Shoot it Johnny, Shoot it!

My dad and uncles where all avid hunters of deer, rabbits, and basically anything else they could hunt.  Every day during deer season they would be in the woods before dawn. At a pre-arranged time they would head in the direction of the one closest to the truck. They hoped by doing this that they would run any deer to that person stationed at the edge of the woods.

On day Pop and Uncles Johnny and Wilber were hunting on Don’s farm.  Don, another Uncle, had a farm with an old railroad bed running through one side of the property. The railroad bed had the rails and ties removed which made for a great access road to the back of Don’s property.  Pop, Johnny, and Wilber headed into the woods for that day’s hunting.

10:30 a.m. was the predetermined exit time.  The three men conduct their exiting strategy as planned earlier and walk to the truck for some lunch. Pop and Wilber place their shotguns in the protective cases and got in the truck, Wilber sitting in the middle and Pop on the passenger side.  Johnny sits down in the driver’s seat of the truck with his shotgun, barrel down to the floor, between him and the door.

As they ate their lunch and discussed the morning’s adventure, Wilber notices a large buck walking across the field towards the truck. “Holy smokes look at that big buck coming our way,” said Wilber. Pop says to Johnny, “Get your gun ready!” Johnny, moving very slowly, slides the gun under the steering wheel while keeping the barrel aimed at the door just for safety. He gets the barrel end out of the window and waits for the buck to cross the lane.

Now, all three men are whispering as Johnny has the gun raised and resting on the side – view mirror.  As the dear crosses in front of the truck, Wilber excite says: “Shoot it!” Pop echoes Wilber’s call to arms with: “shoot it, shoot it, shoot it!” Now, neither Pop nor Wilber could see from Johnny’s point of view. Johnny couldn’t get a bead on the deer because of the angle in which he held the gun out of the window. A few more seconds pass as Pop and Wilber become even more excited when BAM, Johnny squeezed off the first shot at the buck.

It’s only legal In Indiana to use a shotgun and muzzleloader to hunt deer. Johnny was using a Browning 12 gauge, semi-automatic, shot gun that held three or five shells. Johnny always used the three inch magnum shells which were the most powerful you could by.  The shotgun would discharge the spent shell to the right of the gun with a good deal of force. The metal portion of the shell would be hot as hell to the touch for a few seconds after it had been discharge from the gun.

Back to the truck; Johnny squeezed off the first round at the deer not realizing why there is an Indiana law forbidding you from hunting from a vehicle. Bam! The gun goes off deafening the three men immediately. Then the gun discharges it’s shell with enough force to hit the windshield, chipping it on the inside. The shell ricochets and hits Wilber on the forehead where it leaves a divot above his right eye. Once the shell leaves Wilber’s forehead it comes to rest on Pop’s lap. Pop pick the shell up and quickly drops it saying, “Hot damn!” Before Johnny could realize that chaos was taking place in the cab of his truck, he squeezed off another round at the deer. The whole chain of events repeated again.

Pop, Johnny and Wilber drove the entire way home not saying a word. Johnny was mad that his windshield had two chips in it that cracked from top to bottom when he turned the defroster on. Wilber had two bruises on his forehead. Pop burnt his index finger and thumb removing the shells from his lap. None of the men could hear because of being in closed quarters when a shotgun went off and the dear…had lived!