My Best Deer!

by Buck
(Oklahoma)

I was sitting in a small peninsula of more natural vegetation which jutted out into our wheat field. Sitting on a folding stool in hunter orange, there was little to conceal me except wide tree I leaned back on.

It was a great location for several reasons. The wind was in my face, and to the south was the often browsed wheat field. Even better, I sat at the end of a tree row which had a line of scrapes and rubs running down it.

A natural trail maker was the over-grown fence row which runs along the west end of wheat field and to my right. I'm sitting at a junction of an 'L' where two or more good deer trails and the wheat attraction intersect.

There were some trees, brush, and probably 400 yards of wheat between us, but I could see that Mike was watching something to the west of him. When I saw the buck pass over a little hill I remember thinking it looked like he had a tree on his head. I'd never seen a deer of that size.

I could only catch a glimpse from time to time. When he began down the old fence row I realized that path could lead him close by me.

When he reached a place where another fence row intersects, I lost sight, I thought he'd turned West. Some very long minutes passed before he re-appeared. Suddenly he was only 40 yards to my right.

I was still a fairly new deer hunter then. I had been so mesmerized watching this deer, I hadn't moved. My fateful Model 70 .243 was still laying on my lap. A more experienced hunter would have turned around in advance to make ready for a shot.

Now! I had to turn slowly and make a shot to the wrong side for a right hander. I was afraid he would see my move and bolt! Thankfully I keep the scope set at 4x and had not turned it up.

He was walking fast, and I wasted no time. The very second the cross-hairs looked right, I pulled the trigger.

The first shot knocked him down. I quickly made my way across the 35 yards to the broken down, old fence. Just as I was crossing the fence he tried to get up.

I panicked with the biggest deer I'd ever seen thrashing around only a few feet from me. The 2nd quick shot only hit his front leg. Realizing he couldn't get up; a careful 3rd shot did it.

Score-Your-Hunting Unofficial Score '35'