Pennsylvania Game News - October 2011 - 24

he spotted movement. Just as buck fever was about to return, he slowly turned to look and spotted a doe. “I started to wonder if maybe he was following the doe, and sure enough he came out into the open not long after I spotted her. He was out of the brush about 60 yards and standing broadside in an open spot, and I figured this was my opportunity. The doe was moving behind me, about 40 yards away, and if he were to follow her it would have been a closer shot, but I didn’t want to take the chance and wait.” Virgil raised his handgun, but before he could fire, the buck moved back behind some brush. His heart sank with the feeling that he had just lost out on that once-in-a-lifetime trophy. The buck was once again on the move and now with the doe, angling away from Virgil. At one point it was 40 yards away and likely as close as it was going to get. He steadied his gun, aligned his sight and pulled the trigger. “I was certain I had missed, but the buck jumped and started running toward me, and instead of taking another shot I simply stood there and watched in disbelief as he ran just beneath me.

But when he went to jump over a small ditch and fallen tree, he slammed into the tree, stumbled, bounced off, turned and fell over less than 10 yards from the tree I was in,” Virgil said. Virgil stood in his tree, stunned at what had just transpired, and in his amazement almost stepped right off the end of his treestand. So excited was he to get a close look at the buck that he began to climb down and forgot that he still had some of his gear hanging in his treestand. Once he was out of the tree and had walked over to the buck, Virgil had to count the points three times before he was certain he wasn’t making a mistake. The buck had 24. “People still don’t really believe me until I show them the pictures or the mount, and then they often exhibit the same stunned look I had when I saw it in the woods,” Virgil commented. You might say that Virgil Kidd was lucky to be at the right place at the right time. Or that he was lucky that his shot was true. But some people believe luck is when preparation meets opportunity, and in this case, for a man who has hunted all his life, the opportunity walked by his tree and he took advantage of it. 

VIRGIL KIDD’S buck ranks sixth in the state in the nontypical firearm category, and may be the largest ever taken with a handgun. Handgun kills, though, like those with muzzleloaders, are included in the firearm categories, so we’ll never know. If you harvest a buck this fall that you think might make Pennsylvania’s record book (115 B&C Club points for archery typical; 135 archery nontypical; 140 typical with a firearm; and 160 nontypical with a firearm), after a 60-day drying period, contact an official B&C measurer to have your rack scored. A list of measurers can be found at www. booneandcrockettclub.com. A signed copy of the official score sheet then needs to be sent to: Pennsylvania Big Game Records, PA Game Commission, 2001 Elmerton Avenue, Harrisburg, PA 17110-9797. “Pennsylvania Big Game Records 2011,” a complete list of Pennsylvania big game trophy records is available in a bound, printed version, for only $5, which includes sales tax, plus $1.25 for s&h. Order from the Game Commission at “The Outdoor Shop,” at www.pgc.state.pa.us, or call 1-888-888-3459 with your credit card.

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http://www.booneandcrockettclub.com http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt?open=514&objID=665407&mode=2 http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt?open=514&objID=665407&mode=2 http://www.theoutdoorshop.state.pa.us/FBG/game/GameProductSelect.asp?ShopperID=A8BD791BE0504828A72B06034B1745E1&catid=BKS http://www.pgc.state.pa.us

Pennsylvania Game News - October 2011

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