Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 21, 1995 TAG: 9511210065
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
James Zell put his stand extra high in a poplar tree Monday, opening day of the modern firearms deer season. It was time to get serious about catching up with the big buck that had eluded him during the muzzleloading season.
``I got up a little higher than I normally hunt,'' said the Botetourt County resident. ``I went up about 25 feet. I wanted to get above the scent line. I believe that's where I made the mistake the other day.''
A deer hunter for more than 20 years, Zell, 38, spotted the buck for the first time during a scouting trips.
``He was horning trees. He had two does with him.''
When the early muzzleloading season opened, Zell got a second look at the buck. This one was fleeting. The big animal was running, its sharp hooves pounding the soil, its white tail waving in retreat. There was no chance for a shot.
``I was up about 12 feet in my tree stand, and I believe he scented me,'' said Zell. ``Of course, the wind was blowing.''
Weather conditions were ideal Monday. The day began with a heavy frost that crunched under foot and quickly mellowed into the kind of balmy temperatures that gave hunters little reason to leave the woods early.
A few minutes before 8 a.m., Zell spotted three does coming through the brush near his stand. He stood up and held his rifle in ready position.
``I wasn't going to shoot no doe,'' he said. ``I might later on, but not right now.''
Then the buck appeared, its antlers catching the early rays of the sun. The rack wasn't extremely heavy, but it was wide and carried eight distinct points. It would make any hunter proud.
``He was the last one to come through, just sneaking along,'' said Zell. ``He was really alert. I would say he was going back to his bedding area.''
The buck offered a tough shot, one of those instances that causes a hunter to ask: ``Should I pull the trigger now or wait for a better shot?
``When he crossed a little stream, I went ahead and took my shot,'' said Zell. ``I didn't think I would get anything better than I had.''
One minute past 8 a.m., the buck was his. It weighed 157 pounds field dressed.
Clifford Smith of Moneta was hunting a few ridges away, on land owned by his boss.
``I hunted muzzleloading in Bedford County and didn't do any good, so I figured I'd come over here,'' he said. He hadn't scouted the area. He would be seeing it for the first time this season when daylight gave shape to the woods around him.
Smith fashioned a blind in the laps of a fallen tree and waited. His 14-year old son, Clifford Jr., took a stand in the distance.
About 8:30 a.m., Smith spotted a doe down the ridge from him. He decided to blow his grunt call, hoping it would cause any bucks near the doe to reveal their position.
The call didn't appear to have any impact, but something told Smith to look behind him. When he did, there stood an eight-point buck, 20 yards away.
``I'd never heard a sound, and I turned around and he was standing there watching me. He had seen me before I saw him. Why he didn't run, I don't know. When I saw that rack, I just went all to pieces.''
As Smith eased his .30-06 into shooting position, the buck ran. Smith used an old trick to stop him. He whistled. When the buck paused, Smith dropped it.
At a nearby game checking station, the animal weighed 160 pounds and its antler spread measured 211/2 inches.
``I heard him shoot and he came down to me with his face just glowing with a smile,'' said Clifford Jr.
``It wasn't any big hunter skills that killed this one,'' said Smith.
Skill or not, smiles were abundant at big game checking stations Monday. Many were doing a brisk business, even though bow hunters have been afield since Oct.1 and muzzleloaders since Nov.6.
Old Mill Grocery, a big game checking station in Fincastle, had registered 70 deer by noon.
``The body weights are really good,'' said David Steffen, a research biologist with the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. ``We've seen many yearling bucks that dress out over 100 pounds.''
Unlike Zell, who climbed a tree, and Smith, who climbed a mountain, James Hall didn't exert much energy to kill his buck Monday.
``I shot it from inside my house,'' said the 75-year-old Botetourt County resident. ``I've had nine major operations and can't get out much.''
Hall spotted the buck near his house Sunday afternoon, just before leaving to perch at an Amsterdam church. Monday morning, he was ready with his .30-06. When the buck approached, Hall poked his rifle out a window and shot the eight-pointer.
``The Lord's been good to me,'' he said.
by CNB