Scott Fowler did not grow up a deer hunter.
But the Louisiana native, who currently works for Dallas Safari Club as their Convention Services Coordinator, had heard enough stories from people around his office that he knew it was something he had to experience for himself.
When the Lone Star Outdoor News Foundation heard Fowler had an interest, the plan was quickly set in motion for an early November deer hunt on a ranch north of Abilene.
“It was early November, but it was chilly,” Fowler said. “I think we caught the first cold front of the year. The moon was just past full, so it was bright at night.”
The group departed from Dallas and arrived Friday morning to the ranch, where Fowler said another hunter had just taken his first deer when they arrived.
“He had shot his first buck earlier that morning and everyone was gathered around the skinning shed,” he said. “I’d never shot a rifle, so we went to the range after lunch and I got shown the ropes. I hit the target ten out of ten times, and we were ready to head out.”
The first evening sit saw lots of action, with many younger bucks chasing does around the feeder. Nothing mature enough was spotted to consider taking a shot, so Fowler sat back and enjoyed the show.
“We saw tons of deer,” he said. “I’d never seen so many deer.”
The next morning, the group again had lots of deer around, and one wide 8-pointer came in later in the morning that caught the group’s attention.
“The buck came in and we just weren’t sure if he was old enough,” Fowler said. “He was really wide, so we thought he might be younger.”
Fowler got to experience other aspects of the hunt during the midday lull, when he helped fill feeders and take care of some ranch work that needed to be done. The it was back to the blind for another sit, hoping a mature deer would appear before dark.
The afternoon sit was slow for the first hour or so, before the wide 8-point once again made an appearance.
“My guide, David Sweet, took another good look at him and said, ‘We just held a board meeting at lunch and we declared that deer is old enough.’ I got the gun ready and made a good shot. I wasn’t nervous when I got him in the scope, but it was pretty surreal — almost an out of body experience,” Fowler said. “I took the shot and thought it might be a little far back, but the buck fell right where he was standing and we could see his white belly.”
Walking up to the deer, Fowler said the buck kept getting wider.
“He was wide. He just caught your eye because he was so wide,” he said. “In the truck on the way to the skinning shed, I just kept thinking, I can’t believe that just happened.”
Fowler said he noticed something else when he got back to his office at DSC headquarters in Dallas.
“I have a buck on my wall that my grandfather shot,” he said. “It had been 43 years since anyone in the family had shot a deer. And I had shot mine almost to the day that he shot his. That is pretty cool.”
Fowler added, “I am incredibly grateful to the Lone Star Outdoor News Foundation for the chance to experience my first hunt and harvest my first buck, marking the first buck in my family in 43 years. It’s a memory I’ll carry for the rest of my life and a story I can’t wait to pass down to my future kids.”
