Hunter’s Journal – December 2015

Zachary Pye, a student at the University of North Georgia in Dahlonega, had an amazing opening weekend of the 2015 deer season when he shot this buck in Upson County on Saturday and a giant bear from Lumpkin County on Sunday.

By Stan Pye

A birthday to remember!

For many years now my children and I have enjoyed opening weekend hunts, each trying to outdo the other.  My youngest son Zachary happened to be born on opening day of deer season, so we have always celebrated his birthday at the hunt camp. Since Zachary was 13 years old, we have been hunting at the Potato Creek Hunt Club in Upson County.

Little did Zachary know that 2015 would be his big year. He had worked hard all during the off season with food plot preparations and pre-season scouting. We knew there were some nice deer in the area he hunted. The location was a remote creek bottom that was often overlooked by other hunters. He settled into his climbing stand that morning with plenty of excitement in hopes for a good season. 

About 8:30 a.m., a small 7-point buck was the first to show itself. The rest of the morning went by fairly quietly for Zach, so about 10:30 he climbed down and walked to a nearby stream. Just then, from his left, a bruiser of a buck came crashing down off the top of the ridge working a scrape line as he came down the hill toward Zachary.

Zachary dropped to the ground to steady himself for a 90-yard shot along an old 4-wheeler trail. However, those big buck jitters got the best of him, and his first shot from his .270 bolt action struck a small tree, causing the bullet to only graze the throat of the buck. 

During our range time together, I had shown Zachary a trick for making fast follow-up shots with a bolt action that would serve him well that morning. Before the buck could turn to run, Zachary had already sent the second shot down range, which dropped the buck in his tracks.  

We had agreed that morning that we would only take a shot on a nice deer, so when I heard his rifle, I knew he must have seen something impressive. The buck turned out to be a very thick-racked symmetrical 10-pointer with a 19-inch inside spread and a live-weight of 200 pounds. This buck was one of the biggest ever killed at the hunting club and bigger that anything his dad (me) had ever killed, so you can imagine the smile on his face. Even when he sent me a text announcing the deer was down, I could imagine the smile on his face. Besides being a great birthday present, this was his first deer on any opening morning hunt.

So the rest of the morning was spent with him schooling dad on the right way to hunt big deer. As any proud father would do, I let him enjoy his day and in many ways a right-of-passage growing up in the woods with his dad.

As the day ended, he returned to school at the University of North Georgia in Dahlonega, where he is majoring in criminal justice, with plans to work with Georgia’s Department of Natural Resources. 

But wait. It gets worse—at least for Dad’s pride. I got a phone call about 7:30 p.m. Sunday evening, (did I remind everyone it is still opening weekend), and guess who it is? Yes, it was Zachary, and he was asking me how to get a big bear out of the woods. 

He had been hunting public land that afternoon when a big male bear walked out on a logging road in front of him. The bear took one look at Zachary and then stood up on his hind legs. Zachary, still beaming from his opening day trophy deer, took his shot at 120 yards and dropped the bear in its tracks. 

After about three hours and help from five friends, they were able to get the bear loaded on the truck and to an area processor. The bear was longer than 6 feet in length, had a 17-inch neck behind the ears and tipped the scales at 387 pounds. He had now bagged his first black bear and is the only member of the family to have ever been fortunate enough to harvest a bear.

I know there are many dads out there who can relate to how proud I am as a father to see not only Zachary but my other sons and daughter growing up enjoying all the outdoors has to offer. They have been taught to respect the land and what it offers. When you do the right things, good things will come.  Happy birthday, Zachary. Two trophies in one weekend, who could ask for anything more?