Local lady harvests trophy buck

By By Mike Giles / outdoor columnist
March 15, 2002
Some hunters hunt a lifetime and never get to experience the thrill of harvesting a real trophy size buck. Sherry Wallace of Collinsville is not one of those hunters however. Wallace has hunted deer since she was 14 and has killed quite a few during that time. Yet none compared with the one she harvested this past deer season.
While hunting in Kemper County with her husband Ken, she experienced quite a thrill. After arriving at their hunting club, Ken and Sherry went to different stands. This day would be different for Sherry as she sported a new 7mm 08 Ruger bolt-action rifle. The rifle was a Christmas present from her
husband and would offer a little less recoil than the .30-06 that she had been accustomed to.
Family tradition
Wallace began hunting at an early age under the direction and guidance of her father, James Shepherd. In fact, all of the Shepherd family participated in hunting. Along with her mom and dad, she had several brothers and a sister who went deer hunting together.
Although deer hunting provided the family with a chance to harvest game for the supper table, it also provided them with times of fellowship and camaraderie that are not found in all pursuits. It also provided Sherry with a place to retreat from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. This mother of two enjoys the peace and quite of the woods while relaxing and experiencing nature from the deer stand.
Moment of truth
As Wallace sat in her deer stand absorbing nature's wonders, she detected a movement through a nearby thicket. A large deer was working its way toward her stand. At the time she couldn't see the deer's head. After it came out into an opening the buck suddenly raised his head and a large rack became visible. "I froze for a minute and then decided to take this one instead of waiting on a bigger one," exclaimed Wallace. " I didn't have time to get nervous."
The buck was a fine trophy indeed and turned out to be the first deer harvested with Wallace's new rifle. In addition to sporting a "rocking chair" with eleven points, the deer weighed in at 180 pounds. After a lifetime of hunting and harvesting many deer, she had accomplished something that many hunters only dream about! It just doesn't get any better than that.