Oh-for-Three, Shame On Me

Last Sunday morning, the last day of shotgun deer season, I was perched atop a tree at 7:10 in the morning. In my lap was a Mossburg 20 gauge pump shotgun.  In my vision, I saw a buck moving about 40 yards away.

Understand, I had missed two does in the first shotgun season. I can’t explain it. The shotgun has been sighted. It is perfectly aligned. My wife will not let me buy a new one.

I slowly put the cross-hairs on the buck….and pulled the trigger. He jumped….and ran---far, far away.

I admit to executing a primal yell at that point, probably was heard by hunters on adjoining property..possibly adjoining counties. I slowly climbed down the ladder, found my trail….and walked, head down, back to my cabin. There, I put my gun in its case…and vowed to not take it back out until November 2019 when I will once again log lots of tree time.

I tell this story so that people stop walking up to me to ask---“Hey, Did you get one?”

No. I didn’t.

I thought very carefully about buying a tag for muzzle-loader season which starts today. But a man can only endure so much failure. I’m afraid of what comes next…..after a primal yell, I mean.

And then, in yesterday’s news, we had a story of a guy who shot a 51-point deer.

That deer made a big mistake staying in Bloody Williamson County, Illinois.

For his own safety, he needed to move north to my 20-acres of woods.

If you are deer..I clearly own the safest place in this region to hang during hunting season.