolutely sure i missed, so followup was made.
While i went after the deer Dad was preparing to butcher hogs. After missing the deer, i helped Dad build the fire to heat the water. Our neighbor John showed up to help. John said: "There's a big buck deer lying dead above the old school house". Without a word i got in the truck, retrieved my deer, checked it at the gas station and quickly came back. We butchered four hogs and a buck with a rack that scored over 170 Boone and Crockett points.
That was my first lesson in following up shots. The other is too painful to relate here. My nightmares would come back and i'd miss the opening day of muzzleloader season tomorrow.
While i went after the deer Dad was preparing to butcher hogs. After missing the deer, i helped Dad build the fire to heat the water. Our neighbor John showed up to help. John said: "There's a big buck deer lying dead above the old school house". Without a word i got in the truck, retrieved my deer, checked it at the gas station and quickly came back. We butchered four hogs and a buck with a rack that scored over 170 Boone and Crockett points.
That was my first lesson in following up shots. The other is too painful to relate here. My nightmares would come back and i'd miss the opening day of muzzleloader season tomorrow.
10-12-2013, 12:54 AM
#14
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 5,425
It doesn't really haunt me but back in the mid-80s I was using my .45 flintlock for all my hunting...It was rifle season and I slipped back into the swamp behind one of our farms and sat down on an island that is loaded with oaks where deer bed down during the day...
About 8:00 here comes the biggest buck I have ever seen while hunting...One of those with a 20+ wide rack as white as ivory...He came right to the island and stopped not 30 yards in front of me...I tucked that front sight right behind his left shoulder and touched her off...He turned and ran into the swamp, I could hear him splashing in the water...
I never found that deer, it's tough tracking through water that's 8-12 inches deep...It's also one of the reasons I moved up to a .54...I'll probably never kill a buck that large but I did learn a good lesson...With round balls, bigger is better...I also take high shoulder shots when I need to drop a deer right now...
About 8:00 here comes the biggest buck I have ever seen while hunting...One of those with a 20+ wide rack as white as ivory...He came right to the island and stopped not 30 yards in front of me...I tucked that front sight right behind his left shoulder and touched her off...He turned and ran into the swamp, I could hear him splashing in the water...
I never found that deer, it's tough tracking through water that's 8-12 inches deep...It's also one of the reasons I moved up to a .54...I'll probably never kill a buck that large but I did learn a good lesson...With round balls, bigger is better...I also take high shoulder shots when I need to drop a deer right now...
