The following was written by Stan Jett. Stan came to Tails of the Hunt Outfitters for Missouri rifle season with high hopes of bagging a big buck. This is his story.
“Oh my Gosh”
Dreams do come true. Today on November 12th with the help of my God and Tails of the Hunt Outfitters, I killed the buck of a lifetime. After only an hour and a half in stand, on my first rifle hunt in Missouri, I found myself kneeled down on the ground saying oh my gosh.
The warm and windy morning started with the doe sightings. Once the sky brightened, I noticed a huge buck rub on a nearby cedar tree. I knew there was a nice buck in the area so I was eager to get into the stand. It only took a little more than an hour and I caught the view of a doe running along the woods to my left. I stood to watch and within seconds another came through a gully in the woods. Then the dream buck came running after her.
It was a true blessing from God that he stopped because I only had one window behind me through all the trees. He turned away to jump out of the gully and I only had 1 second to raise my gun and shoot. I lifted my Remington .280 and before I knew it was I was pulling the trigger. I put the crosshairs on his spine hoping to drive the bullet through his vitals. Then the buck disappeared into to the thick timber and I was bleeding. Yes, I was bleeding. As I shot in such a rush, the scope kicked back and split my forehead open.
So, there I sat, bleeding, and wondering if I hit my buck of a lifetime. I called Aaron, the outfitter, and told him the story. He said to wait and stay in the stand. I waited an hour and a half but it seemed like four! Then, Tyler, the guide, came and we went to look for the deer. At first we could not find any blood and I started to worry. Within a few minutes Tyler turned around with a big ‘ol smile and I knew he had found my buck. He piled up only forty yards from where I had shot him. He was an eleven point, 164 inch, non-typical buck. All that I was able to say or do was look at my buck in shock and say “oh my gosh.”
By Stan Jett
