Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, November 22, 1993 TAG: 9311230409
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BY BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
He was beginning to wonder if deerless hunts were becoming a habit. The last of the four days vacation time he'd set aside for getting a buck during the gun season was about to ebb away in the afternoon shadows, and he hadn't see a thing. It was no different the previous season.
``Last year I was skunked. I didn't even seen one,'' said Bills, who lives in Goode.
Then, just before 5 p.m. one day last week, Bills heard some noise.
He was hunting a rugged chunk of Bedford County, watching a hollow that had a spring in one end, thickets on two sides and a small clearing with a lone poplar, where he'd placed his tree stand. He had put out cover scent.
When Bills heard the noise, he decided to use a deer call to see if he could attract a buck.
``I did a little bleat and heard a little more noise.'' Still another bleat created additional ruckus in the undercover.
``I waited and the buck came out. He was too close, 25 yards away. Muzzleloading range, not rifle range."
Bills took aim with his rifle and shot over the buck's back.
At this point, Bills' luck was about to take a major turn toward good fortune. The buck didn't run.
``He bolted a little bit. He didn't know were the shot had come from. He hadn't winded me.''
When the second shot found its mark, Bills was gazing breathlessly down on a better than average eight-point buck.
``I was shaking so hard at that time that I had a hard time getting out of my stand. I am starting to get my heart rate back down and my breath back to normal when I hear more noise in the woods.''
Bills used his call to make another doe bleat, then figured that was the wrong sound. He should do a buck grunt, because anything out there would be expecting to confront the buck he'd just killed.
``So I did a couple of grunts, and waited. I saw a little opening in the trees and a deer coming. It was a doe.''
Behind the doe, came still more sounds.
``I did a little grunt again and saw what I though was horns in the opening. A nine-pointer stuck his head out. It is bigger than the one I'd just killed. Now I am really shaking. I'm so excited it isn't funny.''
When Bills attempted to pull the trigger on the second buck, nothing happened. He'd forgotten to take the safety off. He pulled again and there was a metallic click. He'd forgotten to chamber a new round after killing the first buck.
``Now I am really in a dilemma. He is standing out there and if I pull the bolt back he will hear it, but if I don't, all I can do is look at him.''
So Bills chambered a round. The buck took off and the doe stood there looking straight at him, about to bolt.
Upset with himself, Bills decided the only thing left to do was grunt again. When he did a second doe came in.
``So I do another little grunt and about one minute later out came the nine-pointer again.''
Before long, Bills was headed down the road to Melvin Mitchell's taxidermist shop in Forest with two better-than-average trophy bucks.
"It was just the right combination of luck, and the fact that the deer were confused," Bills said.
by CNB