Hunter: Randy Dotson
Points: 8 (4L, 4R)
County: Randolph
Season: 2015-2016
Hunt Story
We had seen deer on this field most evenings as we go by, but each time we sat in one of our two huts the deer seemed to come out on the opposite side of the field. I sat in the Western hut a couple of nights before and saw no deer at all. However, I had sat in both huts (East and West) previously in the season and saw deer each time, again on the opposite side of the field. My hunting partner sat in a chair between the 2 huts and saw several does and then this nice 8-pointer just a few nights before this hunt, but he could not get a good chance for a shot before he lost shooting light. On the night of the 1/5, I arrived at about 4:15 p.m. with shooting light available till 6:15 p.m. As usual, there was no sign of anything until about 45 minutes before the end of hunting time. Then I started to see a white "thing" pop up and down across the field, move 10 yards pop up again and this continued. I finally was able to figure out this was a white fox squirrel and continued to watch for about 10-15 minutes. As I was watching I moved my binocular scan to the right and .... There he was .... standing erect and proud, looking my direction about 375 yards across the field. As I was viewing him, a couple of does came out about 50 yards to the right of my hut. I wasn't interested in another doe, as I had just shot a large doe the evening before at another location. I was contemplating the situation. A NICE 8-pointer, 375 yards away, slight to moderate cross wind, I had the gun for this, my 7 Mag was sighted in at point blank out to 325 yards, and this was probably my last night to hunt this year. I watched the buck for 7-10 minutes, and he finally turned broadside. I placed my crosshairs along the backbone and slowly pulled the trigger. The buck dropped immediately, but showed signs of trying to get up. As the light was starting to fade, I decided that I would go over immediately to make sure he was expired or place another shot from a closer distance. By the time I arrived to him we was letting out his last breaths and the follow-up was not necessary. I looked him over and then headed back to the truck to go get my partners and the deer carrier. By the time we got back it was dark and my bearings were confused and even though we searched much of the field, we could not locate the buck. Since the temperatures would be in the low 30s overnight, we decided to call it a night and return in the a.m. The next morning we got to the field around 8:15 and immediately found the buck. I did learn that I need to get my bearings better and somehow mark the location better the next time.
