The following story was submitted by Hunting The First State reader Tom Donlon of Newark, Delaware. Thanks Tom! – SMK
I wanted to share this hunting experience with you because I enjoy a good hunting story as much as the hunt itself. When I hear that a fellow hunter takes a deer (buck or doe) I can’t wait to hear the “story.”
It was November shotgun season of 2012 and I was hunting with my wife’s cousin Tim. We arrived at the farm at about 5:15 am to hunt for the day. I was able to hunt the entire day because I didn’t have any other plans until later that evening.
There are several stands on the property, and I chose to hunt from a box stand that had a partial field view. I sat for hours and saw one little doe at about 10:00 am. Tim decided to break for lunch at about 11:30 am and then return to hunt in the afternoon. I decided to skip lunch and relocated to another stand for the afternoon hunt.
I quietly walked to a stand that is wooded on one side and overlooks the marsh on the other. I arrived at the stand shortly before noon and made my way up the ladder. As soon as I reached the platform I could hear a buck grunting off to my right. I literally just got to the top of the stand and still had my backpack on and shotgun slung over my shoulder. I froze for a second and then looked to my right and saw a huge buck in the distance, stomping around in the reeds. I was catching glimpses of him as he marched in and out of the tall reeds. I saw another smaller buck and a fox run from the area so I assumed he was running everything out of his territory. I tried to get his attention by using my grunt call and doe bleat but he wanted no parts of it. He never stopped or looked my way. He vanished into the reeds and I thought I would never see him again.
About five minutes passed before I heard the grunting again and then saw the buck return to the same area where I first saw him. He vanished into the reeds once again. I was scanning the area with my binoculars and caught a glimpse of his antlers among the reeds. I only saw him because he moved his head and I could see his rack in the reeds. I checked the distance with my range finder and was surprised to see the 96-yard reading because it looked like he was a mile away. I tried to get his attention again by using my grunt and bleat but he refused to move. I found the antlers in my scope and placed the crosshairs on his head. I sat there for a moment deciding if I should shoot because I didn’t want to wound the deer. I decided that I would take the shot, thinking that if I hit him where I was aiming it would be a kill shot and if I missed it would be a clean miss.
I had a steady hold and sight picture, so I squeezed off the shot. The shotgun jumped and I never saw him move. I sat there for a while wondering if I had hit him or if he ran off into the reeds when I shot. I waited a while and made my way through the swamp area and across a small canal to find this awesome ten point buck lying right where he was when I shot. My shot hit him dead center in the base of his neck. I can’t begin to describe the exhilaration I was feeling at that moment – Still am.