I was truly thankful that the persistent rain which had lasted for three days and nights had finally stopped. The twinkling stars in the cold, black sky was a welcome relief. The drastic drop in the temperature that is common after a storm front passes this time of year promised the new day was going to be a cold one. The increase in wind velocity from the north was going to make staying on a deer stand interesting to say the least. This was not a time to leave any of your cold weather clothes at the camp. I didn't care that it was going to be cold, at least I would not be raining horizontally like it did yesterday. The old stove at the camp had been smoking hot while doing double duty as clothes dryer for all of the wet hunters at Brown's Creek Hunting Club in south east Arkansas, located between Monticello and the Louisiana state line.
Wanda and Sara Kate would be hunting the Moccasin stand again today with the hopes of intercepting one of the many bucks that had been seen there in the recent past. I dropped them off before heading out to my designated stand on the gas line. There were tales being told of a very big white racked buck that had been seen in this area by several different hunters. It seems the old buck had lived a charmed life so far, but I was planning on changing that if I had an opportunity. I had dried my Encore .300 Mag out and it was ready and willing to do its part should the opportunity arise.
The cold windy dawn was a splendid one, running the spectrum of beautiful colors which were continually changing as night became day, followed by daylight becoming sunrise. It was such a privilege to me to be able to enjoy the beauties of nature from a deer stand and reflect on the season so far. Wanda had killed a doe with her muzzleloader at the river farm, then a nice buck with her .243 during the first modern gun season. Sara Kate had killed a doe during the Youth Season. I dropped the hammer on the biggest bobcat of my life a few days ago, while passing up several bucks that I would have normally shot. I had been invited to hunt on Two Rivers Hunting Club by David Jordening and had the time of my life, along with tagging a six year old nine point buck and a 200 pound wild hog. I had taken a toll on the surplus does at Brown's Creek Hunting Club, exercising my responsibility to help keep the deer herd in check under the Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP) put in place by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. We were not nearly done yet, and today I thankful that my daughter Sara Kate and wife Wanda were not far away.
I fully expected one or both of them to kill a deer this morning, but I was still startled when I heard the distinctive pop of the little .243 shatter the morning tranquility. The sun had not even cleared the trees yet. I pulled out my cell phone and it said 7:08 a.m. as I sent a text message to Wanda. "That U shoot?" I texted. "No. Sara," came the reply. Now, I was excited! I quickly dialed Wanda's number and whispered into the phone "What did you kill?" "I killed a buck, Dad! He's got 3 or four points on each side! He's a monster!" the excited young huntress whispered. "Congratulations! I am proud of you. Put your mom on the phone," I said. "What did Sara kill?" I asked. "Well, I think it is a 3 point, but I don't know for sure. We are going to stay put in the stand for a while and maybe another buck will show up," Wanda replied. I had to make myself stay put in my stand for a couple of more hours instead of taking off and looking at my little girl's buck like I wanted to do.
My pal "Bwana" Richard Booth was hunting about seven hundred yards away from me and when he shot I decided it was time to get down. Bwana killed a deer that he was sure was a doe when he shot, but then discovered it was a buck with only very small antler burrs that could not be seen above the hair line unless you were looking directly down at the top of the deer's head. Though this was not a management buck under the DMAP that both Two River's and Brown's Creek Hunting Club participate in, he was one of the reasons for the DMAP's existence. There is a malfunction with a buck that is at least 1 1/2 years old that does not have a hardened antler that sticks up above the hair line. "I sure hate to burn one of my buck tags on this one, but that's the rules," Bwana said as he hung his tag on the little buck's leg.
When I finally caught up with Wanda and Sara Kate, they were standing over a beautiful six point buck. "He was 113 yards Dad! I missed him the first shot, though. He's so pretty! I want a full body mount!" my daughter said excitedly as we went about the difficult task of trying to get him out of the "Hips", an area where the pine trees have been harvested and the root systems plowed with a huge dozer equipped with cutter and ripper blades. We could get a 4 wheel drive ATV no closer than 30 yards to the buck, so I grabbed an antler and started dragging. 
When we arrived at camp with Sara's deer, it was a time that we all will remember and on which each of us will reflect for many years to come. The camaraderie, the bonding, the relentless rain, the bone chilling cold, the happy smiles, the beautiful deer, and of course the tons of pictures are what the rich tradition of deer hunting is all about.
Brown's Creek Hunting Club is one of the oldest in southeast Arkansas and has the reputation of being a traditional family oriented deer camp where several generations of different families have hunted for decades, and which always includes women and children hunting and actively participating in every hunt. This well deserved and hard earned track record was honored on December 27 when the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and a film crew spent the day documenting on tape the vast array of different age groups of hunters from very young to very old. Deer hunting is a deep rooted heritage that we must protect and pass along to our children, and no one does it any better than the folks at Brown's Creek Hunting Club in Monticello, Arkansas. Good Hunting!
