As a kid we deer hunted with dogs. Hunters would be dropped off along roads, edges of fields. But at trails where deer normally crossed roads. A driver (hunter with a pack of hounds), would take his dogs through an area hoping to jump a deer from it’s day bed. Which would be chased towards the waiting hunters. Hopefully we had people waiting at the right locations, not always the case. I’ve hunted with as few as 3 people, dog driver and 2 guys in vehicles. Everyone involved had to know deer hounds, how they sound when cold trailing, sound when they jump a deer, most importantly know how to anticipate where the deer is headed by the sound of the hounds.
I was put out one morning by a large cotton field along with an old man. There was a small hill/rise in between he and I so we both had clear fields of fire. I heard the dogs jump a deer way down in a big holler… A few minutes later I knew the deer was coming out over me or the old guy. I was ready, thumb on the safety, just standing and listening to the dogs… When I heard the old man shoot… There was no followup shot.
I started walking over to see if the old guy got a kill. I suddenly heard the old man yelling. As I topped the little rise I saw the strangest thing!
The old man had hit one of the deer's antlers and stunned it. When he stepped across the neck to cut the deer’s throat the deer woke up, leaped and tried to run. Except his antlers were hung in the old guys pants leg. He was dragging the old guy across the field with the old guy yelling “Help ME! Help ME!”
I couldn’t shoot! He and the deer were intertwined at this point. About that time his pants finally ripped and the deer was gone. I still didn’t get a shot, the old guy was between the deer and I.
Story 2. Locally, if someone misses a shot its a tradition that the hunter's shirt tail is cut off with a knife. It’s then tacked to the wall of the camp house, name and date added. I had my shirt tail cutoff once.
I was put out on an old gravel road. I found a good spot on top of an embankment to cover the area and sat down. Eastern woodland, thick brush and trees, I only had about 30yrds visibility in any direction.
See, I had to sit down since I could barely walk at all. Before getting dropped off I was in the back of a pickup. I was against the cab. It also had a plywood dog box. We stopped at the bottom of a long straight hill in the highway. The driver was talking to another hunter/vehicle who was traveling opposite.
An old drunk guy who hunted with us occasionally started down the hill in his old pickup, not very fast but his brakes failed or he was too drunk to notice. He rear ended the pickup I was sitting in. I bounced off the dog box and was thrown out of the truck into a ditch. But I was 14 and tough! Nothing was going to hurt or stop me so I refused the ER! Lets Hunt! My leg was bleeding but it looked superficial, hurt like hell but just rub some dirt on it! It'll be all right.
Many years later in the Navy my leg was Xrayed for another reason. I learned I had actually broken my leg that day in the accident… My tibia had a healed crack and a chunk of bone about the size of small marble was knocked out. I knew about the chunk of bone, I can feel it under my skin, it’s still there today. I can even feel the little divot in my shin bone.
Anyway, the dogs jumped several deer that day and ran them right over me. I found that in the hour I sat on the ground my leg had swollen badly and stiffened up. I could no longer stand up. I only got off one shot from a sitting position. The buckshot tore up some bushes but if I hit the deer he didn’t stop running. He was running full speed when he came by me, never slowed down. Actually it was a buck and 3 doe’s.
So, when guys came to pick me up later they literally had to pick me up and help me into the truck since I could no longer walk. But they still cut off my shirt tail for missing the shot! Tough crowd in these parts!
Looking back… it was a least a month before my leg got better, I limped for a long time, even used my grandpa’s crutches occasionally. Of course my family didn’t go to doctors back then. If we lost a limb or an eye, maybe.
A side note for folks who think deer hunting with dogs is too easy… These days most folks sit in a tree and wait for a deer to walk up and eat from a grain plot. Then take the shot, all of it quiet and relaxed… Hunting with dogs, usually, the only shot you get the deer is running 40mph through brush and trees. Which is the harder kill? With dogs the hunt is over in about 2 seconds. That’s all the time you had to choose your deer and shoot!
Shooting doe’s was illegal back then, many times I didn’t even get a shot… A buck comes by with several doe’s at 40mph and I have to make a clean shot at the buck only? Making sure not to hit a doe! Hunting with dogs has it’s challenges.