Hunter: Jamie Stewart
Points: 8 (4L, 4R)
County: Talbot
Season: 2022-2023
Hunt Story
I don't tell this story because the deer was huge trophy that is going to be talked about around the campfire for ages. Nothing really out of the ordinary happened during the harvest. However, I did experience a life-threatening situation on my quota hunt that makes this buck special to me and my situation may help someone in the future. This was my 6th time going to Chattahoochee Fall Line Almo since 2015. I have harvested a buck each time. I love the place. However on the Thursday night of the trip I awoke in the camper with severe cramps, diarrhea, sweating, disorientation, hives, itching and worst of all low BP. This was the 2nd time this year it happened. This was far worse. I told my friend to grab some Benadryl and call 911. Long story short, I was rushed to the hospital in Columbus. They hit me with 2 ephedrines before things started to get normal again. I was fortunate enough to see an ER doctor that was also a deer hunter. He said he believes I have alpha-gal syndrome. This is an allergic reaction to red meat, or all meat from mammals. I had eaten spaghetti that night with ground beef. It is caused be being infected by the lone star tick. Hunters are especially prone to this since we eat red meat and are often bitten by ticks. He advised I get an EpiPen and see an allergist. He told me I was good to head back to the woods I felt like it, and after getting 2 EpiPen that's just what I did. So if this happens to you get checked out. Back to my hunt, I hit the woods about 1 pm. I had located some fresh rubs and scrapes on an old logging road on top of a saddle. I placed my stand where I could see through the planted pines down to the hardwood creek bottom from the top of the saddle. The hurricane had been tossing us with 25 mph winds for the past 48 hours. The wind finally started dying around 3:30 pm. I knew it would be on then. Considering the circumstances with the weather and the medical emergency, I had decided to take the first legal buck. At around 4 pm I saw a buck weaving in and around the pines from the creek bottom. He was heading straight for the scrape. I let him close the distance to ensure he was a legal 4 points on one side buck before I squeezed 150 grain 270 off just behind his shoulder. He ran about 50 yards. I was happy to be healthy enough to harvest my 6th Fall Line buck.
