Lacie Gregory: A Hunting Rock Star

First of all, I am not an ‘avid’ hunter, or maybe ‘huntress’ is more fitting. I have literally only been hunting for deer maybe five times in my entire life, and those times were in a heated stand with a padded seat at my Papa’s (Bob Farley) ranch. And there was always book reading involved. I say all this so that the level of seriousness involved in this hunting trip, or lack thereof, is apparent. 

I developed this plan ‘to kill a buck’ a few weeks before opening day of the 2015 season [November 14] mostly just to see if I could. So, I went to Wal-Mart and bought the cheapest little blind that they had. It was $27 and tiny. The kids and I set that up and put out some corn and one of those deer lick things, and of course a game camera to see what was going to eat our corn. At first, the pictures were of a few does, and a couple of smaller bucks, which truly was super exciting for me and the kids, especially when we didn’t know if we would see anything at all! And then there was the big one!

So opening morning comes and I wake up, not before the sun like ‘real hunters’ are supposed to, but early enough. I get my purse, my coffee, my rifle, and all the stuff I think I might need or want for my little adventure and drive up to the field where my stand is. When I got out and shut my car door, two deer jumped up about ten yards from me and ran off! I walked down to my blind and then another doe ran off! So I hadn’t even made it to my blind yet and had already jumped three deer! I was starting to think I should have woken up earlier like you’re supposed to. Anyway, I went ahead and climbed in my pop up tent thing that’s barely bigger than me and zipped up and got quiet. I had to practice a little on how to get my rifle out of the tiny window without banging around, hitting my chair, or knocking the entire blind over in the process. But, I finally got settled.

Fast forward about 30 minutes and the big one, the one I was hoping for, walks straight out of the woods at me. At first, I was able to get my rifle about half way out of the tiny window, and then he looked right at me. And there we sat, looking at each other for what seemed like forever! It was long enough that I was able to calm down and get my breathing under control. I was breathing so hard that I was worried he would see the fog from my breath, but he just kept looking at me, and I just held as still as possible. I literally thought, “God, if you want me to kill this deer today, then I will, and if not, then we’ll do it another day.” That’s about the time he finally started to act a little spooked, and as soon as he turned broad-side, I swung up on him just right and POW! I jacked another shell in immediately, because that’s what my ‘local experts’ had told me to do. He fell down right there in that spot. At first I thought, “oh no, I didn’t see which way he ran,” but he was right there! So I climbed out of my blind and walked/ran up there and I’m beyond excited. I’m calling everyone I know, and I’m whooping and hollering and jumping up and down and taking selfies… It was great! I had killed my first ever white tail buck, and he was huge! He was an eight point with a 19.5-in spread and scored a “rough 145”, whatever that means.

I finally gathered all my stuff and headed back to my car, which for some reason the walk back seemed way longer than the first time… So I’m walking, walking, walking, and finally get up to my car, and I just happen to look up, and there’s another buck! He was due east and way out there in the field. My dad, Melvin Farley, says he was about 175 yards away, which makes me feel like even more of a rock star! The sun was coming up behind him, and he was looking straight at me. I thought, “what the heck?” So, I put my purse and my coffee down, and then I went ahead and walked about 15 more steps toward him so I could use a barbed wire fence for a rest, since it was such a long shot. And all this time, he’s still just watching me. I got ready, aimed, and heard a click. Apparently, when I jacked my first shell out, I did not get my gun re-loaded. So, I’m scrambling to get another shell in, and then my breath fogged up my scope, and then my glasses got fogged up so I jerked those off, and finally through a finger smudge of fog on my scope (the deer is still just standing there watching me) I aimed again, and POW! This one ran about 30 yards before he went down. He was an eight point too, just a lot smaller.

I couldn’t believe it! In the span of about 45 minutes, God gave me my first and second bucks ever! My dad couldn’t believe it when I called him again the second time and told him I had killed another nice buck! Nobody could believe it!  But it was awesome!

So in the spirit of being a total hunting rock star, I went down and got the four-wheeler and gathered my two deer, and hauled them down so I could field dress them. Yes, I actually did that part all by myself too! I have the pictures to prove it. And then I hauled them to town to the processor. I was sort of in a hurry at that point because I had plans with a girlfriend for pedicures and shopping later that day. Really, it was a fabulous day! The Razorbacks even won that day! 

So there’s the story about the day I was a total rock star in the hunting department! And yes, I had them both mounted. But not with the hair because the hair freaks me out.