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John's Journal... Entry 17 - Day 5

click here to enlargeBRIARPATCH DEER

EDITOR'S NOTE: George Mayfield, the owner of The Roost in Aliceville, Alabama, has hunted white-tailed deer for many years and now specializes in bagging only big bucks.

I was hunting on a crisp, clear, cold, frosty morning in 1990 in Greene County, Alabama, not far from my home in Pickens County, on the edge of a little green patch on the side of a big pine plantation. A buddy was hunting close by, and we were supposed to meet back at the truck at a certain time.

As I walked across the rolling hills of the pasture toward the truck, I heard some dogs barking and running in the pines adjacent to where I'd been hunting. I knew several dog hunters belonged to a nearby hunting club. I stood on top of the hill, looked across the field and spotted some deer coming out of the woods into the pasture. When they topped the hill, I realized the deer were three racked bucks, and one of them had a big rack.

They came in my direction, lickety-split, and then topped the other hill. I got down on one knee. Off the top of the hill was a small briarpatch, not big enough to hold five rabbits on a good day. They all headed for the briarpatch, and I watched them. I saw a rack turn, and I waited and waited. Since the deer didn't come out, I figured they were lying down in the briarpatch. I lost them because I couldn't see them. I had them pinned, but they had me pinned, too. I didn't know what to do. I thought about running and getting my buddy so we could surround the briarpatch, but I didn't want the deer to see me leave.

That's the beauty of deer hunting. You've got to be smarter than the deer if you're going to be successful.

Right then I didn't feel any smarter than the deer. I finally decided that I didn't need help, so I headed down the backside of the hill to put the hill between the deer and me. Willows grew on one side of the briarpatch, the thickest place I could approach with the right wind.

I decided I would jump into the briarpatch and shoot the biggest deer. Talk about a nerve-wracking experience! My heart pounded as I walked 150 yards across a wide-open cow pasture. I got to within 5 feet of the briarpatch, and I couldn't see anything. The wind was in my face. I knew that usually a big deer lying in a thicket would look where he couldn't smell and smell where he couldn't see. Generally he would lie down and look downwind.

click to enlargeWhen I arrived at the briarpatch in the middle of a cow pasture, the patch was thicker and a lot bigger than it looked from the hilltop. This briarpatch had thick spots and open spots where the cows wandered through it. I thought the deer would jump as soon as I walked into the patch. The patch had a funny oblong shape, and I was trying to figure which way the deer would go. I thought they'd go back from where they'd come. I wanted to go into the patch, spook them and come back out. I didn't want to shoot the wrong one; I wanted the biggest buck.

I eased up to the edge of the brittle briars and stepped into the patch, made a bunch of noise and quickly stepped out but nothing happened. I had a little nervous spell then. I started second-guessing myself. I stepped into the patch again and looked for antlers but didn't see any. Nothing happened, and I started to wonder if the deer were in there. I stepped out once more.

My hunt wasn't turning out to be as easy as I thought it would be. I eased down the edge, keeping most of the briarpatch upwind. I still couldn't see anything. I came to where a cow trail led into the patch, which allowed me to get into the patch without making noise. However, three-quarters of the way in, I still couldn't see a deer.

But when I turned around, all three deer jumped at the same time. All three had let me walk past them. When they jumped, each of them got out of sight in two seconds. I broke to the opening as soon as I could and got down on one knee. I couldn't see to shoot the big buck because the other two were between him and me. I thought I would shoot the one closest to me, although I still could see the big rack on the deer in the lead.

Then when the biggest deer jumped a fence, he gave me a quartering shot from about 200 yards. I aimed at the tip of his nose and caught him high in the shoulder. He folded like a dove and went down hard.

For more information about hunting big bucks, call or write George Mayfield at The Roost, P.O. Box 509, Aliceville, AL 35442; PH: (205) 373-3147.

 
 

Check back each day this week for more from George Mayfield and The Roost...

Day 1 - 180-Class Boone & Crockett Non-Typical Buck
Day 2 - 155-Class Boone & Crockett Buck
Day 3 - 151-Class Boone & Crockett Buck
Day 4 - The Noonday Buck
Day 5 - Briarpatch Deer

John's Journal