king' s outdoor world - Index

king' s outdoor world - Hunting Illustrated - October/November 2007 - Index

brainpower that puts you in the right
spot at the right time. My father was
a hunter who liked to make pushes
or drives. Once it was decided that
a big buck was close by, he would
give a shooter a chance to see him
and make the shot. In the PJ's and
most desert terrain, you can never
see very far, no matter what time of
the day it is. Ninety-percent of the
time, a big buck is always in the thick
stuff laying down, feeding and doing
what he does best - staying alive!
Now, that's a lot of a day to waste
hunting isn't it? Five-percent for
the morning hunt and another fivepercent
for the evening hunt - that
leaves ninety-percent of the day at
camp sitting around doing nothing.
Sounds like a lot of wasted hunting
time to me. The harder I work, the
luckier I get - imagine that! My dad
and I made a great team. Sometimes
I would be the pusher and sometimes
I would be the sitter. But, most of the
time, my dad liked to be the pusher.
He would always tell me that he
wanted the first go at him - always
knowing that the sitter usually had
a much better chance of killing old
Mr. Big if he happened to sneak out
ahead of the pusher. Over the many
years I spent hunting with my dad,
we killed many a big buck in the
middle of the day by making drives
and reading the land layouts. As you
hunt or walk through any hunting
area, always have your brain turned
on and be recording all this input in
your little black book. I guarantee
you it will bring great results and big
bucks hanging back at camp.
Just this spring, Nate
Jacobsen, his son Hunter, and I
went turkey hunting in Kansas.
One afternoon after a zero for the
morning, we followed our guide to a
new area. I have never been to this
area in Kansas before, so everything
was a first. As we walked along a
plowed field, there was a little river
meandering off to one side. The
river bottom was full of thick trees
and dense vegetation to hide in. We
walked for a mile or so, stopping
here and there making a call - anything
to get a gobble. But notta! Finally I
said, "Let's split up and work our way
back to the truck.? I crossed the little
river on my own, working my way back
to the truck. Half-way up the river, I
saw something running. A closer look
told me it was a big Tom. I watched him
cross the little river and work his way
up the riverbank heading for the top. I
had just walked up there only an hour
ago and remembered that there was
5MULE DEER5
a big river turn on the land layout
that would bring him to the end of
the point. I ran to the point as fast
as I could, crossed the river, and
crawled up the bank on my hands
and knees to the fence going into the
big plowed grain field. With twelvegauge
in hand, I peeked through the
weeds and, low and behold, walking
right to me was a 10-inch beard
Tom. I can still see the look on his
face when I set up to shoot. When
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