Jay was able to make his 6th hunt at our ranch this weekend. It's hard to believe we met up on the internet 6 years ago, thanks to an outfitter named Willie. A big thanks to his brother-in-law, Donnie for driving him up here and making sure his little buddy had another hunt to dream about and remember again. Also, thanks to my wife Barbie for her tremendous help.

Funny thing about this hunt..... We got the box of ammo out Friday evening that Jay had someone load in his bag for him. When we opened the box, we found a grand total of 6 bullets!!!

Saturday morning started out pretty slow. Young deer came and left, but not the big boy we had been saving for Jay. We looked up at around 8:30 to see a big flock of turkey running for the feeder. They finally fed into Jay's line of shot and he let the rifle roar! We look up to see his turkey laying flat on it's breast and flopping. High 5 elbows were being given when that sucker jumped up and hauled butt, catching us both off guard. I grabbed my rifle and tried to shoot it as it ran through some thick brush, with it's wing hanging on the ground. There wasn't any blood trail to follow it and after looking for an hour or more, no turkey to be found anywhere. So, here is Jay with his turkey. Now we have a total of only 5 bullets left.





Saturday afternoon found us hoping the big 8 year old buck that we've been watching all season would show up and surrender to Jay. Sure enough, I look up and there he is,,, 120 yards out just looking over the entire area before coming in. After 25 minutes of his just standing out there looking for any sign of dead eye Jay, he followed a doe in to about 40 yards and after what seemed like an eternity, he worked his way into Jay's line of sight. Just as Jay was lined up and was about to suck on the straw to engage the trigger, that doe nailed us and blew like a tornado siren warning. At that instant, Jay's gun let off the bellowing boom! The buck had ducked to get his feet under him and take off just at the same instant Jay shot. He knocked off about 6 hairs from the back of the big boy. But, we had to watch as that huge buck set a new world speed record getting out of there. Jay said he got to at least see him and will remember him in his dreams. Now,,,,, remember,,,,, we only have 4 bullets left.

We all got to sit out on the big covered back porch that night by the fire pit and talk about all the hunts that Jay had in the past. After some great ribeye steaks, we hit the sack around 10:00 that night.

Sunday morning found us with no meat in the ice chests, but high hopes of pulling this all off on the 11th hour. It was do or die time!! We had a thin layer of ice on the windshield and on the ground. But, we have two great heaters in Jay's custom built blind that kept us warm and toasty. After watching several young deer come in and leave, we again had a doe bring in a buck that was big enough to be proud of. We had decided to give this buck a try when we noticed he didn't have a brow tine on one side. We sure don't want this kind of buck breeding on the ranch and he's sure big enough to be proud of for Jay. We hadn't seen this buck all season, so there must be a reason he was there. After having to watch that buck stand out in the brush for over 20 minutes, he finally tried to sneak around the back of the feeder pen. This put him in Jay's line of sight and Jay was ready for him. One shot and he was Jay's. He made a perfect heart and lung shot. After running about 30 yards, he piled up in the thicket. His running off into the thicket, rather than dropping right there, was a blessing, as we would soon found out.

Okay,, we now have 3 bullets left. I told Jay it was early enough in the morning that maybe something else might come by. So, we chambered another bullet and settled back for the wait. Sure enough, 30 minutes later, here comes a 2 1/2 year old 3 pointer that we surely wanted someone to take out of the gene pool. It finally worked around to the exact spot the last buck had been standing at. After working his rifle up, down, up, down, left, right, left, the buck was in his crosshairs. He took a breath in the relay straw and we have a DRT (Dead Right There) buck on the ground.

We called Donnie on the radio and told him he could come pick us up now. We have 2 bucks to load and prepare for the freezer.

Jay was able to leave with 2 bullets left over. I told him he might want to bring more ammo next year.

Donnie wasn't able to ever get a doe in his sights. Seems all he had come into the area he was hunting were bucks. He saw buck after buck after buck, including a really nice 10 pointer. But, I know Donnie didn't care if he got a deer or not. He enjoys helping Jay live out his dreams. Jay is very fortunate to have a brother-in-law like Donnie.

Jay and Donnie, we sure enjoyed having the two of you with us at the ranch again. We're already counting the days until next year. Just think, it's less than a year away now.



Here's a great picture of Jay and Donnie with his great buck he got to take home!

awesome Hag!!!!! thanks for doing that for him

Good shooting Jay!

congrats Jay and Tommy thanks again

awsome3 Tommy your the man

Hillbilly..... I called and left a message for you after I heard they took out some of what little brains you had left. I never heard back from you...... I've been wondering if you're okay now. Glad to see you're not listed in the obituaries and that you're posting on here. That's great to see you posting again.

Outstanding deer and some fine eating you have as well! Congrats on a great hunt.

AwesomeDRT! Congrats on the bucks. Once again The Hag comes through. Good job.

Excellent! Great story and great hunt!

Thanks Tommy & Barbie for the awesome hunt, memories and another great adventure we get to share every year for 6 years now!
Tommy was so right about the huge buck that I went and missed it! Just because I move my rifle over to get a shot and it moved the opposite way! That's my defence.
Thank Again Tommy, Barbie & Brother-in-law Donnie!
DRT

Here I sit just kind of mad at myself for a few things that did not happen, No.1- Did not get in a picture or a picture Tommy wife Barbie, No.2- Missed twice, but got hair and feathers, and time went by way to fast.

Time sure did go by way too fast. Hard to put it all together with only 3 "sittings" in the blind. But, you did it bud!!!

Yes Sir, we were able to pull it all together with help from above! It's Awesome when we get together and the adventure begins! THANKS AGAIN Tommy & Barbie!
Now my Season of hunting ends and will be following WTTT.
Happy New Years,
Jay

Thanks HWY_MAN

Congrats Jay!

Congratulation Jay-DRT,
Great to see your smiling face again guy. The Hag can keep you laughing and have a good show going with some fine venison. Bring more shells next time so you can stir up some dust!!

A Big thank again to Tommy, Barbie & Donnie! You guys are the best.

Thanks James, I got 5 feathers off that turkey! I think I gave that turkey a panic attack! LOL I never seen a turkey play possum!

Thought I would drop in and say hi Bud!!! We didn't get to go hunting again after your trip. Seems things just piled up around here to the point of being swamped. So, that big boy that ducked your shot will be there waiting on ou again next season!!! He might be so old by then that he'll need cane to walk in to the feeder though.

Thanks Tommy for a heads up on the old man, I hope he'll hang around and if he is needing help, that might just work out to my advantage!
I saw that the last part of the season did go by really fast! I guess being swamp just made it go by that much faster! Being this month is half way through, It's going to be less than 335 days until we get to hunt together! My math is not that hood, but I think I'm close!
TTYL