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The Chance Every Hunter Dreams Of! It was a cold, still
morning on opening day. I managed to get to my tree blind about 30 minutes before daylight. It was a perfect morning to deer hunt. Not too much wind, slightly overcast and the temperature was a bone chillin
15 degrees. This was the first time I hunted on this particular ranch in Texas. The surroundings were just right with lots of oaks and a few mesquite trees. I had positioned myself in a oak tree
about 25 feet above ground on an old broken down platform stand. How ironic that when the first light began to show that I found an old shed antler sitting on the platform near my foot. It had obviously been
there many years due to the decay and teeth marks from the mice and squirrels. As the Sun came up I noticed the nice strip of coastal running along the creek to the right. I was really enjoying the cold morning
since opening day in Texas has a tendency to be 60 degrees and I hate mosquitoes! About 0730 I noticed some movement in the brush on my left and raised my binoculars to check it out. I was really
surprised to see that it was a beautiful bobcat. That was the first one I had seen in the wild. The cat never knew I was there. It was about 0930 and I had only seen the bobcat and one
doe. I was really starting to get disappointed. A perfect morning and no bucks yet. I don't know about you but, I start thinking about home made biscuits, All of the sudden I heard this rock
flip over down the creek about 150 yards. Then I heard a loud crack. At first I thought, oh great, the cows were moving in to the area I was hunting. Then I heard what sounded like the textbook
"how to rattle deer horns" sound from the horn rattlin' video I have. It dawned on me. I couldn't believe I was actually hearing two bucks fighting. I couldn't see where they were, I just
heard the ongoing battle. I thought, if I don't get out of this tree quick I'll miss the chance of a lifetime to see these bucks fight in the wild. I grabbed my gun. Unloaded the round in the chamber and
climbed out of the tree. As soon as I got to the bottom of the tree I reloaded and put the gun on safety. I walked as quietly as possible toward the awesome sound coming from the clump of oaks down stream. When
I reached the clearing I could not believe my eyes. There were two big bucks vigorously fighting about 75 yards from me. Then I noticed the gallery of other bucks watching the fight. I could not
believe my eyes! There were five bucks watching the two that were fighting. I was amazed that not a single one of them paid I scanned all of the heads with my rifle scope and determined that the alpha buck had the
biggest rack. I knelt down on one knee. Then I promptly sighted in on him and pulled the trigger. He dropped immediately. I had snapped his neck. Then I was truly alarmed! The buck he was
fighting turned toward me and began to charge. I chambered another round as he ran straight to me. He was furious that I had ended the fight. He neck was all pumped I was so shocked that I just
stared at him. Then I started to count points and contemplated ending the hunting season on opening day. I was hunting in a two buck limit county. He had eight points total. He then realized what
he was doing and I decided not to take him. It was a hard decision but, I felt I had the rest of the season to track him down. He through up his head and trotted off crossing the creek and up the hill. I
walked over to check my prize and was thrilled. A perfectly symmetric rack with nine points total. He would have been ten points but, the left side bump near the brow tine was too short to hang a ring
on. The taxidermist thought he was beautiful. I now eminisce about that cold day every time I look at him in my game room and think about how lucky I was to have that memory.
John Rogers is an avid hunter and enjoys outdoor adventures. |
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We invite you to submit your TALL TALE about your exciting hunting or fishing experience. |
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