Hunter: Emerson Chew
Points: 9 (4L, 5R)
County: Mitchell
Season: 2024-2025
Hunt Story
I got into hunting later in life — I guess you could call it my version of a mid-life crisis. Instead of buying a Corvette, I picked up a deer rifle. This past year, I organized and helped plan a Grand Canyon rafting trip. One of the friends on that trip owned the property where I harvested this deer. He doesn’t hunt, and no one in his family had hunted there in over twenty years — maybe even longer. While sitting on the side of the river one evening, he said, "Emerson, you can take one deer from my property as a thank-you for the trip." I was overwhelmed with gratitude. I set up a camera on a massive white oak where five ATV trails converged. Right away, I could see the property held a huge number of deer. I bided my time, knowing I needed to hunt the morning of November 30, as I had captured pictures of this particular buck on the camera between 7:30 and 9:00 a.m. I slipped into my stand around 6:15 and heard a few small deer moving nearby. At around 8:15, I saw the buck creeping down one of the trails into a small clearing. As I raised my rifle, he spotted me and, I believe, started to wind me. As he turned to leave, I didn’t hesitate — I took the shot, hitting him just behind the shoulder. He hit the ground, then got up and crashed into some thick privet. I heard him thrashing around, so I decided to ease out and return later. At around 10:15, I came back with a friend and still heard him moving in the thicket. I called a local guy with a dog, and we met up around 2:30 to search for the deer. After crossing a 15-foot stream bank and pushing through thick privet, we finally found him! The rush was incredible, and I was so relieved. My shot had been low, and it took a while for him to expire. I feel bad about the poor shot placement, and I’ll definitely be working on that for future hunts. I am so thankful for the friends who made this happen. In fact, that might be what I enjoy most about hunting — the close connections I’ve made and the opportunity to share these memorable moments with others.
