“That’s A Dandy II”
November 9th, in my opinion, is the best day to be in the deer hunting woods. I’ve had a lot of success on this date and so have my brothers. So this November 9th I was anticipating another great day of hunting. The wind was out of the west, perfect for my best stand, it was in mid 30’s, good for deer movement, and the rut was starting to really heat up.
Unfortunately, on this day, I got some horrible news while on the way to my hunting grounds. As I was driving out, my brother Jerry called to ask where I was hunting and to inform me that Jeff’s (another brother of mine) father-in-law passed during night after a valiant fight with cancer. Livio Martin wasn’t a deer hunter, but he enjoyed our successes and always wanted to hear the stories about the buck we’ve bagged. I even got the title for this article from a quote he said about a dandy 11 point that my brother Jeff had shot in 2001. All morning, as I was hunting I had my brother and his family in my thoughts and prayers while trying to concentrate on the deer woods. I thought back to the times we stopped by Livio’s house after a morning of hunting and having him offer us a Mountain dew. Never did a Mountain Dew taste better. Also I thought of the times we stopped by with a nice trophy buck, he’d always say to me, “it must be an 8 pt, Joe always shoots an 8 pt”, even if sometimes they were 7 pts. So, while sitting in my tree, all I could think of was shooting a nice 8 point buck to honor Mr. Martin. I hadn’t eyed an 8pt from this stand this year, but did have a couple nice ones on my trail camera and my brother Jeff had found a nice set of 8pt sheds from the previous season that had nice “hook” sticker on the G2’s.
At about 7:30 my phone vibrates. I check it and find out a buddy of mine has just passed a 20 yard shot at a nice 7 pt with a 14 inch spread. Hopefully the deer started moving around me soon. Shortly after that I spot 3 does a couple hundred yards away in the cut bean field. I tried to see a buck following but there was nothing. At least I was seeing deer. Ten minutes later and lots of thoughts of big bucks had gone through my head. Including a nice 7 pt I shot from this stand a few years earlier on Nov 9th and another close encounter I had with a monster 10 point that was chasing a doe around and just wouldn’t come close enough for a shot with archery equipment also on Nov 9th. At 7:40 am I look to my left and see a nice buck walking in to my location. I notice right away it’s a shooter 8 pt and he’s heading right for one of my shooting lanes. Quickly I grab my bow of the hook and get in position to make the shot. As he enters the shooting lane I grunt with my mouth, he stops, I release the arrow and he ducks my string! I still hit him but high and in the neck. The buck runs off about 20 yards and stops. Knowing it wasn’t a lethal hit I automatically grab another arrow and my grunt call. I let out a couple of grunts and here he comes again, heading for another shooting lane. He’s closing the distance and steps into a lane at 20 yards. I let the arrow fly and connect perfectly behind the buck’s left shoulder. The 8 pt runs off and I think I hear him crashing, but just am not too sure. I quickly call my brother Jerry and let him know I had just arrowed a nice 8pt. He’s hunting a different property and informs me he’ll be there to help in about 45 minutes.
After about 10 minutes I get down to check my first arrow, I found it and it had no blood on it even though I know I shot right through the deer. I go to where my second shot hit the buck and can’t find any blood there either. So I walk back to my truck and wait for my brother to arrive. Jerry arrived about 50 minutes after I shot the buck and we got on the trail. He found blood right away and after a 65 yard tracking job we found the buck. I could just imagine Mr. Martin saying “that’s a dandy” to my 8 pt buck. As I pull the rack out of the tall weedy grass I find it’s not an 8 pt after all, it’s a 7, missing the left brow tine. The buck did suffer a little ground shrinkage as he wasn’t the wall hanger I thought he was, but, he is still a trophy in my book. And on this date, I have to think God and Mr. Martin were both looking down on me and played a big part in giving me a second chance at this nice buck.
After doing the dirty work we stopped in at the local store and I bought my brother and myself a couple of Mountain Dew’s. Funny thing, they didn’t taste quite as good as the cold ones Livio Martin always gave us.
I want to thank Mr. Martin for the special memories he’s given me and the good Lord for watching over him and his family in these tough times.
Joe Lambert
