A Deer Hunter is Born by Randy Rowley

Saturday, November 19, 2005 started at 4:30 AM, when Ron Denison picked me up for his first deer hunt.  We proceeded to a ranch near Hamilton Pool that Ron had been invited to hunt by the landowner.  By 5:45 AM we were settled in a double deer blind.

About four minutes before legal shooting time a deer suddenly snorted at us to our left.  This was surprising because there was no wind, we weren’t making any noise, and we were wearing full camo including mesh facemasks.  We found two does in our binoculars, one bigger than the other.  One or both continued to snort at us intermittently, about 25 yards away in the woods.   It soon became legal shooting time and I had a clear shot at the bigger doe.

But I had a dilemma.  She was on my side of the blind but our primary mission was to get Ron a deer.  For Ron to shoot he would have to lean over me, probably making a lot of noise.  As I mulled over what to do the deer walked off.

In about ten minutes, we saw movement again.  It was the bigger doe.  She was behind heavy brush and trees, but I had clear shots again a couple of times.  I waited for Ron to find her in his scope, but his angle was not good.  There was a two-foot gap in the trees where the doe stood.  I felt that we might not get another shot at her and asked Ron if I could shoot.  He answered, “Yes,” and I took the shot with my Remington Model 700 in .25-06.  She dropped where she stood.

Suddenly the smaller doe, who we did not know was there, took two steps out from the brush and gave Ron a perfect broadside shot.  He took it with my Browning A-Bolt .30-06.  The doe jumped from the impact and ran away from us with its front legs low.  I lost sight of her in the heavy brush 10 yards behind the feeder.

We waited 30 minutes as I wanted his doe not be pressured and run further away.  After half an hour we went to find our does.  We found mine first, right where I had shot her.  We then went to where Ron had shot his doe and found a very heavy blood trail.  We found her about 10 yards past where I lost sight of her.

We tagged them, dragged them to the dirt road, and went to get Ron’s truck.  We stopped by the stand to get our gear on the way back.  As we were putting it into Ron’s truck we heard what I thought was a snort.  In about five seconds we heard another one.

We got the rifles, loaded a round, and leaned against Ron’s truck and waited.  The deer continued to snort intermittently.  All of a sudden a doe walked right out in the open.  She started to walk towards heavy brush, but Ron foiled her escape with the A-Bolt.  She ran straight away and fell behind a bush.  I was pretty sure that she was down so we didn’t wait this time.  We found her about 10 yards further from where I had seen her go down.

We loaded the deer and took them to the cleaning area.  Within an hour or so we had the three deer in ice chests.  We put the guts and hides in large heavy duty trash bags, loaded them, and went to dump them.

As we drove down a dirt road I saw some dark shapes in a grove of trees.  Ron stopped his truck and my binoculars confirmed what my eyes had told me – turkeys!  We quickly got my guns out of their case.  I used the hood of Ron’s truck as a shooting rest.  I had a shot at a Tom that was walking away but waited for Ron to pick one out also.  But he couldn’t find one in his scope.

My gobbler turned around and went into brush.  In about 15 seconds it returned.  I once again had a shot but as I waited for Ron, the bird went into heavy grass and I lost sight of it.  In about 10 seconds I located what I thought was the first Tom and now he had another Tom right behind him.  They were walking away from us.  There was only about a one-foot gap in a group of trees and brush and I told Ron that I had a shot.  He still couldn’t find them in his scope and said to take the shot.  I fired a shot from my Remington.  One turkey flew to the left and another to the right.  I feared that I had missed it.

We went to where the Tom was when I shot.  I saw a dark shape that looked like a burnt log as I got closer.  When I was about 20 yards from it I recognized feathers.  The bird hadn’t taken a step.  It weighed about 20 pounds and had about a ten-inch-long beard.

I’ve had more productive days afield, but I regard this as one of my best.  Besides killing my first turkey, I got to hunt with a good friend and witness the birth of a deer hunter.