We were hunting a triangle shaped track of land... It was surrounded on all the sides by a nieghborhood street and two small highways ( not big city highways but small town versions )... In the middle was a large swamp with two small streams running through it...
My father took up position on the north side of the swamp and I was about 1/2 mile to the south on the other side of the swamp... It was cold... I was tired... and hung over... so I decided to take a nap under a large pine tree... After all it was still dark out...
I woke up at around 10 AM... freezing cold and covered in a blanket of freshly fallen snow... I brushed off the snow and shivering, got up and grabbed my gun... I knew my Dad was gonna be mad I had fallen asleep and hadn't shot once... especially after seeing tracks in the fresh snow less than 10 feet from where I was sleeping... The deer must have stopped by to see the idiot asleep under the tree... haha...
As I began walking towards a small trail that lead through the swamp I saw a large deer trot through the stand of pines and stop quickly as we both realized we weren't alone... The buck... 8 points... stopped behind two trees that grew from the ground in a V shape... I slowly raised my gun and took aim...
Now I am a good shot... By this age... 19... I had already taken 20 or more deer both with the bow, rifle, muzzleloader, and shotgun... But on this morning as I took aim I couldn't get my frozen limbs to stop shaking... the headache from my hangover didn't help either...
My shotgun... my favorite Remington SP12 - 12 guage with a shortened barrel - only had three shells...
Shaking I lined up and took my first shot... It hit the tree towards the back of the deer... he jumped didn't run... As i pumped a new shell into the chamber and shot again... I hit the tree towards the front of him... This time he jumped again and moved a little out from behind the tree but still didn't run but instead stood still and tried to blend in... Knowing I had only one shell left I pumped the gun again and took my final aim... Shaking and shivering still... I fired again... This time he jumped and ran off down the trail I was heading for through the swamp...
Now I was mad and embarrased... I was going to have to tell my father that I had shot three times and missed all three... and probably have to tell him I fell asleep...
I made my way down the trail... praying to see a blood trail... but nothing... I made up my mind to move through the swamp and see if I could flush the deer out towards my Dad... at least one of us was ready and wouldn't blow it... As I made my way down the trail I came to the first of the two small streams... and there in the water ( only a foot and a half wide and two feet deep - half covered in ice ) was the deer face down... I was excited but couldn't believe in my frozen and barely awake state I had actually hit him...
After getting my Dad we dragged the deer out to the truck and took a good look at it for a hole from one of the slugs... Not one... Later that night a friend of my Dads - Rob - was cutting the deer and said that he had finally found where I had hit the deer but we should come over and see for ourselves because we wouldn't believe it otherwise... When we got there he started laughing and showed us a small mark behind the skull... Turns out I had nicked it behind head and knocked him out cold... He drowned in the small stream after becoming unconcious...
True story... Funny as hell... everyone gets a kick out of it... I just though of it today because I just brought my mounted deer head back from Massachusetts and finally hung it up... He dressed out at over 225#... Awesome deer... I wish I had not fallen asleep and had actually got a real shot off... haha
