West Virginia Wildlife from Eyewitness News

Buck Season: A McMurtry Family Tradition

The opening day of buck season had a little something of everything.

November 26, 2008
Reporter: Patrick McMurtry
Videographer: Brad Rice

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This is the happiest time of the year for thousands of West Virginians.

For me, like countless other fathers around the state, this is a chance to spend some quality time with my son Quinn. We're hitting the woods for opening day of buck season.

We get the 4 wheeler in the truck and it's off to our spot in Roane County.

Finding a good spot is key and we have a good look at the flat and the holler down below. We're ready for anything...except this....rain. Cold rain that falls all morning keeping most of the bucks down.

Hunter Fabian Brown says things were a little disappointing. "I saw five deer and couldn't tell what they were, just scouting around a little bit. This weather, it started raining on us and it kinda messed things up things but there will be another day.

I'd say if the weather straightens up, people can get out a little bit. Right now it's just too bad to get out there in that."

Tough for old guys like us, but for my son Quinn, a little rain was just an inconvenient truth.

"Cold, wet, but it wasn't really that bad of a day.

It was a weird day for Josh Phillips. He got his buck...or did he?

"I didn't know what to think. I just thought it was another buck that broke one side of its horn off. I went to go get it after killing it and it turned out to be a doe. Have you ever heard of that before? Not in a million years."

That's right, a doe with antlers. Biologists say that happens about once in 10,000 deer. Now I've seen everything. With that we called it a day and hoped for better weather and more movement Tuesday. I got lucky.

"About 8:30 I was at my stand and a doe came bolting out of the brush. It saw me and put the brakes on and started blowing. The buck couldn't stop and started running away from me at an angle and I took a few shots and nailed him."

A good day for me and something else to keep my son interested in spending more time this buck season with his old man. For West Virginia Wildlife, I'm Patrick McMurtry, Eyewitness News.

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W. Va. DNR

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