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The Perfect Ten
By
Mike Slifer
 It was mid November 2004 as our plane began to taxi down the runway. Rain mixed with snow and 25 knot winds out of the SE was
the weather of the day. A typical November day in SE Alaska! As the plane swung her nose around to meet the wind I could see the waves breaking on the rip rap at the end of the runway throwing
salt spray high in the air. The pilot did not even pause as we swung around to line up for takeoff. The engines roared, the plane responded and away we went racing down the runway faster and
faster. It seemed like only seconds and I felt the plane leap up into the sky climbing hard then banking out over the Gulf of Alaska gaining the altitude we'll needed for a safe trip south.
As we climbed up into the clouds and I watched the island we live on disappear from view, my thoughts turned to our Texas destination. The roar of the jet engines was both hypnotic and
exhilarating while I settled back in my seat and closed my eyes. The memories of our last Texas Whitetail deer hunt at Saltfork in 2003 filled my mind. I remembered the sight of that huge Texas sky as it
gets that first hint of purplish-pink that begins to rise above the horizon into the black star filled morning sky. The sounds of the turkeys as they begin to wake up in the trees down by the river
were a lingering memory. The owls hooted as they said their last goodbyes to the night sky. Then the excitement began. Out of the morning ground fog that seems to rise up out of nowhere you saw
them or did you? You were not quite sure at first; was that movement in the trees or was it just imagination and wishful
thinking? Uncertain but filled with anticipation you look again and YES! It's a deer, no three, no five of them! The
predawn light taunts and teases as you cannot quite see good enough yet; are there any bucks? Then in one instant
there was just enough light and you saw the flash of his rack! I sat straight up in my seat with eyes wide open and heart
pounding. Man what excitement! These were the memories I took home with me from our last hunt on the Saltfork in
2003 and I could hardly wait to get there for our 2004 hunt. Would I get a chance at the big one like the one I saw in 2003? That question was to be answered sooner than I thought!
Our first morning at the Saltfork we met with our good friend Bruce Goodrow at 9 AM to go out to an area on the west
end of the ranch where he suggested that we start our hunt. However there was a slight problem, rain, lots of it, pouring
down this morning and continuing the deluge from the previous week. Now to us rain was no problem. We are from
Southeastern Alaska the world's largest temperate rain forest. It is locally know as the "Land of Eternal Wet Feet"! But in
Texas it is a much different story. The road we needed to travel in on was so muddy Bruce was not sure we would be able
to make it in. The Saltfork River was another major consideration; it was so high and swift that the deer might not be
crossing. This disrupts their normal travel patterns from the food in the wheat fields to the bedding areas along the river
bottoms. But as luck and four wheel drive would have it we did manage to slip and slide to our hunting area. Once we
were there it would have been easy for Bruce to let us pick one of the half a dozen stands that were on that river bottom
and let us sit there until dark to determine if the deer were using that area and then make a decision to move or not that
night. But that is not the way Bruce does things. So off we went on a two mile hike along the river. Bruce wanted to
check all the regular river crossings for tracks in the very wet sand. After our hike Bruce came to the conclusion that the
does were not crossing the river at all but were staying in thick cover along the rivers edge. Some bucks seemed to have
attempted to cross the swollen river were but only a few. So Bruce's advice to us was this, "If we did not mind hiking into
another area farther down river there was a brushy bottom that he was sure that the does would be using as protection
from the unusual Texas wet weather". It was his opinion that if there were any nice bucks on our side of the river that is
where they would be. So off we went, Bruce, my wife and hunting partner Linda, and I. Once we reached the selected
area Bruce stopped at the head of a small ravine. He explained to me that the place he wanted me to go to was about
150 yards down the ravine to a ground blind on the hillside overlooking a spot where it dumped into this brushy bottom.
The last thing he said was, "I know it will be uncomfortable to go down there and sit in a muddy old ground blind in this
rain but I have seen lots of big bucks in this area over the last 20 years and I've got a feeling you will see one today." BOY, WAS HE RIGHT!
I slowly started working my way down the edge of the ravine trying hard not to spook any deer and send them
crashing down into the bottom to warn any others holing up in there. I had not gone fifty yards and to my surprise there
in the bottom of the ravine was a young 6 point walking up the edge of the tree line. I was looking at him through my
scope when I heard Bruce say "You can take him if you want but I am sure there are bigger ones around" I thought to
myself "Why would I want to take a young 6 point?" Then as I lowered my rifle I saw what Bruce was talking about.
Fifteen yards behind the 6 point was a nice 8 point following along in the rain on the same trail as the smaller 6 point.
Thank goodness for the rain and wind to knock down our noise and scent! Neither buck knew we were there. Bruce smiled
, waved and headed off to show Linda her deer stand for that evening. I very carefully walked down to my ground blind,
poured the water out of my seat and settled in for the next six hours until it got dark. Or so I thought! I sat there in the
rain listening to its cadence increase. I rechecked my scope covers, standard equipment in SE Alaska. I pulled the hood
on my jacket down further on the brim of my hat to keep the wind blown rain out of my face. I remember thinking "I wish
someone would have dug a drain out of this ground blind hole as the water was about two inches deep and rising. The
next 45 minutes passed uneventfully, and then as I turned my head to check the trail leaving the small ravine directly in
front of me at 60 yards, three does emerged walking straight at me. I froze! As the third one came out I could see there
was a fourth and it was a buck! I could see the ivory colored tips. I was thinking it must be that 6 point or the 8 point.
The deer was coming out of the same ravine where we had seen the previous bucks. It had to be one of them so I needed
to be careful. He emerged from the brush following the does. As soon as his rack was clear of the brush tunnel he raised
his head straight up and back, curled his upper lip back and waved his head from left to right. His rack was so big it didn't
look like it could be real! Then in a flash I remembered another big buck from 28 years ago and the mistake I had made
then. I took a deep breath, I did not move. All four deer walked straight at me until they were 50 to 60 feet away. With
his head in the air that buck looked right at me. I did not move, not one inch. They kept coming until the first doe was
right in front of me; she turned to my right and continued down the trail. The second followed then the third. Then as he
turned to follow them I waited until he waved his head to his left then I made my move. Slowly I raised my Ruger .338
up and put the crosshairs behind his shoulder and gently squeezed. The roar of that .338 canceled out all sounds of the
rain falling. All four deer instantly scattered at top speed. That monster buck covered the next 50 yards in the same
amount of time that it took me to rack another round. He swung to his right bringing him to a full broadside view at 50
yards. He seemed to hesitate for a split second. The crosshairs found their mark just behind the shoulder again, "make it
good", "make it good", raced through my mind. His rack disappeared, his body disappeared, and the only thing I could see
was the six inch circle just behind the shoulder that my crosshairs were centered on. The rifle roared again, every muscle
in that buck seemed to tense as if he was about to leap skyward. Instead he just froze there staring straight at me. How
could he still be standing? I remember thinking that just one month earlier my wife had flattened a 1200 lb. moose with
one shot from this gun. I chambered another round and brought the crosshairs down on him again, this time in the center
of his shoulders. Just as I was squeezing off my third round he wobbled and was already falling as the third bullet struck
him. As the echo of my last shot faded away I brushed the hood of my jacket back and let the sound of the rain and wind
in. The magnitude of what had just happened began to sink in. A lifelong dream fulfilled. The same dream every deer
hunter has each time they go hunting, to bag a monster buck, had just come true for me. I waited five minutes then
walked over to where the huge ten point lay. One of the does had circled back around and was standing about sixty feet
away. As I walked up to the buck she started stomping her foot and snorting as if to get him to follow her. When I moved
even closer she finally turned and ran off into the brush with her white tail standing straight waving like a huge flag. As I
stood over him it became obvious why he had not gone down with my first shot. Both of the shots I had placed behind his
shoulder had struck within one inch of each other dead center in the kill zone. However they had both passed through
behind the left shoulder leaving exit wounds no bigger than a nickel each. The third had broken his front leg. Something softer than 210 grain Noslers would have done a better job.
I would like to thank Saltfork Hunts, Bruce Goodrow and Larry Henard for the hospitality they showed my wife and I
during our stay with them. I would especially like to thank them for the greatest deer hunting experience of my life. Thank you!!
Mike Slifer
L & M Charters and Lodge
Sitka, Alaska
P.S. Looking forward to our trip next year 2005
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