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By Dan Infalt
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Rat Slayer had earned his nickname through
long, hard hours in the barn with his BB gun. He was ready for
a new name now...
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My son, Jamie Infalt, has been into hunting and shooting since he 1st
able to walk and play with toy guns and bows. I will never forget the fun
he used to have shooting rats in my pig barn. He used to sit in the rafters
and wait for hours for a rat to show its self near the small amount of
grain he would leave out in a good shooting lane, then whammo he would
whack it with a pellet to the head. He used to stack piles of
rats on an old table to show me when I got home from work. He had earned
himself a good nickname, "The Rat Slayer."
Last year was Rat Slayer's 1st year deer hunting. He
had a rough time at it. Every time a deer would get close, he would miss
an easy shot or something would cause the deer to spook. When the season
was over he was really down on himself over his missed opportunities. I
told him to keep his chin up, lots of practice, and time would eventually
pay off.
All summer he practiced with his bow. Occasionally we would get the shotguns
out and practice with them too. I promised the boy, I would spend a little
more time helping him get a deer this year if he practiced often and could
keep his aim true. He really surprised me when I tested him before the
season. All of his shots were right on, and he new his limits well. I thought
to myself, this just might be Rat Slayer's season.
We were having a hard time getting onto deer during
the early season. The public land we were hunting was full of hunters and
the deer were pretty shot up from the open season and no limits, the DNR
had imposed last year in this section of Jefferson County Wisconsin.
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Despite many missed opportunities earlier in
the season, this approaching buck gave Jamie another chance. This
second photo shows the buck at the moment the slug impacts.
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Finally, we hunted a swamp island back in a cattail marsh, where we had
scouted out a great bedding area during the previous winter. I had high
hopes for this spot and was just waiting for the right wind. I put Jamie
in the hot spot, right at the edge of the bucks bedding area. The buck
would surly pass through a small funnel where Rat Slayer would be waiting.
There was only room for one stand, so I went to the other end of the island
and sat near a doe bedding area.
An hour before dark I heard the boy's bow shoot. I turned and saw
a big buck running from his direction. It was coming right at me. It slowed
to a walk then disappeared into some thick red brush about thirty yards
from my stand. I waited till dark and snuck out of my tree stand and circled
to Jamie. After looking at the arrow and hair sign, we decided to wait
till the next morning to track the deer. He was not in the bed where we
last seen him. We followed his blood trail and tracks though thick cattails
and muck for a 1/2 mile and ended up losing the blood trail when the deer
left the swamp and walked onto a ridge. We searched and searched, but never
found the buck. Rat Slayer was sick, he wanted that buck badly, but did
not want to wound it.
When gun season arrived he had renewed hope, however he got
so excited he missed an easy shot at a big doe opening day. I could tell
it was bothering him, but he kept his determination. But when he missed
another 40 yard shot at a doe Sunday, he was near the brink of
giving up. I set up some targets and we checked out his accuracy. He could
blow the center out of a target at almost 100 yards. I went over the breathing,
and aiming exercise's, I had learned when I 1st started hunting, but Rat
Slayer was convinced, he was just plain unlucky. I was even starting
to wonder that myself.
I asked Jamie if he wanted to try hunting an Island out in the cattails,
where I was sure there would be some action. He insisted we try a little
bedding area we had successfully hunted earlier. I asked him if he
was sure he wanted to do that? It was the second Saturday of the gun season,
and there were a lot of hunters in that section of the public marsh.
He said he was sure, and said he had a good feeling about that spot.
I said, Ok, lets go! As we were slipping into the staging
area adjacent to the bedding area we were hoping would harbor some
good bucks for us to get a chance at. I looked up and saw a nice 8 pointer
get out of a nearby bed and try to sneak away. I pointed him out to Rat
Slayer and his gun went up and quickly sounded. I could tell right away
the buck was hit hard as he ran around us and into a woodlot. We barley
had time to react, when the buck crashed out the other side of the
woodlot through a field and into another woodlot that looked more like
a pumpkin patch than a woods (If you know what I mean) The gunfire erupted
in there like a war zone. We heard at least 4 different hunters shoot at
the buck. I looked at Jamie and said, we are better off letting those guys
fight over it.
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A well deserved first deer....but he'll always
be Rat Slayer to me! Congratulations son!!
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He was very disappointed, but understood. We set up our stands and
climbing sticks and climbed into the tree knowing that we had probably
already blown our opportunity.
We were not there more than 10 minutes, when we both saw a
buck moving in our direction out in the cattails. He was only in view for
a few seconds, but was coming through the funnel and would eventually pass
if we waited quietly. But before he could show up, a noise to our right
caught our attention as another buck emerged from the cattails and was
walking right at us. Jamie raised his gun and took careful aim as I zoomed
in with my video camera.
Suddenly the buck looked right up at us, then nervously turned to
run. But he never got the chance. This time the shot was true. We got down
and went over to the buck and Jamie proudly grabbed the antlers and looked
at me and said, I did it Dad! That 9 point buck will be burnt into
his memory forever. Looks like he earned a new nick name
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Comments
Way to go Jamie....cherish this memory, you'll NEVER forget that first deer!
Posted by: Jarrod on November 29, 2005 01:54 PM
you will forget some of the things that happened that day so i recomend keeping a journal, one with a little key, and hide it so no one will ever know your secrets.
Posted by: FISTACUFF on December 26, 2005 11:32 PM
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