As you might guess by the title, this is a tale of two deer. It took place on January 23, 1990. I got up at 4:00 AM for a hunt on some private land owned by a friend. The temperature was 33 degrees when I awoke and it was predicted to climb into the high 60s by afternoon. With high hopes I headed out.

I parked my pick up truck and walked up an old logging road that goes passed one end of his apple orchard. After going about 200 yards or so on this logging road I stopped and placed my climbing stand in an oak tree just off the end of the old road bed. I settled in just at day break and awaited what the day would bring. The day broke clear and bright with just a hint of a breeze. I sat there in my stand listening and watching the squirrels playing around me. At about 8:00 AM I saw the sunlight glinting off of something that looked out of place in the terrain I had been watching. I thought to myself that I didn't remember whatever that was just a moment ago.

I looked through my binoculars at the object and it turned into the antler of a deer. It was a buck and from what little I could make out at this long distance a really nice buck. The area had recently had all the pines cleared off of it and was thin enough to give visibility in places of 200-300 yards. This deer was about 300 yards away and all I could see was a part of an antler. The deer began walking along parallel to the apple orchard and just inside the tree line of woods on my side of the orchard. If it continued its path it would never come closer than maybe 200 yards to me. The deer continued to walk along slowly. At times I could make out movement or a piece of deer through the brush and at others I could see nothing. I kept the binoculars to my eyes watching for a good view of the buck but it didn't offer me one.

Finally I put down the binoculars and took up my Remington Model 700 Mountain Rifle in 270 Winchester that I had chosen for today's hunt. I turned the power up to 10 on my Leupold scope to try to see better. I could still only see bits and pieces of him as he stayed in the thick under brush along the edge of the orchard. Finally he stopped in a spot where I had a clear view of his back and part of his chest but nothing else. I decided it was now or never so I aimed and fired. I lost sight of him as the rifle recoiled. A moment later the big buck came running my way! He was confused by the sound of the gunshot and ran parallel to the logging road I was on and about 80 yards or so out in front of me. He slowed to a walk and turned to his left headed away from me. I grunted to him and he stopped. I grunted again and he turned and came back in my direction. I found an opening and put a bullet in his lungs. He ran in a small circle and fell dead.

I got down and walked over to admire my trophy. He was a beautiful 10 point with a long drop tine that made him an 11 point. My best deer then and still is to this day. I started dragging him toward the orchard where I could get to him with my truck. As I got with 25 yards of the orchard I heard something making a lot of noise moving around in the thick underbrush. I pulled him to the edge of the orchard all the while hearing something big moving noisily in the brush. I went back to investigate the noise. To my surprise it was a deer on the ground trying to drag itself off. I hadn't missed with the first shot as I had assumed! I had hit the buck in the spine and broken it but didn't kill him. The deer was a nice 8 point buck. I shot him to finish him and had unexpectedly taken two bucks. I had a full shoulder mount made of the 11 point and had the 8 point mounted on a plaque.

GB