After hunting all week waiting for doe day, Saturday finally arrived. This was to be my girlfriend's second hunt with me and her first in the mountains. Last year during Thanksgiving, she got to witness the thrill of the chase when my cousin, Billy Abee, killed his first deer on our small farm in Lawrence County. That hunt required a nice leisurely walk out the back door and 300 yards to the super-funnel. Saturday required a 1+ mile hike up a mountain logging road on the Greene/Cocke county line. As usual, I arrived about 15 minutes behind schedule. It was light enough to see on the way to the stand, so I was able to show her some fresh bear tracks in the mud. It was already 30 minutes after legal shooting time after we slipped quietly (ha) thru the thicket to where I had passed up the basket-racked buck on Mon. As soon as we popped out of the brush, a deer blew and took off! I had Beth sit about 10 feet behind me, and we started the vigil. 10 minutes later, Beth has curled up into a small ball and proceeds to catch some sleep.

To make a long story short (which is now impossible), we were set up opposite of some private land that I felt would receive pressure. Two deer came trotting up the hill to my right, but I couldn't get a killing shot. 10 minutes later, 6 deer came up the same path at a good clip. I fumbled for the grunt call and managed to stop four of them. Every time the deer started to leave, I would blow the grunt.

Finally, they began to calm down and began to search for me. I was pinned down, and I couldn't take the shot because of the small trees and a new (now returned) scope that went out of focus when dialed past 1.5X. I began to shake from holding the gun leveled for several minutes. Finally, a small doe, staring me down, offered me a shot thru a blow down. I squeezed the trigger and the musket cap on my brother's CVA Apollo did not fire. I recocked when the doe finally moved her head behind a large tree. She kept staring at me with one ear protruding around the tree. When she stepped forward, the .50 belched sulphuric smoke, the bullet broke the spine, and she dropped in her tracks.

I was so excited because Beth was able to witness the whole spectacle. I dressed the doe and gave Beth a small lesson in Deer Anatomy 101. We dragged the Lord's blessing from the forest (which I don't recommend), checked the deer, took some photo memories, went to the check'em in yourself processor, cleaned up, and went for a tour at the President Andrew Johnson museum. It was a very special day that I hope to never forget.