Many hunters are notable conservationists, and one recently found an unexpected way to conserve bullets.
Prairie du Sac, Wis., resident TJ Hauge was hunting on opening day of the state's nine-day gun deer season. Settled into his tree stand when a buck came into his sights, TJ took careful aim and squeezed off a shot. Bull's-eye -- the buck dropped in its tracks -- and so did the unseen one standing directly behind it.
"Between the adrenaline and the rather strange outcome, my mind had a little trouble grasping what had just transpired," TJ told Outposts. "I spent the next 25 minutes with a big, uncontrollable smile and occasionally laughing to myself in disbelief of what had happened."
TJ immediately text-messaged the other members of his hunting party, "two bucks, one bullet."
"I proudly headed out of the woods into the field where my cousin Kent and his 11-year-old son, Ethan, were, where we sat until my father came down off a ridge," said TJ "After reliving the story, Dad and I headed on the four-wheeler to recover the deer."
His father, Tom, who just happens to be the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources wildlife management director, said this was "an experience of a lifetime" for his son.
"Thank goodness I had two buck tags," continued TJ, as he was able to tag and legally take both deer.
"In addition to Ethan, we were fortunate to have two other opening-weekend rookies -- Brett and 11-year-old JP -- join us in camp," he added. "The excitement of having those three having great experiences and hopefully lighting a fire that keeps them coming back each year far outweighs the excitement of pulling off one hell of a lucky shot. But the shot was still pretty cool."
Word is his hunting party is wrangling over whether the 24-year-old will be allowed to add the scores from both bucks for his entry into the "buck pool." Either way, TJ has a winning tale to tell for years to come.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/outposts/2009/11/two-deer-one-bullet.html
