Pennsylvania Game News - November 2013 - 27

itself several times in previous years.
My original choice would prove fruitful, though, as my buddy Keith would
shoot a 10-point with a 19-inch spread
near there on the opener.
Early on, everything was quiet, even
with about an inch of crunchy snow on
the ground. A cool light breeze blew
through the surrounding red oaks. I
heard only a smattering of shots, mostly
from the opposite side of the lake.
About 8 o'clock I heard deer before I
could see them below me. They popped
into view at close to 200 yards and
up went my scoped Remington. Five
antlerless deer crossed the river face
before me one at a time while slowly
angling down toward the lake. I felt
certain a buck would bring up the rear
of the group, but none showed and the
surrounding woods became quiet again.
We at Olde Smokey are and have
always been still hunters. But these
conditions screamed stay put, so I made
the decision to hang until at least 11.
I then hunkered into my spot with, as
usual, too few clothes and stayed alert.
At 8:30, I heard deer again coming my way from above me. The lead
deer was a forkhorn, followed closely
by a nice 9-point. That buck rivaled
anything I had shot in my 36 years of
hunting here. They were angling closer
to me, so I hesitated shooting at the
moving deer. Then I heard yet another
one coming behind the first two.
He popped into view out of the
scrub brush, and my heart skipped a
beat. He was a taller buck with plenty
of points, so all my attention diverted
to just him. When he came through an
opening broadside at about 70 yards,
I let him have it with my bolt-action
Remington .30-06.
Quickly seeing that the other two
NOVEMBER 2013

bucks had stopped at the shot temporarily, I racked in another cartridge. I
couldn't see the big one with the other
two, so I hoped he was down. Easing up
the ridge to where I last saw the buck,
he was suddenly struggling to get up in
the brush. One more bang sounded and
the old buck was mine.
The closer I got the better he
looked. This majestic whitetail was an
11-point, with a crab claw-like drop
tine on his left main beam and a nearly
22-inch outside spread. It took a while
to sink in that I had just taken the buck
of a lifetime. It later taped out at 1614/8 gross score.
Getting my 17-year-old son on the
radio was my first move. Rutt was about
500 yards away, so I asked him to come
over, because he just might want to see
this buck. After hearing me shoot, Rutt
had watched another hunter shoot the
9-point and caught a glimpse of the
forkhorn, too.
We had quite a time in the woods
after Rutt got to me. The excitement
of a moment like this is what keeps us
all at it. We snapped some photos, fielddressed the buck and I got some help
from Rutt hauling it toward the top.
That deer caused quite a stir on the
mountain that night after the five-hour
ordeal to get it out to camp. Lots of
hunters stopped by to see the Kinzua
King, and no one had ever seen the
likes of him taken in our vicinity.
On a windy and wet day 2, my
brother Greg shot a nice 6-point that
Rutt and John moved by him. That
gave us three bucks and a banner 2010
season to remember. All made possible
by my dad, who years ago introduced
his three sons to hunting and the great
outdoors. Thanks Dad, and for Olde
Smokey, too!
27
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2013

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