Success on a special Alabama hunt

By By Otha Barham / outdoors editor
Jan. 30, 2004
Jacob Williams and his father, John, made the special deer hunt that was sponsored by South Choctaw Academy as a fund raiser for the school. The Alabama hunt was held on Jan. 9 and 10, on several properties in Choctaw County. The two hunters came home to Meridian with a 200-pound, 8-point buck that young Jacob dropped with a Ruger Model 77 rifle in .280 caliber.
Jacob, a 13-year-old honor student, is the son of John and Vicki Williams.
Every deer hunter knows that deer have an advanced sense of smell, and we all have a story of getting detected by a trophy buck that got away because of its infallible nose. Well, in Jacobs case, the hunters reversed the norm and used their noses to effect a successful hunt.
Early festivities
This unique hunt began with a Friday afternoon vigil in the woods followed by the eight hunters gathering at a fish camp for an evening meal and entertainment that included a comedy act and door prizes for everyone. Besides the Meridianites, other hunters were from the Gulf Coast, local Alabamians and a couple were from Louisiana.
The Williams team made their Friday hunt on property owned by Bud and Gerry Martin near Pennington, Alabama. Their shooting house was a plush 4 X 6 box, and they were on stand at two o'clock. At 4:40 p.m. the pair spotted a buck making a scrape. Jacob eased his gun into place and his father whispered, "Shoot him in the shoulder." The youngster squeezed off the shot.
The buck ran away and the hunters got out of the stand and went to look for the deer. They found no sign that the buck had been hit. They looked carefully along the logging road where the buck had been standing. They searched the nearby woods with no luck. Soon they widened their search further down the old road.
Suddenly, Jacob smelled a deer; the strong scent from a rutting buck. His father approached the spot and he too smelled a deer. They followed their noses into the woods and found the dead buck lying in a small depression. The 140 grain Remington Pointed Soft Point bullet had done its job. The buck had only run about 30 yards.
Another chance
The next day father and son made their way to another property where hunters were allowed to take only bucks with nine points or more. The land owner gave Jacob special permission to take an eight-pointer if he got the chance. But they saw no deer on that hunt.
Jacob had already scored big on Friday, so the Saturday hunt was just icing on their cake. One hunter collected two deer during the two day event.
Randy Abston was in charge of the 2004 fund-raising hunt for South Choctaw Academy and saw that the hunters had a good time. For information on next year's hunt, contact the school at (251) 843-2426.