My First “Big Buck”

By Richard Julian

Maine Firearms Deer Season 2004
11/15/04

 

The morning started out where we had six of us wanting to hunt together, but due to Maine’s laws on party size we decided to split up into two groups of three. Being the first day out for most of us, we were really just trying to locate some good spots to hunt. My dad, brother and our friend Randy decided to check out a block of woods near “4-corners”. My friend Aime, Kris and I decided to still hunt through a section of woods we call “the Blue Line”. The Blue Line had been cut a while back and it has grown up into a thick forest of Beeches on the east side of the ridge and turning to a nice cedar swamp on the west side. The Beech trees were so thick I was sweated up in no time at all and very discouraged: any deer would hear me a mile away. Kris called on the radio to say he had jumped a big doe and that it was headed my way; of course I never saw or heard that deer.

 

We came out and regrouped on a logging trail. Kris had a dentist’s appointment at noon so he planned on heading out of the woods by 10 at the latest. We decided that with such little time, we would all take stands in a patch of woods we call “Greenhorn Corner”, north of where we had just still-hunted through and most likely the place the doe had gone. When it was time for Kris to leave, he’d pick his way through the cover with the hopes of jumping the deer or at least getting the doe to move past us. Aime and I took stands about 300 yards apart along a brook that ran along the north and east corners of the block of woods.

I had an excellent place to sit. The brook ran along a deep gulley where I was. I was about 30 yards off the brook sitting on a fallen tree; across the brook the hill rose steeply and I had a good view of the entire hillside. To my right, the brook curved and the bankings were still steep; I could shoot in every direction except directly downstream and I’d have a good safe backstop. I hate to sit, preferring to still-hunt but I was in a great spot and I knew I’d only have to wait an hour or so before Kris was going to leave and at that point we’d check a new spot out. Aime and I both had antler-less deer permits, but I really wanted a buck. I put Aime in a spot where the year before we had jumped a big buck leaving this corner of woods; Randy ended up getting him while hunting with my brother. I knew Aime wanted meat and I figured that doe was the only deer in this little corner of woods and I really didn’t want to be tempted to fill my tag on a doe this early in the hunt.

The brook bubbled along lulling me into a calm state. A little more than an hour had past so I was starting to think I’d better move soon or I’d fall asleep! I looked across the brook as I caught some movement. It was Kris heading out to the road. He was quite a ways away but he saw me as well and nodded to me. I figured I’d wait another twenty minutes or so before calling Aime on the radio to move to another location.
Kris had just faded from my view when I heard a crash on top of the ridge directly across the brook from me. It was a deer running just below the ridge parallel to the brook heading in the direction that Kris had just come from! A doe! Wait, another deer behind it; a buck! A big buck! I picked up my rifle and immediately began tracking the deer trying to get a shot. (Holy cow he’s moving! Where did all those trees come from?) I had thought that I had some pretty clear shooting, but that buck was moving so fast all I could see in the scope was a brown blur and trees. Suddenly, the doe cut down towards the brook; she flashed through an opening in the trees… (That buck is going to follow her, get on the opening and fire when he goes through) I pulled ahead to the opening and luckily the buck followed; he flashed through and I fired, BOOM! (He’s still going, did I miss?)

The buck slowed for a second when he hit the brook; I got on him again. BOOM!

The buck jumped the brook and started climbing up the bank like nothing had happened. BOOM!

I ran up the bank and caught him in the scope again as he reached the crest of the hill. BOOM!

He turned and ran broadside to me about 30 yards away; BOOM! That was it; I was empty!

At this point I was more shook up than ever. I put the spare clip into my rifle and looked for blood. I found a few drops, but that was it. The deer crossed a logging road and by the time I hit it Kris had backtracked and caught up to me.
“Did you get her?” he asked.
“Him” I corrected,” It’s a big buck”.
“No kidding, you got blood?”
“Right where you’re standing” I said.
Kris looked down, “All right, you got this deer!”
I wasn’t convinced. I couldn’t believe he didn’t drop. I felt that several of my shots felt good, why didn’t he drop?

Kris walked over to me and we talked for a few minutes so I’d calm down. We found where he crossed the road and headed into a small block of woods. At this point we saw Aime down the road. The woods where the deer went were between two woods roads. We decided to have Kris go down one, Aime on the other and I’d follow the blood. I just went up over the banking when I looked down on the other side and there he was! I called the guys on the radio to let them know he was down. I walked down and stopped about twenty feet from him and let out a whoop! Kris got to the deer first; it was as if I just couldn’t bring myself to touch him yet, like it might all be a dream. Kris started counting points and I couldn’t believe it when he got to “14”!

We got a hold of my Dad, and Rudy on the radio and they showed up a few minutes later with our friend Randy who had a camera in his truck. We took a bunch of photos right there in the woods. Being close to the road made for a simple drag. Looking at the buck laying there I knew he was a good one, but I really didn’t believe he’d go 200 lbs., the “magic” number to gain entry in the Biggest Bucks of Maine club; he just looked short to me.

We got him down to Kris’s house and hoisted him out of the truck and I took the heart, liver, and lungs out. Satisfied that he was cleaned out thoroughly, we loaded him back up and headed to town. When I got the paperwork filled out we had him officially weighed and he pulled the pin to 201! My first entry in the Big Bucks of Maine Club!

What about all the shooting I did? Well, all I can say is my Dad always told me to keep putting the lead to them until they dropped; you never know if what you think was a good shot was actually deflected by something. I had hit him 3 out of the 5 shots, one was right behind the front shoulder through the ribs, but he took those shots as if nothing had happened. All the shots I took were safe; I had good backstops and I was (believe it or not) taking aim, picking a spot; I wasn’t just spraying shots at the deer. In any event, the shots I hit him with were enough. It was a very exciting day and I didn’t get any sleep that night; just too full of adrenalin I guess.