Hard to believe that it's been 32 years but that is exactly how long it has been. I remember when I started out with my father in the woods as a 12 year old. I thought it was the greatest event in my life. To be walking beside him in the woods. Learning new things. Seeing all that there was to see out there. To be hunting with the "old guys". Well that year I started tagging along with my father I had the opportunity to watch him take, at that time, a very respectful buck for the area we were hunting. Our area here in NY is not known for monster deer. We have a good population of deer and with QDMA things have gotten better through the years. But back in 1980 that 9 pointer I watched him take made some news. To this day that deer mount still hangs in his living room. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't walk into my parents house and see that buck that my mind doesn't go back to the events that lead up to it being forever in our lives.
Fast forward through the years and some 25 plus bucks of my own. Several of them stand out to me as well. Like my first buck, a fat spike horn that I took. The joy I felt when we trailed up to it and found it lying there together. My first true racked buck. My first archery buck. All of them are certainly memorable. But that first deer I saw my father take, that is a memory.
My son Zack has been going out with me and my father now for a few years. During that time I have had the opportunity to shoot some bucks while he has been with me. Just nothing that was "with the program". Well Zack is 12 years old now. And it's a bit ironic that as a 12 year old he and I were sitting shoulder to shoulder under a big Oak tree Sunday afternoon when he had the opportunity to watch me take my highest scoring buck to date.
It was just past 4:00 PM. The sun was just falling below the tree line. A flock of turkeys had just roosted in front of us and gotten all settled in for the night. There wasn't a hint of wind and not a sound to be heard. I told Zack that this is the time when the rutting bucks should be getting on their feet and start moving around. I did a sequence of bleats and grunts. I repeated it about 15 minutes later. After the second time, we could hear something below us in the Hemlocks. Eventually we see the body of a deer below us about 80 yards away. I bring the scope up. The head and neck are blocked by some trees but I can tell the body is a very sizeable deer. I slide a little to the left and lean way over. I can now make out a very nice beam and set of tines going up and down on a sapling. I whisper back to Zack that we have a "big buck". His eyes grew wide at that very instant! Almost to the point of being laughable. I take aim, release the safety and carefully take the shot.
Zack never moved. He asked if I got him and I explained to him to listen. We could hear the buck through the leaves and the trees. A few seconds later it was over. We gather our gear and head down the hill. We quickly found the blood trail and began the search. It only took a minute or two as the buck fell within 30 yards of where he was standing. As we walked up to him together we both knew that this deer was something special. Not only for it being my biggest deer but for being able to share it with each other. Having my son there to help in all that needed to be done is another memory that will last me. I hope that he too will forever cherish that moment just as I did when I was 12 years old with my father.
Though numbers are not as important to me in taking an animal as the hunt itself and being able to take a mature animal, this little fellow dressed out at 175 pounds and taped out at 123 inches. He too will be going to the taxidermist to forever be a daily part of our lives.
Fast forward through the years and some 25 plus bucks of my own. Several of them stand out to me as well. Like my first buck, a fat spike horn that I took. The joy I felt when we trailed up to it and found it lying there together. My first true racked buck. My first archery buck. All of them are certainly memorable. But that first deer I saw my father take, that is a memory.
My son Zack has been going out with me and my father now for a few years. During that time I have had the opportunity to shoot some bucks while he has been with me. Just nothing that was "with the program". Well Zack is 12 years old now. And it's a bit ironic that as a 12 year old he and I were sitting shoulder to shoulder under a big Oak tree Sunday afternoon when he had the opportunity to watch me take my highest scoring buck to date.
It was just past 4:00 PM. The sun was just falling below the tree line. A flock of turkeys had just roosted in front of us and gotten all settled in for the night. There wasn't a hint of wind and not a sound to be heard. I told Zack that this is the time when the rutting bucks should be getting on their feet and start moving around. I did a sequence of bleats and grunts. I repeated it about 15 minutes later. After the second time, we could hear something below us in the Hemlocks. Eventually we see the body of a deer below us about 80 yards away. I bring the scope up. The head and neck are blocked by some trees but I can tell the body is a very sizeable deer. I slide a little to the left and lean way over. I can now make out a very nice beam and set of tines going up and down on a sapling. I whisper back to Zack that we have a "big buck". His eyes grew wide at that very instant! Almost to the point of being laughable. I take aim, release the safety and carefully take the shot.
Zack never moved. He asked if I got him and I explained to him to listen. We could hear the buck through the leaves and the trees. A few seconds later it was over. We gather our gear and head down the hill. We quickly found the blood trail and began the search. It only took a minute or two as the buck fell within 30 yards of where he was standing. As we walked up to him together we both knew that this deer was something special. Not only for it being my biggest deer but for being able to share it with each other. Having my son there to help in all that needed to be done is another memory that will last me. I hope that he too will forever cherish that moment just as I did when I was 12 years old with my father.
Though numbers are not as important to me in taking an animal as the hunt itself and being able to take a mature animal, this little fellow dressed out at 175 pounds and taped out at 123 inches. He too will be going to the taxidermist to forever be a daily part of our lives.
