Hunter: Nathan Mason
Points: 11 (6L, 5R)
County: Monroe
Season: 2019-2020
Hunt Story
This season I made it my top priority to get my children involved in the outdoors as much as I possibly could. I've been taking them hunting as much as I could in order to get them on their first deer. Both boys accomplished that feat earlier than I expected. Neither one wanted to go this particular evening, so I set out to hunt a spot that I hadn't hunted in several years. A spot that wasn't particularly suited for two little boys. A spot that is kind of hard to access, even for a grown man. It's a beautiful hardwood ridge full of big mature white oaks adjacent to a planted pine thicket. I set out around 4:00 and found a good tree in which I could climb 30 feet or so. It was a hot and muggy afternoon, and by the time I got settled in I was wringing wet with sweat. I was sure that every deer in the woods was bound to smell me, but I sat tight. Shortly after sitting down I had a young doe come in and started eating acorns. Not too long after I had another come running past me at full speed with her tail up. I figured she busted me but soon saw the culprit responsible. There was a buck in hot pursuit. As soon as they bounded out of there the woods came alive. Does were filtering in from all over. Then this guy stepped up the hill from a steep bottom. I thought it was a decent 8-point that I had only gotten few pictures of all summer. I had never killed a decent deer on my own property before so I decided to take him. I settled the crosshairs of my rifle just on his shoulder above the leg and squeezed the trigger. He hit the ground like a ton of bricks and kicked not one time. I don't even remember the climb down but when I got up to him I was thoroughly surprised with what I had just killed. Not an 8 but an 11-pointer. And a good one at that.
