The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-03-11
THE ~Hie BUCK OF wilLsoRe.r

I
| spen the summer and fall of 1901 with
an uncle in Beltrarli county, Minnesota.
He is living on claim few miles north
| OF the northeast corner of the White
Earth Indian reservation.
There are great many deer in this
! country, also a few stray moose
| It had always been my one great de-
| sire TO kill deer. and. as l was now in
a deer country. / waited eagerly FOR the
| tenth day OF November. the opening day
4 of the hunting season for deer
! l often heard people talk about a certain
| buck of great size that had led bullet
| proof existence for the last four or i've
years in that Nneighborhocd Ills tracks
could always be told from those of other
deer on account OF their enormous size
Nearly all the sportsmen in that neigh
| boTheo6 had hunted him. and many
] claimed TO have hit him. Ny uncle. Mr.
{ Grinde, had fred at him on two different
occasions. Once he emptied the magazine
| of a TO Winchester at him, at about
| fifty yards distance when the deer was
> standing still, without any apparent ef-
feet. Another time he fired four shots
from $3.50 rife at him. and at the last
shot the deer had thrown down its tail
and leaped into the brush-a sure sign
that he was hit. The favorite hiding place
OF the monarch was on a rough tract
OF land belonging to one Mr.. Lee, post
master of Willborg postohice. Hence, it
vas called the Big Buck OF WilIborg-"
As this land was only a short distance
from my uncle's house. / early laid plans
| for his capture. The old buck was very
wild and alert, and was seldom seen by
hunters. although he was often seen by
men when they didn't have their guns
along.
The hunting season at last came. a few
, inches of snow had fallen few days
before, so that hunting was ideal. Mr..
Grindlee and L wer out early ana hunted
all forenoon, but failed TO see any deer.
We saw many tracks but none of the
, big bucks. We came home tired and
hungry. AS we were seated at the din
ner table we heard the muffled impact
of a moccasined foot upon the veranda.
and friend of mine appeared, rifle in
hand. After the usual greeting he told
us that he had seen the tracks of the
big buck, and that he wanted me TO ac-
company him on the chase. At mention
of the big buck I forgot that | was tired,
and hastily finished my dinner. We at
once went TO where my friend Peterson
had seen the tracks. They were fresh,
and heading for Mr.. Lees land. We fol-
lowed the tracks over a ground that was
rough, though fairly open. Some places
the ground had been swept by forest fires
where now a second growth of birch, ma
PIE anu pOpldTS grew. Inc DUCK nau not
been in much hurry, but had paused Oc-
casionally to feed upon the young growth
The tracks led toward a high ridge that
was partly covered with brush Mr. Pc
terson said that he thought the deer was
having his midday nap somewhere on
that ridge. We made a wide circuit
around the HILL and. sure enough. no
tracks led away from il. There We're
several runaways leading from the hill.
| al in 10 nna no danr
was most likely to take, while Peterson
went in 10 scare out the buck. l climbed
into dead spruce tree and perched on a
limb that was about twenty feet from
the ground. so / could see over the tops
of ali the brush and small trees. l had
not waited long when l heard the sharp
crack of Peterson's $3.50. Shortly after
the report of the rife l heard two short,
sharp whistles.
This was our signal to look out, and
made by blowing into an empty shell. 1
now knew that Peterson had missed the
deer and that it might come my way. 1
cooked my rifle and waited for the deer
to appear at the runway. AS l sat thus
waiting | heard a slight noise at my
side, and, looking, l saw the great buck
go bounding along, about a hundred yards
away His head was decked with pair
of magnificent antlers. | have often
heard people say that one will always get
the buck fever when he sees his first
deer / wondered why l didn't get it.
When / saw that the deer wouldn't come
any closer, l raised my Winchester and
held a little ahead of him, just as if l
was shooting cottontails in Iowa, and
sent a bullet through the bucks heart.
| saw that l had hit. but didn't know if
it was fatal, so l gave him another shot.
which struck higher and smashed his
backbone.
The deer was dead when 1 reached it.
Peterson soon appeared. and together we
dressed it. Later, while cutting up the
meat, | found 300-grain bullet in it's
neck. l also found several buckshot I'M
der the hide
l saved the bucks head and have since
had it mounted Often as I look at it
now l feel sad when / realize that the
Big Buck of ''Willborg'' is no more
w. y. Mason.