Written by Cliff Covington
Published in "Mississippi Sportsman"
Published in "Mississippi Sportsman"
The morning of January 1, 2007, started out much like
any other winter morning in the Mississippi
deer woods for 37 year-old Christopher Shea.
Arriving at his strategically positioned ground blind alongside a
well-worn deer trail, he knew he would have a long wait before there would be
enough shooting light. Other than a few
songbirds, the occasional gray squirrel and a great blue heron, Shea hadn’t
seen any sign of the numerous deer that he knew called the small 212-acre
cattle farm home.
A native of Detroit, Michigan, Christopher Shea had first begun deer hunting in 1994 after vacationing in Mississippi. After he got out of the Air Force in 2001, Shea decided to move to Mississippi.
“I discovered early on that the only way a transplanted “Yankee” was going to fit in here in the Deep South was to start deer hunting,” said Shea. “So I began reading every book and magazine article I could get my hands on about the subject.”
A native of Detroit, Michigan, Christopher Shea had first begun deer hunting in 1994 after vacationing in Mississippi. After he got out of the Air Force in 2001, Shea decided to move to Mississippi.
“I discovered early on that the only way a transplanted “Yankee” was going to fit in here in the Deep South was to start deer hunting,” said Shea. “So I began reading every book and magazine article I could get my hands on about the subject.”
Shea quickly put his newfound
knowledge to work and was able to harvest a few small bucks and does. All the massive racked bucks had somehow
eluded him. But that was all about to
change, and in a most unique fashion.
It was almost 10:00 a.m. and Shea was about ready to gather up his gear
and head for home when a flicker of motion caught his attention. Coming down the trail at a somewhat rapid
pace was a nice, fat doe. Not far behind,
and in hot pursuit, was the buck that Shea had dreamed about. Using the skills he had learned while serving
in the military, Shea calmly found the monster buck in his sights and took the
shot. Instead of the loud “boom”, the
stillness of the morning was broken by a soft “click”. Fortunately for Shea, the buck was more concerned
with the hot doe than he was with the strange noises coming from the ground
blind. Without hesitation, Shea started
shooting again. Over the next 30
minutes, he was able to get off at least 90 shots before the giant 10-pointer
disappeared into a nearby pine plantation.
O.K., before you get to thinking
that this is just another tall Mississippi
deer tale, I will have to do like Paul Harvey and tell you “the rest of the
story”. On that fateful New Years Day,
Christopher Shea had not taken his deer rifle to the blind. Instead, he was armed with a Nikon SLR
digital camera. The 90+ shots he took
that morning were photographs of the giant buck. But stay with me, because the story gets even
better.
After leaving the blind, Shea
drove over to his friends for lunch.
After showing everyone his photographs and recounting the experience,
Shea didn’t quite get the response he expected.
“I took a lot of ribbing from my
friends about how “camera boy” had missed the opportunity of a lifetime by not
taking along a gun.
Realizing that he might never get
another opportunity like the one he had passed up that morning, Shea decided to
get his rifle and head back to the ground blind. Since the buck had been chasing the doe,
maybe they both would still be in the vicinity and offer him a second chance.
“I was anxious to get back to the
stand”, said Shea. “In fact, I was so
excited that I accidentally drove my pickup into a barbed wire fence on the way
back.”
Being a true wildlife
photographer, Shea brought along his camera just in case the giant buck failed
to return. Arriving at the ground blind
around 3:00 p.m., he wouldn’t have
long to wait. Less than 15 minutes had
passed when the doe stepped out of the planted pines and started down the
trail. Once again, the big 10-pointer
was following close behind.
Instead of reaching for his
camera, Shea grabbed his Remington Model 700 and put it to his shoulder. The path the deer were on would bring them
within 40 yards of his ground blind.
This time Shea found the big whitetail in his Leopold rifle scope rather
than the lens of his Nikon camera.
Calmly, Shea centered the
crosshairs on the 10-pointer’s shoulder and squeezed the trigger. At the shot,
the massive buck bolted down the trail, tore through a barbed wire fence, and
disappeared into the brush. Moments
later a large crash confirmed that Shea’s buck was down for good.
Shea wasted no time in getting to
his downed trophy, which he found only 80 yards away. The .270 caliber bullet had done its job and
had been aided by a rather large cedar fence post. In his attempt to escape, the big buck had
run headlong into the cedar post.
Shea couldn’t believe his good
fortune. After admiring his trophy for a
few moments, Shea loaded the big buck in his pickup and drove around town
showing it to all his friends. In the
whirlwind of activity, Shea forgot to take any pictures of the buck before
taking it to the processor. Fortunately,
his friend, Lee Redwine, had taken a couple of “hero” shots when Shea had
dropped by to show off his buck.
The big buck would later be
measured by an official scorer. The
10-pointer grossed 148 inches and received a net score of 140. For Shea, it was a buck of a lifetime, taken
in a very unique fashion. Although Shea
continues to actively pursue his wildlife photography career, you can bet
during the Mississippi deer
season he will have more than his Nikon camera in the blind with him. Shea isn’t sure if he has any more luck like
that left and isn’t taking any chances.
