Pennsylvania Game News - January 2021 - 27

ran, but I was sure I'd hit him.
I needed some time to let it sink in,
and it took a while. Then I gathered
everything and walked to where he'd
stood. I didn't see any blood, but I saw
his tracks and where he had turned.
After a hard look, I found a drop of
blood the size of a pencil eraser, and in
another 10 yards another drop. That is all
the blood I ever found.

I

'VE TAKEN FIVE deer with a flintlock and, with each, I found almost no
blood. Since maxi-balls don't expand,
the entrance and exit holes are about the
same size.
I walked about 100 yards into
the woods and found nothing, I
backed out and went home planning to search the next morning.
I didn't sleep much that night,
and I had counseling commitments
the next morning. I met the first at
6:15 a.m. and when I contacted the
others to see if I could postpone to
look for the buck, they said they
understood. If they could see the
buck, they'd understand all the
more.
I headed back to the farm
around 7:30, when there was
enough light coming through the
clouds to start to track.
I prayed again because the
outcome would be up to the
Almighty if I was to find this buck.
I'd decided I'd take all day if I
needed. So, with a backpack and
binoculars, I went back to where
he entered the woods and started
to search.
I went toward a creek thinking
he might have gone downhill, but
saw nothing.
JANUARY 2021	

I went back to where I saw the blood
and went in the direction of the last
tracks I'd found from him.
I walked slowly and looked in every
direction. I'd gone about 160 yards
when, out in the distance, I saw an antler
sticking up.
I'm 62, but can still run, and when
I got there fast as my legs could carry
me, I could hardly believe the size of
his rack.
I really didn't know how big he was
when I shot him. He later scored 154-6/8
inches and was entered in the Pennsylvania Big Game Records book.
First, I thanked the Lord, then tagged
him and sent ahead some photos. Getting
him to and onto the truck was a job. But
where there's a will there is a way, and
there certainly was a will.
I stopped at Fred's business on the
way home and opened the tailgate.
" That's him! " Fred said.
Fred had seen the buck before, in a
photo from a trail camera 2 miles from
where I shot him.
A couple of weeks later, I visited Bob,
who had sold me the flintlock I used
to harvest the buck. I'd never met him
because I'd bought it through a mutual
friend.
Bob had hunted hard over his lifetime, but now had trouble getting
around. We sat down together at the
kitchen table and started telling stories
and I gave him a photo of my buck with
the flintlock he sold me.
The smile on his face brought joy to
my heart.
I realized that all of us hunters will
have to give it up someday because of
age or health, but we'll still be glad to
share stories with other. The story of my
2019 day-after-Christmas hunt is one I'll
never forget.
27
Pennsylvania Game News - January 2021

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