When I was a kid growing up, I was introduced to deer hunting by my Uncle Lloyd. I was 13 years old when I took part in my first gun season hunt, and back then, tree stand hunting was not the preferred method of filling your tag. Instead, it was all about "gang" hunting, making drives, and shooting deer on the run. Uncle Lloyd was a farmer, which meant that our hunting days didn't begin until the morning chores were done. Me being only 13 years old and not really knowing what the whole deer hunting "thing" was about, I would follow along with Uncle Lloyd and try to do what he did. After all, he always seemed to be in the right place at the right time and would somehow make incredible shots on deer under the most impossible conditions. You would think he was the luckiest shot in the world...except that he seemed to do it every year! Well, due to Uncle Lloyds farming responsibilities and my lack of hunting knowledge, we would find ourselves driving to the hunting area well after daylight to meet up with the rest of our gang. Along the way we would scan the fields for deer, and if we happened to see some, it would set off a flurry of reactions by my Uncle Lloyd that have now become legendary. My cousin Matt and I came up with a name for this chaotic event...we called it a "fire drill" and here is how it usually went. We would be driving down the road on our way to "gang" hunt for the day when all of a sudden Uncle Lloyd would see a deer and holler "THERE'S A DEER, GET YOUR GUN OUT!". Upon hearing the alert, we would frantically try to open our gun cases, dig wildly into our pockets for bullets, and prepare to get a shot off . There were hats and gloves flying everywhere, gun barrels banging the dashboard and lunch bags getting smashed as Uncle Lloyd would speed down the road to the best spot for all of us to scramble out of the truck. It was a hilarious scene!
If there were three of us in the truck, I was always the one in the middle and didn't have a realistic chance for a shot at anything, but nonetheless, I practiced my "fire drill" routine with great intensity in hopes that one day it might pay off. Uncle Lloyd, on the other hand, was the undisputed king of the "fire drill". There were many times when he would be hollering "There's a deer!" while pulling his gun out of the case and jumping from the truck all at the same time. Then he would take off running in the direction of the deer while ramming bullets into his old lever action .32 Special. It was quite a sight to see. I remember more than a few "fire drills" where I wouldn't even have my gun case opened yet and he would be jumping out of the truck while it was still moving. I would then jump out as well and watch the truck roll down the road without anyone in it, both doors wide open and a trail of sandwiches, snacks, pop cans, gun cases, hats, gloves, etc... scattered all over the place. It was total chaos and not exactly how they taught me to do things in my Hunter's Safety class. Oh well. At the conclusion of each "fire drill" we would look at all the stuff scattered on the ground and have a good laugh. Over the years they have provided us with many fond memories and funny stories. For me, the most memorable (and most disputed) "fire drill" was the time Uncle Lloyd and I were driving down a dirt road while eating our lunch. As we pulled into a large corn field we immediately saw two deer break from cover on the far side of the field. They were a long ways away but running directly towards us and closing fast. We hurried and scurried to get our guns loaded and steadied for a shot...if one of them just happened to be a buck. I was down on one knee and looking at the deer through my scope but could not see antlers on either of them. Uncle Lloyd was standing next to me trying to determine if he could see any antlers as well, but without the aid of his glasses, a scope, or binoculars. The deer continued to close the gap and I strained my eyes even harder to look for antlers, wanting so badly for one of them to be a buck.
I was still in my early teens and had never killed a buck...or any deer for that matter. As hard as I was trying to grow antlers on one of those deer , I just couldn't see any. Finally the deer were only 40 yards away and crossing our path at a very high rate of speed. All of a sudden Uncle Lloyd yells out "THE SECOND ONE'S A BUCK!" Well, I still didn't see any antlers but I listened to my Uncle Lloyd anyway (because he was the experienced one) and fired off a shot. The second deer flinched and took off running even faster. I shot one more time as it crossed the dirt road but never touched it...probably because I was shaking so bad. Then, just when I thought things couldn't get worse, a truck came driving down the road and Uncle Lloyd says "I think that's the Game Warden and you were shooting across the road". The panic was instant. I wanted to run and hide because I thought I was in big trouble. I stood there cowering next to my Uncle Lloyd for what seemed like an eternity, just waiting for that "game warden" to come and get me. I was really scared. Finally, the truck got close enough so I could see a couple of guys wearing blaze orange in there and they waved as they cusually passed by. What a relief! When my heart finally moved back down into my chest from my throat, I turned to Uncle Lloyd and sternly told him that I didn't even know why I was shooting because neither one of those deer had antlers. He told me emphatically that the second deer had one little horn curled up behind it's ear (he curled up his little pinky finger to show me). I said "there is no way" and he said "it's true". To this day, some 20 years later, we still go round and round about whether or not that deer had a little horn curled up behind it's ear. I guess we'll never know who's right...but I'm SURE there was no horn on that deer. Nonetheless, my Uncle Lloyd did a terrific job of introducing me to deer hunting, which has now become my passion, and of showing me the correct way to conduct a "fire drill". A couple of years ago I was hunting the last day of rifle season with my friend Bill. After our morning hunt we were driving down the road when I spotted a large deer standing at the far edge of a field. I hollered "THERE'S A DEER, GET YOUR GUN OUT!" as I frantically wheeled my truck into the field. I barely got the truck stopped before I jumped out, grabbed my gun from it's case, rammed a shell into it and pulled the scope up to see the big doe jump back into the woods. As my heart raced over the excitement of the "fire drill", I stood up and looked over to see Bill methodically getting his gun out of the case. It took me back in time to when I experienced my first "fire drill" with Uncle Lloyd. I think I would have made him proud that day.
