“God Bless America And Our Whitetail Bucks!”

When’s the best time to get in the deer stand? We get that question all the time at GON, usually from hunters wondering about the moon phase, feeding times or what stage the rut is in around their part of the county they hunt.

Our typical response?

“The best time is any time you can find the time to get out there and hunt!”

Sometimes, even a very short and quick hunt is worth the effort it takes to head to a deer stand. That was the case for John Henry Guess, of Arabi, this past weekend.

“After working all day mowing cotton stalks, I decided at the last minute to walk to my stand and sit a few minutes. I didn’t even dress with all the extras,” the 15-year-old wrote in his Truck-Buck contest entry hunt story.

It was Saturday evening, Nov. 2, and John Henry was hunting in Turner County.

“I sat there and was almost about to get down when I heard a twig crack,” he said. “Out walked two does suspiciously snooping around, and all of the sudden very secretly entered this buck.

“He walked out slowly but would not give me a clear broadside shot. I patiently and continually waited for the exact second and fired. He darted off about 30 yards and dropped,” John Henry said.

A flash hunt had produced a tall-tined 8-point buck for the young hunter. John Henry is entered in Week 8 of the Truck-Buck Contest, and as a 15-year-old, he is also automatically entered in GON’s Youth Big-Buck Contest.

“As I walked up and saw this nice little buck, I felt proud to be in a place where you can still enjoy a pleasurable, relaxing afternoon hunt. God Bless America and our whitetail bucks!”

Now that is great stuff! Congrats John Henry, and thanks for sharing your hunt story along with your Truck-Buck entry.

John Henry Guess, of Arabi, with his Turner County 8-point buck taken on Nov. 2.