Thanks everyone! Here's the story:
Ok folks here's the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Lara and I went out Monday morning for the g*n opener in Ohio. I always take it off and remained armed for no real reason other than to keep an eye on the property for trespassers and poachers. Lara is always the primary shooter on this day and throughout the season. I know, be patient I'll get there.
I like to stay mobile so we stayed away from the stands. Set up on the eastern hillside at daybreak with the rain coming to our backs. About an hour and a half after light the rain stops and we really haven't seen anything. It's only a 60 yard jaunt to the other side and Lara would like to check it out so we cross over to a spot I had picked out earlier in the season overlooking a pretty heavily used trail. From this vantage point we can see maybe 40-50 yards in all directions.
Its hard to explain the lay of the land. The ridge is about 3 ft wide where we are. It cuts back hard to her right where she can't really see approaching deer. But thats good because they can't see her either. She is sitting on a rock with the g*n in her lap. I am standing behind and 2 ft to her right in a pile of jaggers next to a large osage tree. My job is to watch the trail she can't see and let her know of approaching targets. After about 45 minutes I can see movement. It's Stickers. He is walking straight up the hill and hits the trail Lara is watching. He turns right and is going to pass right in front of her. I tell her one is coming but don't tell her who it is because I don't want her to start panicking. He takes two steps and turns left heading back up the hill.
Here's where it all began to unravel. When he turned left my mind made several very quick computations:
1. He will be to the top and cross over and gone in 7 seconds
2. Lara is in a seated position in jaggers with a plastic rainsuit on.
3. If she stands to turn and is somehow able to do it without him seeing her or hearing her she still won't have a clear shot because the osage tree is in her way.
4. If she can maneuver around the tree she'll have to shoot offhand.
What the actual conversation between her and I was
"Its Stickers"
"Give me the g*n"
LOL Honest truth. But you also have to realize I didn't do it because I needed to get it. I did it because one of us had to take that deer. The odds of her being able to were very slim because of the items listed above. I had the better chance and she was absolutely thrilled that I did. It was my birthday gift she says. I really felt bad afterwards for a couple of reasons:
1. I really really really wanted Lara to kill THIS deer.
2. Now he is gone and all the anticipation of checking the trail cams to see if he has been by and what he may look like next year is gone.
Stickers reaction to the shot horrified me. Any deer, buck or doe, I have ever killed before had some bodily reaction. Jump up, hunched something. Not this guy. As soon as the g*n cracked off he turned and bolted. I heard his huge body cracking through the brush and I heard him hit the water at the base of the hill, which is a monster of a hill to climb, that leads to his bedroom.
I was numb and in disbelief. I had sighted the g*n myself. There’s no way it was off. Could I have….did I….I couldn’t have. What the heck just happened….
I turned to Lara and handed the gun back to her. Everything happened so quickly that there was no time for buck fever to set in. My mind was clear and crisp during the events that unfolded. Now that it was over though, now that the time to act had passed, my knees were shaking. I had trouble speaking and gathering coherent thoughts. I thought my legs were going to go out from under me. I told Lara we needed to inspect the area he was standing at the time of the shot. We rushed over, only 35 yards away. I see hair and then blood. He IS hit. I abandoned all of the experience I gained in 32 years of hunting. The heck with the blood trail, I heard him hit the water and that is exactly where I went. I made my way through the jaggers and brush, topped the knoll and looked over and couldn’t believe my eyes. There he was, life already gone from him laying in the ponding water at the base of the hill to his bedroom. He had almost made it home. Again the emotions rushed over me like shades of color. Sheer joy and happiness, sorrow and sadness. All at once I realized that it was over for Stickers. Never again will we anticipate trail cam photos to see if he made an appearance. And again I think of my beautiful wife who I so much wanted to be the one to take this particular deer.
I come to my senses, its time to focus on the work ahead. Lara is sending messages to the neighbors who have been awaiting word from any of us looking for this deer that it is down. I look down this 20 foot steep muddy incline and wonder how in the heck Lara and I are going to get it out of here.
I fish Stickers to the bank from the middle of the water, grab his massive antlers and pull him ashore. I float him in the water to help me handle his incredible weight and get him positioned at a spot where we can attempt to get him out. Lara comes down the bank and we begin tugging and slipping and sliding trying to get him onto the ground and secure so that we can gain another foothold and try again. Her thermos comes out of her backpack and hits the water and floats away. I can see in her eye how much she would love a hot cup of coffee right now. It’s useless. There is no way she and I can get him to the top of the bank.
The first of the help arrives. Randy is an old friend of ours who is just about the most serious hunter I know. He’s gushing and as giddy as a child on Christmas morning. Next to show up is Joe. Joe just got out of the Navy after a tour in Afghanistan and is in college to be a police officer. He’s a strong, fit young man. I should have just left him pull it up the hill on his own. Next to arrive is Steve. Steve and I are about the same age and are thinking the same thing, “Yep, let Joe pull him up the hill”. Joe, Steve and I make our way down the hill to Stickers. We paw at him, trying to find a way to securely grab him while also trying not to have our feet go out from under us and end up floating in the water ourselves. We use Joe as our anchor, he affixes his foot on a rock, lays back against the hill, bends at the waist and puts a hand out for each of us to grab. Steve and I have one hand on an antler and the other in Joe’s hands. Joe straightens his body and pulls Steve, myself and Stickers up the hill about 2 ft. We continue this until we reach the top, exhausted.
After a short rest we dress this incredible creature. Dressed out we estimate his weight at 220 pounds. Trying to drag 220 pounds of dead weight is an indescribable task and all I can ask you to do is try it sometime. We work together in teams of two to drag Stickers through the woods. Let me say that Steve and I took turns, Joe never let go of him and did the biggest part of the work. Steve and I greatly appreciated that. 3 hours later we arrive with Stickers back at the house.
I had mixed emotions all day and into Tuesday. People have been congratulating me all week now and to be honest, I didn't do anything except what Dad and the military trained me to do. Acquire my target, control my breathing, squeeze with the meat of my finger. Stickers is the one who deserves all the hallabulloo. He was the one who grew this awesome fantastic rack. I was just lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time and so very fortunate to have my loving, understanding wife with me.
As far as his score, I have no true idea. One of the fellas that came to help me had a tape and his number was 174". The 15 year old son of the taxidermist got 139". I picked up the skull plate last night and checked it again and got 160". I don't think I really care. Putting him up against the 7 other racks I have around the house he looks ignorantly huge. He's beautiful to look at and I can't wait til spring til he's done and on the wall. I'm going to take the trailcam photos and the field photos and put them in a frame next to him. He is truly a giant and a legend and I am not worthy of having him.
In the end you realize one basic thing. God has blessed me in so many many ways. All I can do is try to pass that blessing on to everyone I come in contact with.
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