It was about four years ago. When
I decided that my son Jeremy was old enough to accompany his Dad & Uncle on his first Archery deer hunt. It
was a fairly cold morning. We had just got a few inches of fresh snow the night before the hunt .The wind was just brisk enough
to add a real bite,if you weren't dressed accordingly. Anyway a few weeks pryor to the Bow opener, myself & my son Jeremy
went out & did some pre-season scouting at several locations. We also set up various ground
blinds, as we had treestands already in place from the past year. We were hunting My brother Georges Property, &
the surrounding neighbors property's. We set up a few make shift ground blinds, consisting of various fallen pine branches,limbs,etc.,
in areas that had fresh deer sign. I thought we stood a reallly good chance to possibly bag a deer from one of these
locations. And with the hopes Jeremy would have his 1st opportunity to see a deer taken by his Dad from one of the blinds
we built together. Anyway It was a brisk cold Morning , so I decided that we would go out later than I would normally do, so
Jeremy wouldn't freeze in the first hour of the opener. So we went out about 7:00 AM in hopes he would last a couple hrs.
at least. We then proceeded out towards our choosen spot via. through my brothers woods, until we came to the treeline
we would walk across to get to our spot we planned on hunting. I forgot to mention I had made Jeremy go to the bathroom &
do what he needed to do before entering the woods where we planned on hunting. However(Yep
you guessed it) Dad Jeremy said! I need to go potty!!!! Your kidding I gasped!!!
you just went at the house before we left! his responce was, yea I did but, now I need to go, well
as I was raised to say #2 potty!!LOL!!! well it wasn't the best place for that to happen , as we were not more than 25 yards
away from where we were about to sit in our chosen blind to hunt. Well as you can imagine I wasn't a happy camper .
Anyway I told him to walk out into the open field a way's & go ahead & do what he needed do but to go out a way's
so it wouldn't affect our spot. I gave him some toilet paper & he went on his way , I continued on to the groundblind
we built & chose to hunt . As I Looked to see if he was coming yet, I noticed he hadn't gone more than 20 or so yards
away to choose to (Make his Deposit) well I figured at that point there goes any chance of us seeing any deer at that location
today!!! I couldnt of been More wrong. He eventually came & met me at the blind which was located at a wooded thicket
containing some wild apples, some thick scagg / tangle, & Blowdown that for humans was nearly impossible
to penetrate. On our backside was a 50 acre parcel of open field where that the farmer friend normally planted corn
but this was a by year & just outside the thicket we were huntin, he had planted about a 50 foot by 500 foot row of lucious
clover for the deer in hopes they wouldn't destroy the main corn crop when planted.. well Not 20 min after Jeremy
did his buisness in the field Jeremy was sitting next to me facing sideways towards me . Our Location was set up not far from
a dogleg / funnel which led from feeding to bedding area's about halfway across the field . What happend next blew us
Both away!! we were only setup into the woods about mabye 8 yrds. away from the open field, where he just made his
(deposit)lol & I never even considered the possibility of a deer coming from anywhere near that location. Well I couldn't
have been more wrong , within 20 minutes of being there! All of the sudden!! looking at Jeremy , He looked like he was
seeing a ghost right behind us. He tapped my leg I could only assume OMG it can't be?? not a deer NOT there!!!. As I
slowly turned for a look there it was, Yes folks not 20 yards away from
where he had just made a (DEPOSIT) in the field directly behind us, not 6 yards
away staring us eye to eye stood a large bodied (4 point Buck!!!!) He had entered the exact trail we came in on & was
now close enough to spit on, I slowly reached down & grabbed my bow. But as I turned back slowly to get another look at
the buck, he snorted once, turned & all we could do was watch the buck prance
away as if playing. And just went right back the way he came in. But not on
a dead run as you would imagine he would, instead he just pranced off tail wagging as if he was in
a playful mood! , And in a flash he was gone again.( Did I mention yep ( Right Past The
Poop Pile)lol!!!
Needless to say myself & Jeremy were speechless
& full of adreanalin rush. But were so excited because we shared it all together. Well after several more minutes Jeremy
was getting too cold to stay in one spot , I asked if he wanted to head back to the house he replied yes . I told him it was
ok , But to stay in radio contact until he got back to the house where uncle Bob My other brother was . Brother George was
out hunting as well as us. Well Jeremy started heading back to the house , However he wasn't gone from me 2 minutes, when
the alarm call on my two way radio went off it was Jeremy!!, Dad Dad!!!! he said. I said! what. OMG I just saw the biggest
Buck I ever seen!!! I quickly said where , he answered I was walking down the path towards the house & all the sudden
this Monster Buck as he refered to it busted right out of the woods into the open field & headed across the open field
towards the road, to cross the road over into a heavy scagg / tangle / thicket . I asked if he saw how many
points it was? he answered he counted 8 or 10 points . Not 3 min after that!! My Brother George radioed me as well
. Wally he called, I said yea , He went on to say You won't believe what I just had run right under my stand not
more than 10 yards , But was on a dead run with NO shot opportunity lol!!! I said let me guess a 10 pointer ,
he said how'd you know did you see it too? I replied no But I have an 8 yr old Boy with me who is shaking nearly
out of his boots because he saw it too! & it ran right by him within 10 yards!!!, He ran out into the open
cornfield & was on a dead run straight up & over the top heading across the road, When all this action took place
Jeremy was about 60 yrds from where he left me . Well anyway we decided to head back to the house & have breakfast
& go over the awseome details of what Jeremy & George had Both witnessed, Jeremy couldnt' wait until he could tell
that story lol!!!!! Though No Deer was taken that day it will go down in the journal of great hunting Memories That will last
in Jeremy & my brother Georges minds forever!! What was most Important for me was the (Quality Time) well spent
with my Son That day. And seeing all the action we did was just a bonus!!! Memories that are embedded in us &
will last a lifetime!!! It was just an Overall Great Outdoor experience & seeing the look on my
Son Jeremy's face was just a thrill !! that day . Hunts are Not alway's about the Kill its about Quality Time
with Loved Ones as well & I am very Greatful for that!!!
Folks although that day started out on
a (poopie) note!! :) It ended up as one of My Greatest Hunts to date:!! And I got
to share it with My young Son!!!! :)
I Hope You Enjoyed This Story!!! As I Did
Until Next Time May You have
A Great Safe Hunt!!!!
May You Bag The Deer Of A Lifetime!!!!!
Wally
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