Pennsylvania Game News - December 2010 - 5

In the past, some of the deer that had gone that way often circled around and came out near my stand. So, I turned in that direction and a lone doe burst out of the laurel and headed right for me. Here they come, I thought, as my pulse quickened. The doe closed to less than 10 yards, made a quick, small circle in the laurel and appeared to be looking for the rest of the herd that had apparently deserted her. When she realized they had taken a different route, she headed right back where she had come from and disappeared into the thicket. That was about 7:45 and the doe was the 11th deer I’d seen. The next sighting was around 8:20, when I glanced back to check behind me and locked eyes with a deer that had just stepped out of the laurel. I think we discovered each other at the same time. It was about 30 yards away and all I could see was the head and part of the neck. It was looking directly at me and with the naked eye I could see nothing between its ears. Not wanting to risk spooking it by raising the rifle to check through the scope, I remained in that position (facing forward but looking back) for as long as my ever stiffening neck would allow. After about five minutes I realized I had met my match and was rapidly nearing the point where I had to move. I slowly turned back toward the front, while easing behind a tree. But every time I peeked out to check, the deer was still standing there in the same position, looking right at me. I was beginning to think I was in a standoff with a decoy. After 10 minutes I looked and it had finally moved its head slightly, but still showed no evidence of any headgear. It quickly snapped its head back to staring at me, though, so I tried to disappear behind the tree again. I checked at the 15-minute mark and it had turned and was just starting to head out the ridge when I thought I caught a glimpse of something white above its head. I got it in the scope in time to see a decent,
DECEMBER 2010

curved beam on the right side with one lone point about halfway up. I couldn’t see the base, though, to see if it had a brow tine and, try as I might, I couldn’t see the left side at all. The buck was quickly swallowed up by the laurel, but the good news was that it was traveling in the general direction of my grandson, Jeffrey, who was several hundred yards out the ridge. Jeffrey, just 11 years old, was in a stand with his dad, my other son, Jay, taking advantage of the Mentored Youth Hunting Program. Jay had taken a 9-point earlier in the season with his bow in Ohio, and was thoroughly enjoying the day in the stand with his son. The buck would definitely be legal for Jeffrey, so I hoped it would pass under his stand. Things got slow after that. By 10:30 nothing was happening and I was starting to entertain thoughts of digging into my bag of goodies when I heard a shot from Jeffrey’s direction. Jay told me over the walkie-talkie that Jeffrey had hit a buck and they were going to check on it. In a short while I heard another shot. Five minutes later my cell phone beeped, indicating I had received a text. It was a photo of Jeffrey sitting in the leaves with his first buck, a fine looking 5-point. Also from the picture, there was no question that it was the same buck I had seen. The right antler did not have a brow tine, but the left antler (the one I couldn’t see) did, indeed, have three points on it. I was so thankful that I hadn’t been able to identify it as a legal buck and taken a shot at it. Jeffrey’s buck meant that both he (Jeffrey the 3rd) and his dad, Jay Jr. had taken nice bucks. Only I (Jeff Sr.) remained to make it three for three. But it had been the longest dry spell of my life as far as taking bucks, and I wasn’t
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Pennsylvania Game News - December 2010

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