Billy's Biggest Buck
by William Herlth

10/03 Connecticut

I went out hunting with my gun and camcorder about three weeks ago and taped a real nice 6 pointer feeding on some pears. I could have jumped up and down in my tree stand and that deer would have not moved away from those pears. I decided not to shoot that deer but just enjoy watching him for a while.

My second time out after talking to a bunch of fellow hunters gave me the urge for some venison. I went out looking for that 6 pointer. I have crop damage permits and in CT. that means you can hunt from Jan 1st to Oct. 31st and also one half hour after sunset. Sunset this day was at 6:36 pm and I got into the woods about 4:30 pm. As soon as I got into the stand I started to use my bleat can, 3 times every half hour. At about 5: 30 pm I had about twenty turkeys come out to the field and feed. While I have not seen deer to this point I figured I would play with the turkeys a little bit with some mouth calls. They finally went back into the woods. I started to get cold and told myself that I would stick it out until 7:06 pm which was end of hunt time. I seem to under dress this time of year every year. I looked at my cell phone and it was 6:36pm.

I turned to look down toward the swamp and on the trail I saw half of this boys rack. Without any hesitation I rasied my Marlin 30/30 and took a quater shot. He ran about 20 yards and all I heard was his long, loud last breath. He then dropped to the ground in the thick stuff. When I approached him after waiting a while I could not believe what I saw. It was the biggest deer that I ever saw in the woods while hunting and thanked that deer for comming my way on that cold Oct day. He is at the taxidermist right now but he dressed out at 185lbs and had a rough pope and young score of 135. I hope you all enjoy the picture as much as I did hunting this big boy.

William Herlth