Wednesday
Nov122008
The Buck Stopped Here - Conclusion
Wednesday, November 12, 2008 at 6:27AM
Countries have been born, wars won, loves secured - all through the application of sheer determination. There was no way my superhuman strength and my sheer determination would keep me and that majestic buck from uniting in the historical records... no reason other than the excruciating pain I was enduring as the string and wheel were conspiring to remove my fingertip. I could depress the bow far enough to get the string over the wheel - but when I would remove one hand to do the work - the bow would resit my efforts by springing back a nearly imperceptible amount - thus preventing the restringing.
After trying and nearly loosing the fingertip several times over the course of a frantic 10 seconds... feeling the adrenaline fueled strength slipping away... seeing the massive buck circling on the scent, now at 20 yards - oblivious to the former threat perched in a tree so close to him... I relaxed the pressure on the bow and reveled in his majesty.
The angst evaporated in his presence... a smile moved my exasperation parched and spittle flecked lips... It was me and this amazing animal. No pretense, no competition, no expectation. For nearly another 2 minutes I admired all 13 shiny points - his coat - his eyes - his neck. I listened to the low, nearly imperceptible, grunts he was making as he sniffed and snorted the doe in heat scent. And I admired him when he decided the subject of the lustful fascination was not here. As he slowly turned and walked back across the field to his haunt deep within the swamp that is impassable when the waters are not frozen. I admired him from afar as the biggest buck I had ever seen was enveloped by the same protective long shadows from where he had emerged.
EPILOGUE:
When I got down from the tree stand that night and walked back to the house - I was awash in frothy dark sea of emotion - frustration, anger, happiness, disappointment, and a hundred others. All those feelings were at the same time challenging me and supporting me. If only I had brought my cell phone with me (a habit I don't like to bring into hunting) then I could have at least snapped a picture to share - to PROVE the magnitude and majesty of this deer.
My first stop when I got back to the house was to march up the deck and pound on the back door - open it - and yell to Kelli that "something you are not going to believe happened and boy am I (insert expletives here)!" was the proclamation I made.
"Meet me in the (expletives here) garage!"
I turned to step off the deck and Kelli was already at the back door looking out at me wondering if my rage was fueled by some injury - and that's when I saw him. All 13 points of his massive rack - in the darkness of newly fallen night - at the edge of the yard in the "berry patch". I pointed - held my bow over my head like his massive rack of similar size... Kelli looked... his shadowy form turned (Kelli later said she thought a tree was moving) and he moved at no more than a run down the field back to the swamp. I looked back to her - her eyes were visible in the low light and from my distance... she had shared in his majesty. All would be right in the world after all.
After trying and nearly loosing the fingertip several times over the course of a frantic 10 seconds... feeling the adrenaline fueled strength slipping away... seeing the massive buck circling on the scent, now at 20 yards - oblivious to the former threat perched in a tree so close to him... I relaxed the pressure on the bow and reveled in his majesty.
The angst evaporated in his presence... a smile moved my exasperation parched and spittle flecked lips... It was me and this amazing animal. No pretense, no competition, no expectation. For nearly another 2 minutes I admired all 13 shiny points - his coat - his eyes - his neck. I listened to the low, nearly imperceptible, grunts he was making as he sniffed and snorted the doe in heat scent. And I admired him when he decided the subject of the lustful fascination was not here. As he slowly turned and walked back across the field to his haunt deep within the swamp that is impassable when the waters are not frozen. I admired him from afar as the biggest buck I had ever seen was enveloped by the same protective long shadows from where he had emerged.
EPILOGUE:
When I got down from the tree stand that night and walked back to the house - I was awash in frothy dark sea of emotion - frustration, anger, happiness, disappointment, and a hundred others. All those feelings were at the same time challenging me and supporting me. If only I had brought my cell phone with me (a habit I don't like to bring into hunting) then I could have at least snapped a picture to share - to PROVE the magnitude and majesty of this deer.
My first stop when I got back to the house was to march up the deck and pound on the back door - open it - and yell to Kelli that "something you are not going to believe happened and boy am I (insert expletives here)!" was the proclamation I made.
"Meet me in the (expletives here) garage!"
I turned to step off the deck and Kelli was already at the back door looking out at me wondering if my rage was fueled by some injury - and that's when I saw him. All 13 points of his massive rack - in the darkness of newly fallen night - at the edge of the yard in the "berry patch". I pointed - held my bow over my head like his massive rack of similar size... Kelli looked... his shadowy form turned (Kelli later said she thought a tree was moving) and he moved at no more than a run down the field back to the swamp. I looked back to her - her eyes were visible in the low light and from my distance... she had shared in his majesty. All would be right in the world after all.
tagged buck, conservation, deer, hunting in Farm Life
buck, conservation, deer, hunting in Farm Life
Reader Comments (2)
Andy, thanks for writing this series.
As you can see from Herrick's blog, our sons are experiencing the joys
(and frustrations) of hunting. I have
been very pleased with the "clean kills" they have made as opposed to chasing wounded animals all over the
countryside trying to put them out of their misery (which they did for someone else around here and I know
it unfortunately happens to the best of hunters)
Of course, being boys, they would rather hunt than do their school work so I copied your series for them to read for an interesting reading assignment.
Marlene Kimball
Marlene,
Thanks for such a nice comment - hope they enjoyed it!
Sorry it's taken a while to respond - holidays have been VERY busy - but that's no excuse for being rude... so - THANK YOU!