A Special Day Every November

If you are a member of the Spikes family from Alapaha, Nov. 23 is certainly a time for celebration every year.

It was on Nov. 23, 2015 when Jake Spikes, 10, of Alapaha, killed his first Georgia buck, but it was actually his second buck taken in the month of November.

On Nov. 14, Jake and his dad Michael set out on their annual Midwest trip to Nebraska. Once there, Jake was able to take down his first deer.

“He made an awesome, one-shot kill on a huge-bodied, 6-point buck at about 170 yards,” said Michael.

Being Jake’s first deer, the duo was extremely excited about the outcome of their hunt.

Just a week later, Jake was able to get another chance. Once back home, Michael had been getting a nice buck on his trail cameras regularly right behind their house.

On Nov. 23, Jake and Michael took to the stand once again.

“I asked him if he wanted to hunt a while that morning since it was the first cold morning of the year,” said Michael. “I figured the bucks would be cruising and running does.”

The pair bundled up with their buddy heater and began waiting.

“After about 30 minutes, a buck stepped out from the creek,” said Michael.

Jake eased up his gun to prepare for the shot, but he then remembered he never loaded the gun.

“He pulled the gun back down, broke it down, got a bullet in the chamber and put the gun back up, all while the buck was standing there,” said Michael.

The buck was approximately 130 yards down the shooting lane. Jake lined up the crosshairs and pulled the trigger. The buck only ran about 15 to 20 yards before dropping in his tracks for his first Georgia deer.

“He was so excited that he left on our ATV to go tell everyone at the house before he even looked at his buck,” said Michael.

This was also the same date 24 years ago that Michael killed his very first deer while hunting with his dad. It certainly stands to reason that Nov. 23 will always be a day of deer hunting in the Spikes household.