In early 80’s I hunted a old whitetail in Franklin county in N.C. for several years and caught up with him on my birthday in October….sitting in a climber on edge of of the river he came out of a honeysuckle thicket across the river…at 50 yards I missed him with a 308. Hunted that same tree all season and never saw him. Went back the next year on my birthday and sitting in same stand he came out and I killed him within 20 yards of where I shot at him the year before….at 7:30 pm on Oct 26 both shots….exactly a year apart. An old gentleman that hunted in the area told me he had been seeing him in a bean field for those 2 years….he was hunted by dog hunters for several seasons but lived in that honeysuckle thicket and I knew he was there by his sign, but no one else knew that and I have always said I just got lucky. He was old and past his prime but still carried a big 12 point rack and 180 lb. They are out there and know when they are being hunted and will go under ground if they get age on them…got to catch him before the rut and be lucky.
Good job we share the same birth date. In 40 some years I’ve only killed two on my bday some due to having other tags prior to the day and others because in didn’t have a valid tag left. It sure makes it a good day when it happens on the day of remembrance and this year I will try to get my granddaughter to kill a black tail as a mentor on my birthday.
