“2002: A Whitetail Season filled with Memories- OH, WV, NE, & NC” By: Mark A. DePugh
Setting back, I find myself reflecting over
my 2002 Whitetail hunting experiences. I definitely
enjoyed a season of memorable and exciting hunts. First of all, I feel privileged
to have been able to hunt the elusive whitetail deer in four different states
in the year 2002. Trophies? Well I guess that’s in the eyes of the beholder!
Monster buck trophies, no, but trophy ‘hunts’
for memories of a lifetime, yes!
I had the opportunity to hunt whitetails in Ohio, North Carolina, West
Virginia, and Nebraska.
My fall experience was very
very busy as I spent numerous hours working with other forming FCH Chapters and
speaking in behalf of the Organization. Honestly speaking, my hunting
opportunities this year were far less than normal.
In late October, I found myself in route to
Lexington, NC in an effort to help officially kick-off the FCH NC Chapter. While there, I was also going to have a full day
opportunity at hunting whitetail with bow and arrow. Dr. David Harrison, the
FCH NC Chapter President, had encouraged me to bring my gear in an effort to
fill a non-resident tag while on camera. The cameraman, DR Harrison, the
President’s son! Now few of you have actually met DR, but he is not a novice to
this whitetail stuff. He had scouted out deer, made preparation, and hung
stands in hopes of ambushing a North Carolina whitetail. When I say that DR
hung the stands, I mean that he really ‘hung’
stands. When I arrived to our hot spot, I looked up and said, “You have got to
be kidding me”? DR said, “Is there a problem”? You see, when he hangs a stand,
he hangs it from the stars! I’m talking, a strap on portable, 30 feet from the
ground! After cautiously climbing in, I told DR that that was the
closest I had ever been to God while hunting deer… If you know what I mean!
The morning hunt revealed some deer but
with no shot opportunites. Now I had no plans of
being choosy, with only one full day of hunting, so DR decided to lead us to a
different location for the afternoon hunt. Trust me…That didn’t break my heart!
When we arrived at our evening stand location, I once again looked up and
proclaimed, “DR you definitely have a problem”! You got it, another 30 footer!
Praying with every step, and hugging to tree bark for all I was worth, I
finally made it into the clouds.. I mean stand!
We weren’t long in the stand, until
movement caught my eye to the right. Through the late
autumn leaves, I picked up on two deer coming towards us. One was a mature doe
and the other probably her youngin’. They moved in behind us and actually fed
to where we had walked in to get to the stand. The boss of this duo froze in
her tracks.. She knew that something had invaded her turf! I nudged DR on the
leg and whispered, I’m going to try to make a shot! With complete faith and God
and obviously a brain spasm, I gently stood up in that very very small stand,
which was perched a mile from the ground. The doe was actually only 15 yards
from the tree, but I thought I was so high that I may need to use a 40-yard pin
to make the shot. I turned 180 degree’s backwards, reached around the tree and
drew my Golden Eagle. The deer quartered away as she decided she had
smelled enough of our strange scent, but she wasn’t quick enough to get away
from the aluminum shaft and 100 grain thunderhead.
And yes, the cameraman came through, as DR caught it all on camera. What a
hunt! Our tracking experience was awesome to say the least. This deer was like
the energizer bunny; she kept going and going and going! It was a complete pass
through shot, but a little far back. We finally found the animal with
help from our North Carolina FCH family Dr. Harrison, DR, Dwayne Grimmett, Matt
McGee and prayers from Dr. Harrison’s youngest daughter Lindsey (What a
sweetheart!). We actually crawled on our hands,
knees, and bellies for hundreds of yards in honeysuckle and brush before
successfully retrieving this deer! AWESOME!
The next deer stop was rifle season in
Gilmer County, West Virginia. This hunt was extra
special in that; I actually traveled back to join up with family in the WV
Mountains. Each year family members travel home to a small town named Cox’s
Mills. Folks come in to hunt from Ohio, North Carolina, South Carolina, and
Maryland. It’s a great time at deer camp each year! This years hunting was
difficult and we just didn’t seem to see the numbers of deer in comparison to
years past. I was however, fortunate enough to fill my buck and doe tag within
the first two days of the week. The monster buck was just a spike with about 6
inch horns, but it was an awesome hunt. I saw this buck slowly moving my
direction from about 300 yards away. He was walking
up a finger that was parallel to my location. My heart was racing and my
breath had quickened with anticipation of a shot opportunity. My Marlin 30-30 put the hammer on him at
approximately 140 yards. A true monster buck? Hardly, but what a memorable
hunt! And you know what? The memories are what it is really all
about!
My third encounter with whitetails was back
home in the beautiful hills of Southern Ohio. My
opportunities with bow and arrow had been limited in 2002, so I had great plans
for the Ohio Firearms Season. I had seen a couple of nice bucks in November
with fresh sign during bow season indicating that they were still hanging
around in early December.
My excitement began to diminish as
bronchitis set in on Saturday before the opening day.
I couldn’t believe it! I was only able to hunt the first two days of the Ohio
Season just seeing several deer. I passed up a couple of small bucks with no
sign of their daddy. But then again, I didn’t really expect to see a monster
buck while having a ‘stinch’ of
Hall’s Cough Drops hanging around my tree stand. My bronchitis got
worse!
I was not able to get out of
the “morning” bed Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. All I wanted to do was sleep.
Finally, I went to a Doctor and got a wonderful shot (haha) and some
anti-biotics. I felt that I was on the up and up by Saturday afternoon, so I
went to the stand in hopes at a nice buck. I hunted that evening but saw only 6
does! Was my OH Season over? Almost.. I decided to go out Sunday morning prior
to our church services for one more opportunity at filling the tag.
We had about three inches of snow on the ground and I really wanted to harvest
a deer, so I could do all of that wonderful tracking
in a snow-white forest. That white stuff makes for great tracking and beautiful
video footage. The Lord blessed and I was fortunate enough to harvest a
6-pointer that morning plus still make it to our morning church services on
time. A monster buck? No, not at all, but a great
hunt and tracking effort? You’d better believe it!
My last stop for whitetails was in the
beautiful state of Nebraska. I had an
opportunity to hook up with Kurt Benson the owner and operator of “Antlers and
Avian's Outfitters” of Pawnee City, NE on a Black Powder Rifle hunt. Adrenaline probably got the best of me though, as I settled
for a management buck mainframe 6, early in the hunt. It was cold and windy as
we were on a late season mid-December Muzzleloader hunt, and my health was
probably only at 80 percent. The cameraman, RJ Donahue, and I were in a large
platform stand overlooking four separate shooting lanes. RJ first spotted the
deer moving across one of these small clearings about 140 yards away. By the
time I got my glasses on the deer, he was in a thicket. All I could see was a
Nebraska large body with horns. The buck disappeared in the thicket for 6 or 7
minutes, but we believed he would be working his way towards us along a
fenceline adjacent the thicket. My adrenaline was at full tilt and the
decision to take him was made, if he presented a shot.
Well he did, and the moment was captured once again, on camera, thanks to the
superb work of RJ Donahue. A trophy? Well it depends on how you look at it! His
rack was a mainframe 6, but he had some trash stuff on him as well. He
definitely didn’t show much genetic promise for years down the road, so we took
him out. Body? He was big.. Those Nebraska bucks are huge! I was
shooting a CVA Black Powder Rifle with 100 grains of pyridex, a 385 grain slug,
with open sights. Let me tell you, “It did the job”.
Perfect heart shot! My first Nebraska whitetail!
Praise the Lord!
We spent some wonderful time with outfitter
Kurt Benson and let me tell you folks; He is one fine man! We shared hunting stories, talked about the Lord, and the
FCH Organization. Kurt also took us out after some Avian's.. (That’s birds you
know!) We were chasing ring-necks. We probably flushed 30 birds in 4
hours. It was awesome to watch his dogs at work. We
had plenty of shooting opportunities, but I won’t say how many we finished. The
only thing that I will say is that we did have fresh pheasant breast for supper
back at camp. What great memories we hold from Kurt and our Nebraska experience.
Check out “Antlers and Avian's web site from our links tag. It was an opportunity of a lifetime!
In closing, I guess I can go
back to the trophy question again. What is a trophy? It doesn’t have to have large horns, or even any horns at
all. It doesn’t have to have a 10-inch beard or weigh 20 pounds. It’s about the
hunt! Webster defines trophy as;
“Something gained in memory of experience, victory or conquest”. God blessed me in 2002 with opportunities to hunt
whitetails in four different states and I thank him for that! Any monster
bucks? No, but trophies? You’d better believe it! Memories for a
lifetime, and that’s what it’s all about!
Mark A. DePugh
President FCH
National Chapter