Letters To The Editor: January 2024

Reader Contributed | January 1, 2024

Vera Cate Bush, of Sparks, killed her first buck in Cook County on Nov. 5.

8-Year-Old Kills First Deer, Writes Hunt Story

Dear GON,

Hello everyone. So I am a deer hunter. Let’s start there. Well, I am sooo excited because I shot my first-ever deer, and I am only eight! So here is my story.

I was with my daddy, and we were walking to the deer stand. Then we climbed up the deer stand. When we got settled and were only in the deer stand about 10 minutes, a deer came out on the left side of us. I watched it come out, and it walked up to the middle of the field. Then another one came out! Then there were two deer, a spike and an 8-point.

I said to Daddy that I wanted to shoot the 8-point, and Daddy told me to shoot whichever one I wanted. Then the 8-point turned the wrong way, but the spike was facing the right way. Then I told Daddy that there was no choice, that I had to shoot the spike. Then I got on the neck and went boom! I killed it!

I ran up to the deer and took pictures, and we loaded the deer up and took it to Uncle Chad’s and cleaned it and everyone went home.

Vera Cate Bush, Sparks

Cat-And-Mouse Ends With Best Buck Ever

Dear GON,

I finally took a buck that I played cat and mouse with since the beginning of bow season. He was a regular until the hogs moved in, and he vanished for a little over three weeks. I’ve only had two days of him coming out in daylight. He would come out between 9-10:30 in the mornings, and he would come back through in the evenings, cutting it close to shooting light.

I had plans to hunt the morning of Friday, Nov. 3. After dropping my kids off at school, I went and picked up a bag of corn in Rentz. I went and put the corn out and started hitting my rattling horns for about 20 to 30 seconds.

When I was done hunting and on the way home, I had a feeling that he was going to show up with me rattling. Sure enough, I get in my driveway and my phone goes off from my cellular camera. There he was, not even an hour after I left. So now I had a game plan and kind of had an idea that he wasn’t leaving that area.

I ended up back in the stand at 12:08 p.m. I rattled four times total, and every time I rattled, small bucks would run in to check it out. I rattled the last time at 4:15 p.m., and I just sat. I could hear deer running behind me, and one started getting close. The target buck I’ve been after these few months popped out 80 yards to my right. He came running in. He stopped behind a big oak tree for probably five minutes. He finally stepped out from behind the tree at 51 yards, and the rest is history.

There laid a true Georgia giant, a once-and-a-lifetime buck for me. I sent a prayer up to the Good Lord and called all of my buddies and wife. This buck will forever be one of my favorites, and I’m sure a personal best for quite a while.

Dalton Herndon, Dublin