roa@davinci.acc.virginia.edu ("Robert O. Anderson Jr") (05/14/91)
About 4 years ago, I was in a treestand in the mountains. Nice day,
not much wind, mid October and the leaves hadn't started to turn, yet.
A couple of hours had gone by and the squirrels were everywhere. As you all
know, a squirrel makes sounds just like a deer....until you hear a deer.
It was 8:00 AM and I decided to rattle. Thought it was a good idea to get
comfortable first, I put my bow in the holder and grabbed my 2 liter
gingerale bottle(the green one) and stood up to pee into the bottle. After
fishing my pecker out of all those clothes, I proceeded to relieve myself
carefully as to not spill a drop. A crashing sound to my right caught my
attention and I saw a big bunch of honeysuckle shaking...."Huh, a squirrel
must have fallen out of a tree and landed in that honeysuckle." All of
a sudden, this bear stands up on his hind legs! I look at the bear and
look at bow and look at the bottle! I look at the bear, then look at the
bottle. The bear, the bottle. The bear....the bottle. After what seemed
like and eternity, I eased the cap back on the bottle, picked up my bow
ever so slowly and turned toward the bear. As he went behind some thick
stuff, I nocked an arrow and stood ready, my mind already made up that
I was going to cast an arrow at the best opportunity I had. Limbs,
leaves, or trees wouldn't stop me from shooting. I caught glimpses of
him as he moved parallel to me and I pulled back and waited for him to
clear the thick stuff. Where did he go? I eased the tension off the bow
and tried to find him when I looked down and there he was....I pulled
back and put all four sight pins on his back and let fly. He took off
like a horse out of the starting gates and was gone. I sat down, thinking
I'd just made a good shot on a bear, but I wasn't excited at all. I
think, in my mind, that I would never kill a bear with a bow and it
was one of those things that happen without it really sinking in.
I wasn't nervous and was kinda disappointed that it wasn't any more exciting
than it was. "Huh, that wasn't so bad, shooting a bear, I'll climb down
and see if I hit him. Naaah, I'll wait like you're supposed to do.
Okay, it's been ten minutes now, I'll check my arrow. Naah, the book
says 30 minutes! Well, I couldn't wait 30 minutes so I tied the rope
to my bow and started lowering it down. Naaaaahh, I'll climb down
"with the bow" incase I *need* it. You can't shoot a bow climbing
down a tree! "I'll wait the 30 minutes," as I pulled the bow back up
the tree.
Now, guys, I'll tell ya', It was hard to come out of that tree!
I tracked that bear ever so slowly(no blood) for twenty yards...then
I found the fletching half of my arrow. It was covered with hair and
blood.
I went straight to the farm house and got the owner, his helper
and his big black dog. Well, that big black house dog scared the sh*t
out of me several times while tracking that bear through the thick
stuff. There wasn't any blood on the ground, but when the bear went
through the honeysuckle it was red where it rubbed his back. We lost
the trail near the creek where the woods opened up. I was really
disappointed, but then his dog started barking on the side of the
next ridge. He was dead. He died right in a logging road. We just
backed the jeep up to him and loaded him up. He wasn't a big bear,
(150 lb.), big enough to fit "on the wall" in the rec room.
Bobby
roa@davinci.acc.virginia.edu ("Robert O. Anderson Jr") (06/12/91)
...It's about time for another story....
November 20, 1989.... First day of gun season for deer. ...But just a
little background.....Buckingham County, Virginia. Hunting with a
hunt club, my son, Lee (10 yrs.), and I found this little bump in some
Westvaco pines that the deer frequently run. These pines are about 20
feet tall and pretty darn thick. Visibility for a good shot is about
25 yds. Lee had missed a doe on the bump the previous year so on
Sunday the 19th we put a tree stand in a white oak that had grown up
on a wind row. The stand was only 7 feet off the ground 'cause any
higher would have reduced visibility tremendously and we were only
concerned with this one deer trail. A couple shooting lanes later and
we were ready for opening day. Buckingham Co. is shotgun only....I was
using my 870 3" Mag. and Lee was using my Dad's 1100 LH.
At 11:00 AM on opening day, the guys decided to "drive the pines
before lunch".....that's what we wanted to hear. We took off to get on
a stand before the crowd started in. We sneaked down the path, across
a small hollow and up on the bump. Lee climbed up in the stand and I
handed him his gun and said,"I'm going over the hill so you'll be able
to shoot in any direction." I started off and had only gone about 12
yards and I heard Lee in a loud whisper,"Dad." I thought, 'oh,
brother' I personally hate to "talk" in the woods. I turned and looked
at him and he said,"There's a deer!" He was pointing to the other side
of him. I dropped down on one knee and could see a deers' legs
quartering away from us through the pines. So I eased back to him and
explained again that we were hunting. And if you see a deer, make sure
it's a buck and take your time and SHOOT him. "But Dad, he was
standing right there!" "What was it? Buck or doe?" He said," I
couldn't tell...too thick" Mind you all this was whispering as I'm now
standing right under his treestand. You could hear the trucks coming
down the woods roads and all. I told Lee to keep his eyes open and
listen and DON'T TALK! You can't tell when a deer may come by. I
looked up at him and told him again that I was going over the hill.
Now, this next series of events, until the echoes died, may have
taken 5, 6, or 9 seconds. I'm not real sure, but it always seems
longer than it actually is....and you guys know the action can get hot
'n heavy and be over in no time.
So I told Lee I was going over the hill and I turned and he
whispered, "Dad." I looked up at him with one of those looks that mean
you've screwed up again and he was pointing down the path and he said,
"I heard something" I turned, looked and listened.....I didn't hear
anything...So I whispered,"I don't hear anything...I'm going over the
hill!!" I turned to take a step and Lee said, "Dad." When I heard that
the hair raised up on the back of my neck. I looked up at him with
fire in my eyes and he was still pointing down the path....just as I
looked at him his eyes got BIG and he mouthed the word, "BUCK!" I
KNEW he was looking at a buck. I turned, raised my gun and saw these
antlers coming through the pines. All I could think about was turning
that deer so I could have a broadside shot. I put it on him just as
the sun lit up his hind quarter and pulled the trigger. He kept
coming. I pumped in another 3" 00 buck and as the deers' feet hit the
ground in the first shooting lane(about 8 yds.), I was thinking about
the buckshot damaging his antlers as I put it on the flat of his head.
"What the hell...." ....POW.... Fully expecting the buck to fold
up.....He didn't. He didn't even flinch. The trail would bring him
about 3 yards from me...BROADSIDE ! I pumped and was thinking, 'Last
shot....make it good.' As the buck left the ground, I was swinging to
get it on his shoulder. I knew this shot had to be good and just as I
was about to shoot these two small pines came into the sight picture.
I held thinking, 'whole load gut shot....take your time....'
Now, remember, I'm standing just under Lee's treestand. And just
as I'm about to pull the trigger, WHAM... Lee's gun goes off. Now,
fellows, the blast of his gun just about startled the shit out of me!
I jumped and blew a 4" hole in the ground with my last shot. I grabbed
a shell from my pocket and looked up while feeding the gun and watched
the buck lope out of sight. My immediate first words to Lee was, "How
many shells do you have in that gun?" A whimpy "three" was the reply.
I guess he sensed I was upset. I think I was more disappointed that
one of us hadn't killed the deer more than anything. "Why didn't you
shoot two more times???", I asked. He shrugged his shoulders. I guess
I thought if he'd shot sooner or first or anytime other than messing
up my LAST shot....oh well. Now those of you that have hunted a lot
and have shot a lot of game, know that at the crack of the gun, if the
scene were to go blank, you'd just KNOW whether to put money on that
particular shot or not. I didn't have any confidence in my first two
shots.....the third went in the ground.
"Let's go see if we can find any blood..." I said as I took
Lee's gun so he could climb down. We took about 5 steps down the trail
and Lee said, "Look at all the blood, Daddy!!" I couldn't figure out
where all that blood came from....The other fellows' trucks were still
coming in and we hadn't heard any other shots. I asked Lee if he'd
made a good shot on the deer and he didn't know. I knew I hadn't... a
few more steps and a small pine was red where he'd bumped it. "Oh,
Daddy, look at this!" There was, indeed, alot of blood. I told Lee to
be quiet and we trailed ever so slowly...I was looking ahead in hopes
of seeing the buck on the ground. I had Lee in front, my gun slung
over my shoulder. I was sure it was Lee's shot on the deer that caused
all this blood and if we jumped the deer I wanted him to finish it.
I been in on some "community kills" before and you always wonder who
actually did the killing.
We'd tracked the deer about 20 yards when I saw a brown patch,
that didn't belong, on the ground. "There he is," I whispered. "Get
ready, he may jump up." There was something about the position the
deer was in and the way he was stretched out that made me think he was
dead. But Lee didn't know that. "Be ready!" I whispered. Lee said
"What a BUCK!" Well, I couldn't see any antlers, at first. I was
looking on his head and the antlers were sticking way up in the air. I
coached Lee in approaching from the backside incase the deer should
explode and as we eased within 6 yards Lee's gun slowly raised up and
I mean it was shaking...I heard that ominous 'click' and asked,"what
are doing!!!" "Let me blast him one more time, Daddy. I don't want
him to get away!" I assured him I thought the deer was dead and NOT TO
SHOOT. The deer had a pattern just behind his shoulder about 6 inches
in diameter. The only other injury was a half inch Vee cut in his
right ear....my head shot.
It's now hanging in Lee's room.....the only mounted head in the
house. Main beams at base are 5.5 inches and 19" inside spread,
between the third and fourth tines on each beam it's 4.5 in. Total
points 16. Longest tine is 14 inches. It scored 157 B&C Typical and
220 B&C Non-Typical. It's a true trophy and he has been told by more
than one that his hunting seasons from now on will be "down hill."
Bobby