Nov. 2007 - Volume 68, Issue 11
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Grandpa’s Ten Pointer continued...
All I could see was his back end. I watched him tense up as his hind leg made a slight step backwards. For a second I thought, “Oh no, not again!”
After a lengthy standoff, the giant buck finally stepped out. I put my top pin behind his shoulder and squeezed the release. The deer jumped straight up and bounded off into the thicket.
A bloody arrow was sticking in the ground where the deer once stood. It was a perfect shot—a clean pass through, right behind the shoulder.
Then I got the shakes. The remarkable chain of events that led to that moment finally sunk in. Throughout my 30 years of deer hunting, I’ve never even heard of a second-chance story like this. Two chances? From the same stand? With the same deer? It just doesn’t happen that way.
Then it dawned on me. I had help.
With a rush of adrenaline, I hurried down the tree and sprinted up the hill to get a phone signal. I had to tell someone. I got a weak signal and called Dad at the house.
“Get the four-wheeler and bring my family,” I hollered through the static.
Next, I gave Mom a call, and this is when I really lost it. The events of the last three days were taking their toll. When she answered the phone, I babbled incoherently.
“Grandpa did it, Grandpa did it,” I finally said. “He was with me tonight. He’s OK!”
Later that night, after I gained my composure, Dad and I loaded Grandpa’s 10-pointer onto the four-wheeler and brought him back to my waiting family. Everyone was just as excited as I was. Sam was bundled up and anxiously waiting.
“I want to go to deer hunting, Daddy. I want to feel the antlers,” he pleaded.
Three days later, at Grandpa’s funeral, I placed a photo of our family and the deer in his casket. On the back I’d written a note thanking him for all he’d taught me throughout his life and, most important, for letting us know he was all right.
About This Article
Author
Randy Doman is the conservation agent for Dade County. He enjoys a good old-fashioned hunting story, and he feels blessed to enjoy the natural resources handed down from the previous generation of conservationists. He's also grateful for the privilege to protect them for the next generation.
