Tony’s Thanksgiving Buck

“Now there is only one of my hunting buddies who hasn’t shot a deer yet this year; me! Tony (my son in law) shot this 6-pointer Wednesday evening, but was having some problems tracking it, so he came home to wait for the morning sunshine. I met him at 6:00 a.m. and we headed over to our hunting spot. He had left his hunting hat at the last blood he could find, as he put in a sleepless night, second guessing himself.

The buck had been lured into range by a doe decoy, and Tony thought his aim had been true. There’s about 8 acres of tall grassy cover that the deer was running through the last Tony saw it. We arrived, just after sun-up, and had a little snow and lots of frost on the ground and bushes.

Tony walked me through the whole scenario, as we approached his hat marker. The blood trail was high in the grass, and I was concerned that the hit was a little off target. It was bright red blood though, and I told Tony that he probably got the liver, and that the deer was dead, we just had to find it. We started having trouble picking up the blood trail as the deer was zigging and zagging through the thick bedding area. I put Tony on the trail, as I walked ahead trying to locate his deer. About 150 yards away from the point of impact lay the fat stone dead 6-pointer. The exit wound was far back, but the entrance wound looked like it was right on. We celebrated for awhile, and thanked the Lord for His provision, on Thanksgiving day no less.

When Tony dressed the deer he handed me the heart, and said “look at this.” The top of the heart had a huge slug made hole in it. That explains the blood being so high on the grass, but how do you run 150 yards in that condition. Deer never cease to amaze me with there tenacity to survive! Tony’s Remington deerslayer did it again. This 12 gauge shotgun can really shoot some tight groups at 100 yards. Well there is now a distinct possibility that I will end up with a few packages of venison in my freezer after all.