Listening, I hadn't heard my dad stir, I'd been awake ( at 15 the enthusiasm did away with the need for an alarm clock) so I go to his room , we talked about it as he said it was raining, we had Thanksgiving dinner to go to at my sisters and maybe tomorrow but I pleaded to go. He gets up and around, after a cup of coffee for him we get in the F250.
A non hunter can't understand but I know y'all do the anticipation, when we get in the woods it was the usual deal " stay here till I come and get you" he said and he disappeared in the dark. The rain had gone down to drizzle when is slowly began to get light. It was dead still and the woods were dripping, what leaves that were left hung straight down .
After a couple of hours I I did a no-no, I got up and left my stand where dad put me. It was a stump on a hillside overlooking a small broom grass field that had a creek running along the far edge. I didn't really know why I got up or what I was going looking for but as I eased out into that grass I looked up on the facing ridge and felt that " shock" of first seeing a deer. He was fast stepping along on a bench with his nose to the ground, like a beagle on a rabbit. The spikes on his head were there so I thought "here we go" .
I raised that marlin 336 with a slapmount weaver 1.5 scope and got the crosshairs on his chest( nevermind the shaking) and BOOM! He noseplants and starts rolling down the hill , I fired as fast as I could lever another round in missing every time till he tried to get on his feet at the bottom, the 5th shot ended the drama.
That was 46 years ago and I can replay it in my mind as if it happened in the past 5 min.
After a time dad came up and over the ridge then down where I was kneeling with my buck and he said" where did you put the machine gun? That's what it sounded like over here!"
A non hunter can't understand but I know y'all do the anticipation, when we get in the woods it was the usual deal " stay here till I come and get you" he said and he disappeared in the dark. The rain had gone down to drizzle when is slowly began to get light. It was dead still and the woods were dripping, what leaves that were left hung straight down .
After a couple of hours I I did a no-no, I got up and left my stand where dad put me. It was a stump on a hillside overlooking a small broom grass field that had a creek running along the far edge. I didn't really know why I got up or what I was going looking for but as I eased out into that grass I looked up on the facing ridge and felt that " shock" of first seeing a deer. He was fast stepping along on a bench with his nose to the ground, like a beagle on a rabbit. The spikes on his head were there so I thought "here we go" .
I raised that marlin 336 with a slapmount weaver 1.5 scope and got the crosshairs on his chest( nevermind the shaking) and BOOM! He noseplants and starts rolling down the hill , I fired as fast as I could lever another round in missing every time till he tried to get on his feet at the bottom, the 5th shot ended the drama.
That was 46 years ago and I can replay it in my mind as if it happened in the past 5 min.
After a time dad came up and over the ridge then down where I was kneeling with my buck and he said" where did you put the machine gun? That's what it sounded like over here!"
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