I shot this deer in a
little town called Lavina, Montana on an Angus bull ranch. I was
perched on a hilltop looking over some strips of winter wheat where
about 15 does and fawns were feeding. My father-in-law was looking
over another valley to my left from the same hill. This bottom was
sprinkled with sagebrush, steer corrals, and cattle. From the corner
of my eye, I saw something running toward my father in law in the
other valley. It was the very large deer in the picture. It was being
chased and nipped at by a coyote. I was amazed at his size. Living in
the east all my life, I had never seen a buck so big. I should have
been nervous, but I was waiting for the shot to come from my father
in law who should have had the buck in his own crosshairs. Little did
I know, he was eyeing up another buck which had just meandered into
that bottom to his left. He never saw this big one. The buck closed
to within a 150 yards of me and jumped a fence to elude the nagging
coyote. He stood for a second to get his bearings, and I shot him
though the front shoulder. The buck reared straight up, and ran
another 50 yards or so, where I hit him again straight through the
heart. It was then that buck began making its final journey to see
the Lord.
Jeff from Delaware |