Daniel Montgomery wasn’t supposed to be in the ladder stand he climbed on the second afternoon of Indiana’s 2018 firearms season. He’d planned to hunt from another on the same Posey County tract, where he’d seen at least 20 deer on opening day.
The retired sheriff gave up that spot, however, when another of the landowner's guests needed a stand with easy access.
Daniel settled into the new ladder stand around 2 p.m. on Nov. 18. Soon afterward, a doe and a small buck appeared. Rather than reach for his muzzleloader, he pulled out his grunt call and his phone.
“I played with the little buck, alternately grunting at it and taking its picture,” Daniel told Lisa Price, who’s writing his story for Rack magazine.
The afternoon’s third deer came through about 3:30. Because the animal was walking in high grass with its head lowered, Daniel couldn’t tell if it was a buck or doe, at first. But after he blew his grunt call, the whitetail stopped and lifted its head.
The next sound was the roar of Daniel’s blackpowder rifle.
“When the buck stopped, raised its head and began looking around, I knew it was definitely a shooter,” he said. “It was only 30 yards away from me.”
After taking the bullet, the deer ran about 50 yards before succumbing to gravity. Even so, Daniel re-stoked, rammed another bullet into the barrel, and fumbled to put a new cap in place.
Though the deer appeared to be dead, he was taking no chances.
It took three men to pull the 195-pound (dressed) animal onto the back of an ATV, and Daniel had to sit on the handlebars to keep it from flipping.
“I was already having a great time that day grunting at the little buck,” Daniel said. “I just lucked out; was in the right place at the right time.”
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