Pennsylvania Game News - December 2016 - 12

Black trudged away. After 30 minutes,
Pop heard some distant whoops and
hollers as the drivers worked their way
through a clearcut toward him.
He nervously gripped the Remington.
Suddenly there was a ﬂash of movement
on the point, and a doe with two young
trotted into sight and stopped.
The doe looked back, listening to the
drivers, then continued up the point. She
was only 20 yards from Pop before she
saw him, snorted and bounded off.
Hoping she hadn't spooked any bucks
that might be following, Pop studied the
hillside.
Movement caught his eye. A buck!
The ivory gleam of antlers flashed
against the dark tree trunks as the deer
turned, disappearing around the brow of
the hill.
Pop shifted his feet nervously. Black
had ordered him not to move, but that
buck could be just over the hillside, just
out of sight.
Dang it, why did that man have to be
so intimidating and unbending?
Impatient and angry at such a silly
rule, Pop hopped off the stump, moving
quickly to the edge of the hill and peeking
carefully over.
There, 50 yards below him, a big
8-point walked with his head down.
Slipping off the safety, Pop placed
the bead just behind the shoulder and
squeezed.
At the riﬂe's bark, the deer jumped
straight up and came down doing an
about-face.
Pop was surprised.
He aimed and ﬁred a second time.
The deer again jumped up and came
down facing its original direction.
Pop couldn't believe it. He aimed even
more carefully, settling the bead where the
neck met the head and ﬁred again.
12

The buck dropped and Pop returned
to the stump.
Several minutes later, other shots rang
out in the valley. When the second drive
ﬁnished later in the morning, a single shot
echoed from the opposite point.
Around 11:30, Black appeared, stomping up the hillside in his jerky, impatient
manner. He looked around methodically
as he approached Pop and froze when he
saw Pop's tracks leading to the ridge.
"I thought I told you not to get off that
stump, Hayes," Black barked.
"I heard you shoot three times, too, and
I don't see any deer. You had a lot of good
men working hard to get a buck to you,
and it looks like you wasted their time and
mine. You missed, I'll wager. Got buck
fever, no doubt. And you moved!"
Black's menacing ﬁgure stood glaring
at Pop, who, although intimidated, peered
back into Black's angry eyes and chose
his words.
"A doe busted me, but I caught a
glimpse of a nice buck following her as
he turned off to the side," Pop explained.
"It made sense to me to take a peek over
the hill, just in case he was slipping past."
"But I told you to stay on that stump!"
Black ﬁred back. "It's the best view. While
you were fooling around peeking over that
edge, who knows how many deer could
have gotten by you."
Pop's temper rose, but he refused to say
another word. He just stood there, looking
right back at Black.
Something about Pop's quiet conﬁdence began to cool Black's temper. Pop
wasn't backing down and Black admired
that.
"Well?" Black asked.
"Go look!" Pop suggested, sensing the
confrontation was easing.
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - December 2016
