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Opening morning of the 2007 Illinois shotgun season
would be a test in patience for my 18 year old son,
Joe Smith. Joe would be hunting an out-of-the way
finger of timber surrounded by cut corn known simply
as the curve. A handful of nice bucks had been shot
on the property by my Uncle, Steve Hayworth, but when
I scouted the property in October of 2007 during
bowhunting I was skeptical. The property consisted of
less than an acre of timber surrounded by cut corn as
far as the eye could see. The nearest big woods was
to the North approximately 400 yards away and to make
matters worse the owner of the adjoining property was
building a house 200 yards behind the tree stand Joe
would be hunting from. Joe considered all these
factors when agreeing to hunt there opening morning
and really listened when our Uncle gave him some very
important information about hunting this property.
Uncle Steve stressed to my son that he must
demonstrate patience when in the stand and allow does,
and immature bucks to "walk" and he would see a
shooter buck..
Well opening morning arrived and I saw Joe off as
he loaded up his car for the 5 minute drive to the
curve. I reminded him of basic hunting safety issues
and even tried to give him directions to the property
since he'd only been there once before. Joe insisted
he knew how to navigate the 5 miles trip in the dark
so off he went and off I went to my stand. Sure
enough 5 minutes into my hunt my cell phone vibrates
and its Joe who can't remember exactly how to find the
property. I tried to give directions quietly as first
light approached and deer were moving. Well the phone
vibrated 3 more times the next 10 minutes and I began
to worry when I didn't hear from Joe for the next hour
and a half. At about 7:30 a.m. my phone rang and Joe
stated with great joy that he had just shot the
biggest deer he had ever seen. I instructed him to
stay put and I would drive over to help him dress the
deer as well as drag it out.
Upon arrival Joe took me to the buck and it was
laying on its side 20 yards behind Joe's stand. I was
amazed that his description of the deer was
accurate. It was the biggest deer I had ever seen as
well. Joe relayed his events of the morning hunt from
getting to the stand as it got light, to letting
numerous does pass without shooting. I was proud of
Joe for heeding his Uncle's advice of having patience
and excited to share this moment with my son. The
deer was a massive 16 pointer that had double brow
tines, palmations, and kicker points and field dressed
at 275 lbs. Patience paid off...
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