Stories of Kinzer holler and the Hickory grove

I have hunted the ridge in front of uncle Ken’s house for many years and many more to come.
the ridge as been clear cut at different time thru the years and it changes the animal patterns each time as it is ever evolving. It is out on the point that it never seems to change, as well as the Hickory grove as the timber cutters have no real value in the Hickory’s so it has remained fairly constant.
I got my first squirrel out on the point one fine September afternoon with Uncle Ken. We were sitting and talking quietly when a fox squirrel ran up a maple. we must of startled him on his journey somewhere and when he stopped on the body of the little maple to check us out. I shouldered my gun and fired. The squirrel fell but when we walked over to fetch him up I could not find him. My Uncle came over and looked the ground over and said there he is Beach look at the end of that hollow Sassafras there, see his tail. He had enough energy to crawl part of they in just his was all that was hanging out.
I was deer hunting out on the point one very cold morning in December. I had positioned my self behind a huge old oak and sat down with my back to the point as the wind was howling that morning. I was trying to keep out the cold wind and every few minutes I would take a peek around the tree to see if any deer were moving up the point. I had seen them doing it almost every week thru squirrel season. I peeked a few times and nothing. The time between peeks got longer and longer as the colder I got. After about and hour and half I thought I heard something. I raised my head and turned toward my right and when I did I was eye to eye with a doe. Her eyes got as big as saucers we were so close I could have kissed her. I thought well here we go as I moved she leaped and in mid air turned her body the opposite direction. I started to shoulder my gun as I was turning and seen five more deer right behind her. it was a covey of deer. And all were flying over the point I did not know which to shoot at and never got off one shot. I made the mistake of telling My Uncle Ken that story he told everyone that the deer ate the hat right off of my head while I was sleeping
The eight point that did not get away was on the point almost the same spot as the deer that ate my hat.
It was another cold December day and I had positioned my self behind another large oak and this time I was facing the point and I did go to sleep. I put myself there because I had seen a big buck for the last two weeks that I squirrel hunted and seen him traveling thru the green briar thicket just below me. I had been a sleep about 45 minutes when a crunching noise disturbed my sleep. I slowly raised my head to find this huge buck about 18 to yards away and looking down the point , he had no ideal I was there. I took my time and shoulder my gun and fired and he fell. I was very happy to say the least as I stood up so did the buck. I was not so happy now. I had not killed the buck just hit his spine and he was now crawling away from at a good pace for just having his to front legs as he was dragging his hind legs . Just as he was going over the point I got off another shot which finished the job. Now the other deer that I had killed up to that time were small and I had help dragging them out. It took me the better part of two hours to drag this brute down the mountain. But when the job was finished I lit up a big cigar and reveled in my prize. He hangs in my family room still and reminded of the excitement of those first few minutes that I laid my eyes on him.
I was entering the Hickory grove very slowly one October morning slowly as the squirrel’s were now on the ground a lot. I thought I seen some movement to my left on the ground . I slowly started my gun up when I seen is was a little six point buck moving slowly toward me. I let my gun down slowly and started watching the buck, the wind was hitting me in the face. .He kept getting closer and closer I stood there not moving a muscle and thought how close would he come before he seem or smelled me. After about forty minutes I found out he came with 20 feet of me and laid down. I could not believe it and by now my muscle were aching. And to make it worse I looked down the deer path and there was two fox squirrel’s chasing each other and they were starting to get into gun range. When the squirrel’s got into range I slowly started to move my gun back up and the minute I moved the buck launched from his spot and down the deer trail. I shot at the squirrel but the deer had scared them so bad their first leap must have been twenty feet and I missed the biggest one in front. I had no game but was one of my most exciting hunts.
My nephew Matthew took his first deer there in the grove when he was eleven years old . We found a well used trail thru the grove and sat down about forty yards away , just above the trail. About twenty minutes passed and I seen a young deer heading right toward us . I elbowed Matthew and pointed and he slowly raised his gun. The first shot missed and the deer turned and Matthew fired again and the deer fell over grave yard dead. I congratulated him and as we walked up to the deer I seen that Matthew had got a lucky shot off and hit the deer in the eye with the slug. I said that was lucky as hell and he quickly said what do you mean lucky. that is where I aiming. I asked him you were what aiming for his eye. Yes he said with a smile he winked at me so I shot him in the eye. I still say it was a lucky shot.
The days the turkey’s scared me was on the point. I started that morning before daylight as I always did in those days of my youth. It was just beginning to get a daylight as I neared the top of the point. I acme around a different direction this morning as to try and get a better angle on a big scaly bark hickory that the squirrel’s were working on. I ha stopped to rest and listen for the squirrel’s cutting on hickory nuts. I was leaning against a big chestnut oak when all of a sudden a roar like noise and debris starting falling on me from the top of the tree. It startled me pretty bad. I thought what the hell is the tree falling on me or what? I finally gained my composure and seen the three big turkeys flying I thought all the racket would scare the squirrel’s into the next county.
I have taken a lot of game off that point and out of the hickory grove thru the years. From some very memorable and some not. these are just a few I am sure as I read thru my journals and talk with my uncle and cousin Lester I will have more to add to the adventure’s of the point and Hickory grove