On November 19, 2006, the second day of Indiana's firearms season, Kevin Hochstetler was hunting his favorite stand in a clearing of woods that always seemed to produce heavy deer traffic. Much to his disappointment, he sat in the stand for over 4 hours without seeing a deer. Then, with only 10 minutes of shooting light left, a buck snuck in to within 35 yards of Kevin's stand. Raising his brother's Remington 870 express 12-gauge shotgun (his gun was being worked on by a gunsmith), Kevin prepared for a shot. The buck, however, decided to walk behind a cedar tree.
"I rested my gun on a limb in anticipation that the buck would walk into a shooting lane," Kevin said. "When he did, I got him in the cross hairs at 20 yards and squeezed the trigger. He tore through some brush and out of sight."
Buck fever quickly set in and Kevin called his dad to help. "We started to track the deer in the darkness about an hour after the shot but he had only gone about 50 yards before pilling up," Kevin continued. "This was my biggest buck even although he was only a 7-pointer. He had good mass with a 20-inch inside spread. During my 6 years of whitetail hunting, this was my second buck and first deer with a shotgun. The 2006 season was my best ever with one doe taken with a bow, this buck taken with a shotgun, and two does taken with a muzzleloader!
North American Whitetall North American Whitetail is designed for the serious trophy hunter. It provides authoritative coverage of world-class whitetails, the latest approaches to deer management and advanced hunting techniques.
© 2009 Intermedia Outdoors, Inc.
