The two old boys drove up to the clearing and cut the engine to the old pick-up truck. Sitting in silence as the motor ticked and cooled they watched through the trees at the does standing out in an open field. Grazing and totally oblivious to the pick-up and the two old boys in the cab, the deers only concern seemed to be the next mouthful of grass.
The two old boys eased out of the pick-up. Each, using their door as support, turned simultaneously, reached back into the cab, and grabbed their respective canes. The old boy on the passenger side reached behind the seat and drug out an old muzzle loader as the driver hobbled out to lean against the bumper and watch the does.
Easing his door shut, the old boy with cane and muzzleloader joined his partner on the bumper. Leaning back to use the
truck as support, he propped his cane up and proceeded to load the old front stuffer. All the while his partner sat in silence gazing out at the does still grazing in the field. After a minute he pushed himself up off the bumper and, leaving his friend to the task of loading the gun, began to pick his way through the patch of timber towards the clearing and, the deer.
After about 15 paces he stopped, turned slowly and glanced back to see how his partner was fairing. With the gun now loaded, he too was starting out towards the clearing. The old boy in front pointed at the ground with his cane toward a large root sticking up through the leaves. Seeing his partner nod in aknowledgement he turned and continued his silent trek thru the trees.
The kids sat hunkered in their blind. Each one wore the latest fashion in camoflouge clothing and each had a highpower rifle chambered in the cutting edge calibers of the day, each rifle was topped with a huge scope sporting the ultimate in magnification and mil-dot reticles. Between them they had 3 cell phones, a GPS unit, 2 rangefinders and a real expensive spotting scope of a make none of them could pronounce correctly let alone spell without looking at the box it was packed in.
They had 2 of the newest digital cameras on the market and each carried a radio capable of reaching out 10 miles, they had over 100 rounds of ammo between them yet, none carried a pack. The big ATV, it too decked out in camo and, capable of carrying all of them and their gear was parked in the trees a few yards away.
"There's a deer" whispered the kid excitedly, as he peered thru the spotting scope. The other kids grabbed their rifles, "Where?" one asked as they all eased up to 'shooting positions'.
"Right there" said the kid on the scope, pointing out towards the 1000+ acres of land that lay before them. After several minutes of explaining they all pretty much agreed that everyone was looking at the same deer and it was a buck but, none could see how big it was. Picking up their range finders, one of the kids took a couple of readings and determined that the deer was appx. 600 yds out and looked to be moving in thier general direction. The other kid with the range finder quickly comfirmed this but, in actuality, didn't even know how to turn his range finder on, let alone take a reading. During this time the other kid got a fix on his GPS unit.
At the edge of the clearing the old boys stopped. The does had grazed up to about 50 yards of the tree line. In a little while they would probably head in to bed down for the night. For now tho, they were content to mill around eating, still unaware of the two old boys who stood a few yards away, watching.
The old boy with the gun handed his cane over to his partner to hold while he primed the piece to shoot. Not trusting himself to carry the gun fully ready, case he should stumble and have it accidently go off, he saved this task until they were ready to shoot. Whincing a little as his gnarled fingers pulled the old hammer back, exposing the nipple, the old boy positioned the cap. Then watching the deer abit, he gathered his strength in preperation of his shot.
Bringing the heavy, old muzzleloader up to his shoulder, the old boy was steady as a rock. Squinting thru the crude sites mounted on the octagonal barrel he lined his sights up on the nearest doe. The old boy holding the canes now planted them both in front of him and, leaning forward, tensed up in anticipation of the blast and roll of smoke from the gun. He watched the deer in front of him and glanced at his partners finger as it tickled back the trigger, heard the sear snap, then the hammer as it hit the primer, POP!
The sound of the primer going off seemed deafening to the old boys. The deer didn't seem to notice, tho the lead doe did look up from her eating for a moment. Not seeing anything too interesting or, sensing any danger, she turned her attention back to the patch of grass in front of her.
The kids hiding in the blind were having a quiet aurgument on whether they should shoot the deer now or, wait to see if it moved in a bit closer. "I just had my rifle boresighted a couple days ago." one claimed, "The guy said with this new WSM, 800 yard shots would be no problem."
"I'll shoot it and you back me up, just in case I miss." he said, pointing to the kid who had a similar looking rifle. "The rest of you keep your eyes peeled just in case another one jumps up after we shoot."
Now, with a plan, the kids knelt and layed in various positions around the blind. The kid who elected himself to shoot looked thru the scope and all the different crosshairs and dots that lay within it. Trying to remember what he had read in the manual he finally gave up, forgot about the dots, and put the center most crosshairs on the deer. Adjusting his hold on the rifle in an effort to stop the gun from shaking so much, he heard one of the other boys say, "You gonna shoot or not?" "Buck fever" another giggled nervously. Ignoring these 'wise cracks' the kid again peered thru his scope and found the deer, maybe a little closer now, but still out there quite aways.
BOOOM!! The big rifle roared and bucked against the kids shoulder. Not holding it quite tight enough, the recoil walloped the kid pretty good and, for a moment, he seemed to be tangled up in the big gun.Trying to work through the bolt, like he seen the guys do on T.V. And, trying harder, to see through the tears welling up in his eyes from the blast of pain in his shoulder, he barely heard one of the other kids squeal, "YOU HIT IT!" "IT'S STILL MOVING" "SHOOT IT AGAIN" The kid backing him up, in case he missed, fired now. BOOOM! Whether his shot hit the deer or not no one knew as pandimonium, close to panic, was breaking out in the blind.
One of the kids, who was supposed to be watching in case another deer jumped up at the shot, worked his bolt twice, expending a live round with each throw. The other was racing towards the big ATV in order to 'go after' the deer. The 2 kids who initially shot, both got their rifles reloaded about the same time, and each shot again.
The two old boys heard the sound of far off, very distant, shots. One, two. And then, three, four almost in unison. Pulling the hammer back once more, the old boy pulled the spent primer off the nipple, inspected it and dropped it to the ground. Digging in his pocket for the primer tin, he glanced over at his partner and shrugged. Extracting another primer, he put the tin back in his pocket, wiped a finger across the nipple and carefully placed the primer on it.
Again, the old boy was steady as a rock as he brought the heavy, old muzzleloader up to his shoulder. Squinting thru the crude sites mounted on the octagonal barrel he again lined his sights up on the nearest doe. Again, the old boy holding the canes leaned forward. And, again, tensed up in anticipation of the blast and roll of smoke from the gun. Ignoring the deer completely this time he directed his full attention to his partner. Again, he heard the sear snap, watched the hammer seem to fall in slow motion towards the primer and, POP! Again, the primer went off with no resulting bang, roll of smoke or, dead doe. In fact, the deer didn't even glance up this time but continued milling around without a care in the world.
The little buck, hit hard in the guts, struggled as another bullet whipped close over the top of him. His only instict was to move. Quickly. But, nothing he commanded of his body seemed to be working. Then, two more roars and two more stabs of pain as a bullet hit him high in the shoulder and another went deep thru his rear quarters. Falling, the little buck was still very much alive and breathing. Gasping, deep, ragged breaths, his legs kicked in a feable effort to get back on his feet and moving again.
"OK, he's down! shouted the kid who seemed to be in charge. Pointing to his back up shooter he told him to stay in the blind and watch the spot where the deer had fallen. Then, turning to run towards the ATV, which was being revved up wildly, he shouted. "Let's go get that buck!"
In the distance, about 200 yds. A bigger, older buck was woke up by all the noise and commotion. Sensing extreme danger, he carefully rose out of his bed and moved deeper into the brush, unnoticed.
The old boys standing at the edge of the trees now heard the sounds of a big engine being revved wildly off in the distance. Looking sheepishly over at his partner holding the canes, the old boy grinned and, again, pulled the hammer back. Brushing the spent primer off the nipple he brought the old rifle up to his face and peered at the mechanism to insure that it was indeed clean and clear. Blowing a quick breath at it, he again dug into his pocket for the primer tin. Extracting another, he handed the tin to his partner and reprimed the gun. The old boy holding the canes took the tin, let out an impatient sigh and again, braced himself for the shot, the roll of smoke and, a dead doe which, by this time had moved up to about 30 yards or so from where the old boys stood.
Feeling a bit shakey now from the effort of lifting the gun so many times, the old boy took a moment to get his breath and muscles working together again. Looking out at the does, he again raised the old gun. Looking down the sights the front wobbled abit as he pulled the trigger. POP! Again, no bang, no roll of smoke and no dead doe. The old boy lowered his gun, reached over to take his cane from his partners hand and turning to head back towards the truck said very quietly, "Musta fergot the powder or sumthing."
"Hmm. Or sumthing." the other old boy whispered back, turning to following his partner out of the trees.
The kids roared around on the ATV until they found the horribly wounded buck. Both had forgot their radios at the blind and were trying to make out what the other kids were yelling at them over the roar of the big motor. Seeing that the deer was still breathing, the kid thumbed the safety off the big rifle. Shaking badly and not trusting himself to hit the deer a coup de grace in the head, he shot the little buck through the shoulders. Mercifully the bullet blew heart and lungs, along with any edible portion left of the little deer, away. It was finally dead and out of pain.
The two kids managed to get the deer up on the ATV and roared back to the blind to dress out and show off their trophy.
"I get to shoot the next one" a kid said.
" You couldn't make a shot like that" said another.
"Musta been at least 800 yds when you shot"
"Wait'll we get home and tell the other guys"
"Yep, that's a nice buck, for sure."
Back at the truck the old boys were stowing the old gun back behind the seat when they heard one more shot off in the distance. "Musta got 'em that time" said the old boy as he tossed his cane in the cab and climbed in after it.
"Yep" said the other, firing the old truck back to life.
They were both silent again as the old boy maneuvered the pick-up around and back to the main road. Shifting down and accelerating back home the old boy dug around in his pocket and pulled out the primer tin. "Wanna go out hunting again next year?" he asked, handing the tin back to his old friend.
"Sure, I guess so." he replied. "Next year tho I'll try not to get so excited."
The two old boys looked across the cab at each other, smiled, and then laughed all the way home.