REED CITY — Another deer season has ended, but successful hunters will have fond memories for quite some time. That includes Scott Harris, 41, of Reed City, who was a successful hunter way back on opening day, Nov. 15.
Harris shot an 8-point buck with his .270 Ruger. He didn’t realize ahead of time this particular buck was out there.
“Me and some friends who had been watching the property knew there were some nice ones out there,” he said. “A friend of mine sitting on neighboring property to the east of me, I heard him shoot three times until I was paying attention in that direction. I saw some does walking across an edge of a hayfield behind a cornstrip and I was scoping that way. My son was watching with binoculars. He saw some does.”
Then the buck appeared.
“We were looking through some standing corn and couldn’t tell,” Harris said. “He finally stepped out, looked at us and turned his head. We knew it was a decent one. I took the shot and he dropped in his tracks.”
Harris said his shot was from about 250 yards. He hit the deer right behind the shoulder.
“That’s probably the best buck I’ve ever shot,” he said. “I think with the law changing here a little bit with the public shooting the larger deer, it’s helping the quality of the deer if people are passing on the little spike and four-pointers. This deer wasn’t overly huge, body wise, but he has a nice rack.
“My buddy, he shot one with a bow that was a 10-point probably a mile and a half from there, but his body mass was just unbelievable. That 10-pointer we had never seen. But with the deer management and restrictions on the antlers, that’s helping the quality of the deer.”
