TERRE HAUTE —
I have a girlfriend of the old age of four years old and she stole my heart with her big brown eyes while we were waiting at swim practice.
So as we played tic-tac-toe and drew a lot of pictures. Penelope Phillippi told me about a big deer her “poppy” [grandfather] had taken with his bow and arrow.
Randy Powell is the gentleman who was setting next to me at the swim meet for the Terre Haute Torpedoes and yes, you guessed it, he is Penelope’s “poppy.” I talked him out of a picture of this outstanding 12-pointer with a 11-inch drop and measured 24 inches on the inside.
In the state of Texas, they don’t refer to a deer in how many points a deer has, but how wide the horns are from the outside point to point. So this deer is outstanding in both worlds!
Edgar County around Paris, Ill., is where this deer grew up in the green pastures and not many trees. Randy set up in a small strip of trees overlooking pasture and it was about 20 minutes after daylight with him coming from behind and like appearing out of nowhere.
Well, Randy spotted several does feeding on acorns on a hillside about 40 yards in front of him. That is what this Romeo was looking for, a date with one of those pretty gals, so he didn’t care much about a guy with a string and stick setting in a tree.
Randy said he had never seen this deer before, but after spotting some nice rack, he decided he was a keeper. Randy looked away to get his bow and when he looked back, the buck was gone, and he thought he was going to cry. But he soon spotted him behind a tree and the buck made the biggest mistake of his life.
Somebody up in high places was looking over Randy that day, for the buck walked over and stopped 17-yards broadside, letting him take a perfect shot. He ran about 100 yards into a thick area with Randy keeping him in sight the whole time and laid down.
You’re thinking he is down, but after walking up there, the buck gets up and disappears. So Randy starts some intense tracking and the buck made a wide circle coming back within 20 yards of where he laid down the first time and bedded down again.
I’m sure you watched “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” with the very big grin on that old Grinch. Randy’s was even bigger. The next thing to consider was how who was going to mount the buck.
Back to my girlfriend, just before Christmas, she got to thinking about that big deer “poppy” had taken and was worried about the reindeer. But after opening a pile of presents taller that she is and six baby dolls, she figured the reindeer was OK.
This deer made memories for Penelope and her “poppy” that will never be forgotten!
Sports Columns
REDNECK QUAKER: Hunting memories to remember
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: ISU baseball has pluses, minuses for tourney bid




