A LITTLE RESTRAINT

  The hunt's not over until you cook up the meat and share it with friends and family. Which is just what I did on Saturday. But I'm getting ahead of myself. After I shot that buck I still had a day of Xhunting with Savage and Bobby on the farm and the airport. Savage is not only an excellent guide, but he also makes breakfast and a sandwiches for lunch. The last drive of the day was on a piece of property that Savage got special permission to hunt. They'd noticed the deer were coming out of this piece every night. Neither Savage nor I had buck tags so the idea was to put a buck in front of Bobby.

   It was windy and cold. I stood on a side hill and Bobby stood just across an old trestle. There was turkey scratching everywhere and I could hear them gobbling back in the woods. Savage came over the radio and said he saw a doe and a bigger deer down in front of him. Finally he made his move. 

   The buck came at a trot right behind me. He was a high tined six or eight. I didn't raise the gun. Then he stopped. I couldn't take it. I called Savage. "I got a buck right in front of me. Do you have Unki Harold's tag?" I whispered. "It better be a good one. 10-4" Then the buck bolted. A doe came full tilt behind him and I took a crack at her and missed. Savage may be used to letting big bucks walk, but this was an entirely new experience for me and I didn't like it one bit.    

On Saturday Bird, Bobby, Savage and I did our annual day of drives up here at my place.  No one had a doe tag, so nobody raised the gun all day. After dark the party started. Shewho made her famous eggnog and I cooked up a backstrap and full wild turkey breast. There were no complaints. On Sunday night I got a call from Savage. Bobby's brother Chuck was walking across that trestle, spotted that buck I passed on and shot him. Turned out to be a dandy eight. Now, I don't know Chuck, but I think we can all agree that buck should've been Bobby's. These guys are farmers and basically consider deer rats with hooves. So I'll try not to judge. I'll leave that to Bobby.