God Smiled On Me Today
by Larry Porter
by Larry Porter
It
was a hot November day in west Tennessee, not a day that you
would think much about deer hunting. The mosquitos were out
and it was about 80 degrees on a bright sunny day. But I had
two hours before my 13 year old daughters basketball game
and I was itching to go deer hunting. Most people hunt for
food here and with all the hunting pressure a deer rarely
lives past his second birthday. Finding a Boone & Crockett
trophy deer in Weakley county is like finding a needle in a
haystack. As I waited for my daughter to get home so we
could shoot some freethrows before the big game tonight I
couldn't help but think about deer hunting. My daughter
arrived home after what she called a hard day and said she
just wanted to just rest this afternoon and for me to go on
an go deer hunting.
I had
joined a deer hunting club this year with some of my buddies
and this would be my first time to hunt this new property. I
went by and picked up my son's muzzleloader and got my
mosquito spray and off I went as it was only ten minutes
from the house. I thought this could be as much of a
scouting trip as a hunting trip since I knew nothing about
the farm I was about to hunt. I am a handicap hunter and if
it wasn't for my trusty Honda 4 wheeler getting me to and
from the field I would have had to give up hunting twenty
five years ago when I had a massive stroke. I was very
blessed that over time I have regained almost everything
except the use of my legs and I can get around with the use
of a cane. But through the help of my family and friends and
the grace of God I havent missed a beat in my love for
hunting and fishing. As I got to the field I grabbed my
muzzleloader, my fanny pack, my doe in estrous scent and my
grunt call. It was 4:00 pm and I had an hour and a half to
hunt. I always carry a drag rag doused with doe in rut scent
behind my 4 wheeler to help cover my scent and also to
attract bucks. I could see a nice big tree stand of one of
my friends from the road that I thought might be a good spot
as it was overlooking a bean field in the river bottom. I
rode my 4 wheeler dragging my drag rag along the edge of the
beanfield and parked in the bushes behind the deer stand. I
tried my best to get up in the stand but it just wasnt going
to happen as I almost fell out trying to get situated. So I
climbed down and fixed me a comfortable spot under the deer
stand and leaned my muzzleloader against the first step of
the ladder. As I peered through the ladder I could see the
cars and trucks going by quite often down the highway. The
thought ran through my mind that I'm just wasting my time
but I told myself let's just enjoy being out in the woods
and sit here until dark. I've always thought the best way to
deer hunt was just to be quite and sit still and let the
deer come to you. An hour went by and all I'd seen were two
squirrels. With no deer activity I decided it couldn't hurt
anything to try my old grunt call. I could still smell the
scent of doe in estrous scent on my fingertips from earlier
while putting it on my drag rag. I'm not a professional
grunter by any means but I grunted a few short grunts. What
happened next left me is disbelief as in my 40 years of
hunting I've never seen anything like it. This monster buck
bolted from a thicket looking for a fight or at least to
protect his territory and he was heading right at me across
the open bean field in full view. It happened so quick that
when the buck stopped he was at 75 yards but I hadn't even
had time to even get my gun ready. I have a scope on my
muzzleloader but it didnt take any kind of optics to tell
this boy was a shooter. I managed to get my gun up and get
my sights on him but he started walking again looking for
the other buck. His hair was all bristled and his ears laid
back as though he was ready to fight. When he stopped at 60
yards I pulled the trigger and I couldn't see a thing for a
couple seconds. When the smoke cleared all I could see was
antlers, big antlers like I've never seen before. I waited
10 minutes to be sure he wasnt going to run off and that was
the longest 10 minutes of my life. At 5:10 I got on my 4
wheeler and rode up to him he had 13 points and some of the
longest points that I've ever seen. He had mule deer forks
on both sides and drop tines on both sides. The deer had a
22 inch spread and weighed 175 pounds. It was the nicest
deer that I've ever seen in my lifetime. I've never been a
big believer in using a grunt call but after this hunt I
will never be caught without it ever again. There's no doubt
the combination of my deer scent and a grunt call did the
trick on this old buck. Looking back on my deer hunt now a
week later I almost didn't even go deer hunting on that
lucky day. Had my daughter wanted to shoot basketball then I
would never have gone deer hunting. Also I had those
thoughts of "its just to hot and the deer wont be moving."
Then after I did go hunting I almost talked myself into
leaving early. So the bottom line is if you get a chance to
go deer hunting you better go, you never know what's going
to happen. I have hunted for 40 years and spent thousands of
hours in the field but you just never know when its going to
happen. Its kind of like that old saying "A bad day of
hunting is still better than a good day at work."
Just
when I think life can't get any better God lets something
else unbelievable happen to me, thank you
God. Larry
Porter
I can
do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians
4:13
