151-CLASS BOONE & CROCKETT BUCK

EDITOR'S NOTE: If you want to learn more about any subject, you always talk to the experts. One of the most-knowledgeable deer hunters I know is George Mayfield of Aliceville, Alabama, the owner of The Roost Hunting Lodge. Read on as George tells about a 151-class B & C buck he bagged.

I was hunting in a soybean field in 1993 on Bougechitto Creek off the Tombigbee River near Aliceville, Alabama. The field contained a major drainage and a lot of rubs and scrapes. The area historically had been a good place to kill big deer. The area had woods on top of the hill that came down into a wood line paralleling the creek and creating a funnel. The deer would bed on the hill and follow the creek before going into a low spot on the back side of the bean field.

I was hunting on foot, coming from the south, playing the wind right, and moving up the ditch. A bunch of does and two small bucks were in the field. I was trying to get into position on this point where I could watch the low spot and the big part of the field. I'd just gotten to the place when I heard what I thought was a dog barking. Because coyotes would sound like that occasionally and our section of the state homed coyotes, I wasn't sure what I was hearing.

But once I heard a "kerplosh" in the creek, I knew what the sound was. I squared up, standing flat-footed on the point and looking about 250 yards across the opening. All I saw was white coming as a big deer leaped over the fence. Then he stopped, shook water everywhere, turned and gave me a broadside shot. I dusted him.

The key was playing the wind right and easing in there. I approached the region right, the timing was right, and I also got a little lucky. I had mobility on foot. Had I not been successful right there, I had planned to check out the four or five close-by bean fields before dark.

Always remember, you never know where a big buck will come out.

To learn more, call or write George Mayfield at The Roost, P.O. Box 509, Aliceville, AL 35442; PH: (205) 373-3147.

Check back each day this week for more from George Mayfield and The Roost...

Day 1 - 180-Class Boone & Crockett Non-Typical Buck
Day 2 - 155-Class Boone & Crockett Buck
Day 3 - 151-Class Boone & Crockett Buck
Day 4 - The Noonday Buck
Day 5 - Briarpatch Deer

John's Journal