East TN buck

[pastorbmp]

I had found this particular spot on our lease that a friend and I had nicknamed "the Nursery". It is a most unusual spot to deer hunt. Our lease consists of about 1600 acres, 95% of which is hardwood ridges and hollows. This particular spot was between two of the landowners houses about 150 yards off the black top road. No one on our lease has hunted this spot to my knowledge. We had been walking way back into the timber, driving ATV's to the heart of the property in pursuit of a big buck...and right under our noses was a deer hunter's gold mine. The reason we named it "the nursery" was the first 4 times I hunted this spot, I saw nothing but spikes, fawns and young does. My hunting partner and I kept joking that "mama and daddy will be back to pick up the kids from the nursery at some point". One morning I took a friend with me to the nursery. It was so foggy it was like swimming in a bowl of pea soup. I dropped him off at his tree and walked the next 150 yards or so to the tree I would hunt out of. Got in my tree and just got settled in, when I could make out the ghost-like figure of a deer floating across the little field in front of me.I quickly put my scope on this deer, and even though it was only about 50 yards from me, I couldn't tell if it was a doe or buck...never mind a shooter buck or not. It eased it's way directly in front of me. It's slow gate and constant scanning the area around it certainly made me think it was a mature buck, but even with the scope on it, I still couldn't even tell if it was a buck or a doe. Finally, when the deer got about 45 yards in front of me, it turned it's head and looked toward me. In the scope, I was sure I made out a rack that extended out past his ears. He continued floating across the field. My buddy hit his can call and the deer stopped and looked back that way, but then proceeded to continue across the field in front of me. Again it stopped and looked my way. I put the scope on it's head and this time I was sure he had a rack and it extended past it's ears. In East Tennessee, that's a pretty good sign of a mature buck. By now, he was about to get out of my shooting window. I put my scope on his vital, squeezed the trigger of my Remington 30-06 and he jumped and ran toward the thicket. I heard him crash just inside the woodline. I called my buddy on the cell phone and little did I know that the ghostlike figure had drifted right under my friends stand, but he was so busy watching the doe that this buck was following, that he did not see the buck until he could not tell what it was in the fog. I waited until the fog had lifted and climbed down. The anticipation was killing me - I knew he was a decent buck, but not sure exactly what he was. Well, after a short tracking job...at the end of the rainbow, I found a good, solid mature East Tennessee buck! It just happened to be Thanksgiving Morning! While I have so many things to be thankful to the Lord for, I had one more blessing He had sent my way that day!

[cjg]

Nice deer, Not sure the lord had any thing to do with it, you should be thanking the doe.

[pastorbmp]

Well I am sure He did! He gave me health to be able to go, He allowed me to be born in a great country that I am free to enjoy such a wonderful pursuit, He blessed with the money to be able to be a part of a lease, He blessed me with a wonderful, compassionate wife who is as excited for me to get to hunt as I am....yep - the Lord had a lot to do with it! I Thes. 5.18 says, " In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

Thanks for posting. And....if I could find that doe, I'd thank her too!!!

[cjg]

Ha, Should have looked at your name before I commented. To each his own, I personally don't buy into it myself. Still a nice deer though.

[dcamacho13]

Nice job! I bet the fog situation made the hunt that much more intense! The anticipation is what keeps me coming back every year...

[pastorbmp]

It sure did make it more intense! And the anticipation after the shot, while I was still in the stand was the most I have experienced in many years. It has to go down as one of the most exciting hunts I have ever had.