October 30th, 2004. Aaron and I got up in the dark, it was pouring rain. We contemplated going back to bed. We both knew it was the chasing phase of the rut and we had a couple days off. What the heck. Tough day for keeping your powder dry however. We drove towards our destination seeing a couple of younger bucks chasing doe in the head lights. We parked where we intended to begin our walk and drank coffee as the morning’s light began to define the landscape. The rain lessened and slush began to fall, the slush turned to hail. We looked at each other and laughed. He had just acquired his father’s .308…this would be his first outing with it. We exited the truck during a lull in the precipitation. I loaded my Hawken and placed it in my heavy wool cover. We dawned our packs and slipped into familiar territory. We worked down deer trails through a couple muskegs and a bit of forest before entering the first of many large muskeg systems. It was light enough to see open sights now. The first call sequence caught the attention of two doe who came in fast from different directions. They found themselves unnaturally close, their ears laid back, they groaned, and then reared up pawing at each other. One ran off and the other walked slowly away. A second calling sequence brought her back. We moved on calling as we went. We crossed through another veil of timber and sat at the muskegs edge. 300 yards distant 4 does were running back and forth. I hit the call once and two of the does ran the distance to us. We waited a long time thinking something must have been pushing them. We moved close to where we had seen all the deer and sat against a tree on the edge of the muskeg. I let things quiet down. It was raining lightly now. Aaron watched to the east. I hit the call. Four does appeared in front of us. They were dancing about out front, one particularly close looking for the fawn. Arron grabbed my arm and looked eastward. A smaller three-point shout thorough an opening. I jumped up and took the wool cover from my Hawken. I walked forward through two of the does. Fifty yards distant among the larger shore pines, through a six-inch gap, I could see a gray shape, an antler base, an ear, and where a buck’s neck entered the chest. I tried to kneel and make the shot but I could not see the sweet spot at that angle. I stood and focused, telling myself you do this at the range all the time, make the shot! I took careful aim and fired. The air’s moisture formed a huge smoke cloud which sat motionless in front of me. I rolled left and the target was gone. Aaron came to my side. I slowly reloaded. One of the does were still only 20 yards away. The others had scattered. Arron asked if I got it. I had no idea. He had just vanished. The doe to our left slowly walked to where I had shot as I reloaded. She got to the spot where the buck had stood and looked at the ground, slowly she smelled something on the ground just out of site. Her ears laid back and she spun and ran into the woods. I looked at Aaron and smiled. Now reloaded, we walked towards where I had shot. The sun came out. As we got closer, I could see a buck laying at the base of the shore pine. I only could see a little of its rack. I rounded the last tree to see a beautiful, huge buck lying on the wet mosses. I had no idea of its size when I shot. I looked at Arron, we both could not believe its size. Both the body and rack were huge. It had two cool non-typical points on the inside of the beams. A fantastic buck. A pleasant surprise. The sun stayed out for the photo session. Then the sleet and Hail returned, luckily mixed with rain. We had no idea what happened to the smaller three point. Aaron continued his hunt while I boned out the buck. After I finished packaging up the buck, I explored the area and found where he had rubbed on a large cedar that morning. It was lucky him that was pushing the does about across the muskeg when we first entered the opening. We met back at the truck later in the afternoon. Sadly, Aaron had not found another buck. I on the other hand could not stop smiling. A great experience with a close friend. The buck grossed 108 0/8, netting 100 7/8 placing it well into the Longhunter records and the Awards in Boone and Crockett. God, I love these deer…
