By: Bud Alexis
On one of my scouting trips, I had stopped to fix something on my six wheeler ATV. In the process of my repairs, I looked up and a beautiful eleven point came within twenty five yards of me as I stayed motionless.
It was already hunting season, but my rifle was on the seat and there was no chance of getting it without spooking the deer. I just watched, drooling and wishing, but soon the buck vanished into the woods. I decided to hunt there the next day. I scouted around this area and saw a tree that had broken over about 15 feet from the ground. I thought that would be a good place to get since I didn’t want to take a chance making a lot of noise putting up a new stand. I smell adventure.
The next day I decided to boat in, since it was about a mile or so off the main highway. There was a big canal that ran into the area that I would hunt. It was in the afternoon when I was able to go to this area. Arriving in the area, I parked the boat and made my way to the tree. It didn’t look so bad so I started my ascent. As I was about to put my hand on the main upright trunk, the part that had broken, which I was standing on, decided to fall to the ground. Needless to say, I followed it down landing on my ribcage as I straddled the log. I don’t know how long I lay there before I came to, but by then it had gotten dark. I knew that no one knew where I was, and I could hardly move for the pain. I lay there a while longer trying to get enough strength to get back to the boat. The mosquitoes were terrible, but that was the least of my worries. I finally struggled to my feet and began making my way to the boat, using my rifle for a crutch. I managed to get to the boat and made my way to back to my truck. I didn’t break any ribs, but they were very bruised.
I did learn that you should always tell someone where you will be, and don’t do stupid things. At least I learned the first part. Someone else got that deer a week later.
