Hunter: Abigail Legg
Points: 8 (4L, 4R)
County: Madison
Season: 2016-2017
Hunt Story
This was my first opportunity to hunt this season. My dad and I had placed the two-man ladder stand last season watching a ridge and hollow where deer feed on acorns. There are many trails through this hollow where deer funnel into a thick overgrown field to bed down. The stand is located about 50 yards into the hardwoods on a gully that cuts the ridge. This part of the gully is eroded to bedrock and allows deer to easily cross the it. We jumped some deer in the dark walking into the woods but those deer didn't blow, we just heard them running to the creek bottom. We made our way to the stand and got settled in. Dad had some trophy buck lure so he dribbled some from the stand since the wind was swirling into the bottomland. Earlier in the week, chicken litter had been spread on the pasture, so we hoped the combination would cover our scent. After hearing the usual squirrels at daybreak we heard a deer coming up the other side of the gully. A doe was coming up the hill. We had already decided not to shoot a doe with the rut going on, so we watched her for a couple of minutes. I have never killed a buck, so I was going to hold out for antlers. A few minutes later dad heard another deer. He looked down the hill on the side of the gully we were on and said a huge buck was coming up out of the bottoms. I got my gun up, but the buck was coming straight at us. The buck grunted at the doe and stopped at about 40 yards. I had no shot at the deer's shoulder where dad has told me to shoot. I told dad I didn't have a shot. The buck was looking straight at us. Dad whispered to aim right under the deer's chin and let him have it! I shot and the buck dropped in his tracks. Needless to say, we were super excited and only waited a few minutes before getting down to take a closer look. The buck had been fighting evidently from all the scars on his swelled up neck. He is an old buck estimated to be 5 1/2 years old. We called and woke up mom to tell her the story and made a cell phone video and many, many pictures. What a great first buck!
