Twenty-five years in the making

November 10, 2007 was opening day for hunting deer with a rifle in Vermont. As is customary with all other years, my father gets up bright and early for deer season's best hunting day. This Saturday, he'd have to work at noon so that meant an even earlier morning and a hunt closer to home. Despite his hunting partner, Greg, attempting to convince Dad to join him on a hunt on his Derby Line land, Dad decided to stick with his intuition and hunt in Irasburg, a neighboring town to Orleans.

Mom, Laura, and myself weren't chipper enough to set an early alarm to join him so he went off just himself and his 30-06. The Orleans phone rang around 9:30 AM with Dad on the phone. HE GOT ONE!!! He asked us to meet him in Irasburg to help drag the deer out of the woods. We blasted around the house to suit up for the cold and called up our truck-owning neighbor, Dick, for some help.

Dick drove his truck out an old logging road to get as close to the deer as possible. Then, our search began for the downed deer. My mother, knowing my father's sense of direction, was the only one not willing to listen to Dad's directions and of course, she was the one to stumble across the carcass. It had been 25 years since Dad had gotten his last deer. Finally, we can replace the old picture with a new one.

Dad, Mom, and I dragged the deer out with Dick clearing a path and Laura photographing the story.

We arrived to Dick's truck and loaded the deer.

From there, we headed to Bob's Quick Stop for the Vermont Fish and Wildlife weigh-in. The deer was a 133 pound 4-pointer, probably a two year old. Dad had been on his third waiting point when he saw a doe go walking through the woods about fifty yards away. He waited hoping for a buck to be following and just a few minutes later, he appeared. He identified the antlers immediately and then waited for a good shot. He ended up stopping next to a tree with his neck and head exposed. Dad took his shot and got him in the neck. The deer died immediately.

A historic event in the Pallotta family!