November 9, 1998.
It was the opening day of black powder season. Dad and I were planning to post up together in the “tree house” hoping for a chance to beat Thad to the first kill. He had seen a huge deer in this area just a week before. You see Thad had just become a father the night before. Noah Chase was the only thing in Thad’s sights on that brisk November morning. The air was cold, the skies were clear and we could smell the ragweed in the fields as we walked into the stand. It was a perfect day to hunt. We climbed into the stand, shook the frost off of our boots and lit the small propane heater that stayed in the corner. The heater was small and made a hissing noise while it was warming, but within a few minutes the “tree house” was quite cozy.
The night before I had decided to charge our new camcorder to take on the hunting trip. I began filming as soon as the sun started to rise. A small button head was the first to make it on camera; he mingled around right under the stand for at least ten minutes, then meandered into the bushes and disappeared. This was the first time we had used a camera in the stand and were excited for the chance to film a shot at a deer. At about seven o’clock the next deer appeared off to our left. This time it was a buck, probably an eight pointer with a small basket rack.
Dad and I had decided that I would take the first shot and he would take the second. I gave Dad the video camera and began to give him a quick lesson on how to film the shot. He quickly informed me that I needed to be more concerned with what I was supposed to be doing and to let him handle the camera. With that in mind I readied my rifle and slid the window open. The deer had moved into the field and was about fifty yards away. As I put my gun through the window I quietly asked Dad if he was ready with the camera. He responded with “just shoot”. I fired. When the smoke cleared the buck was down, an easy shot. I turned to Dad and got a big “high five” the first deer of the season was on the ground before seven A.M.
The excitement wore down some and I remembered… the camera. The excitement was back “Did you get it on film?” I asked. “ You shot too quick!” Dad replied. I then realized that when I was preparing to fire and heard “just shoot!” what he actually said was “ just shoot?” meaning was the camera ready. He had gotten some nice footage of the floor, the ceiling, the sound of the shot, and a great view of the smoke clearing across the frosty field. After some brief bickering we got our minds back on what we were there for. After all, I had the first deer on the ground.
The next shot was Dad’s to take, and I knew how to use the camera. Twenty minutes after my shot we had settled back in and the cold air was creeping back into our fingers and toes. The sting of the cold was actually a pleasant reminder that deer season was in and winter was on the way “it’s supposed to be cold” Dad said. Suddenly, across the field directly in front of the stand, the trees moved as if a gust of wind moved through a five-foot path. It wasn’t the wind. The biggest buck I had ever seen had just stepped into the field fifty yards in front of us. “Hole - Lee Cow” was all I could muster up to say. “What is it?” dad said in a calm voice. “Don’t you see it?” I quizzed. “That huge buck standing in the corn pile right in front of you!” Now with a tone in his voice that would indicate that he thought I might be crazy, he says, “uh- I don’t see anything.” I quickly began to grab for my gun. “ If you aren’t going to shoot I will” I proclaimed. “Whoa, I see it” he said. He had gotten his gun through the window before he finished his statement. I remembered the video camera at my feet. I quickly began the scramble to get it to the window for the shot. “You got it?” BOOM! Were the next things I heard. I managed to video a glimpse of the monster buck as it bounded back into the same woods it had parted to enter the field. “ I think I missed him,” Dad confessed. “Did you get it on tape?” Like father like son all I could say was “ you shot too quick” (with some slight sarcastic undertones). He thought I was referring to his shot. “Yeah but I had the sights right on him”. I told him that I meant he shot too quickly for me to get it on tape.
We waited for a few minutes and climbed from the stand to validate our shots. We went to my deer first. It was a small deer with 7 points and a small rack; but a confirmed kill nonetheless. Next we walked to the corn pile where the big deer was standing before “Flash” fired his shot. As we approached, Dad reconfirmed the fact that he thought he had missed. The area around the corn pile was covered with wet grass from the freshly melted frost but no sign of a wounded deer. I decided to step into the edge of the woods where my camera had seen the deer go. He did not miss! The area in front of me was comparable to a crimson roadway leading directly to the monster buck lying lifeless in some scattered underbrush.
I took out my now infamous video camera and began to film. I finally got the big deer on video, and Thad received a video message thanking him for being a good father and allowing us to hunt his deer.
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