This is the story of a pine tree in the Choccolocco Wildlife Management Area (CWMA) in Alabama and how it came to to known as the "Nine Pine" and the tale of its meaning to me.
On November 22, 1988, I went hunting for whitewall deer in the CWMA. The spot I chose had been pre-scouted and had numerous rubs on pine trees up to 3" in diameter so I was sure a nice buck was using the area. I had cleared a trail to a large pine tree that sat on the side of a hill only a few feet below its crest. This spot is reached from off Road 529 about 3 miles from where it leaves Road 500. At this point the road curves sharply to the left and a long hollow extends for 3/4 of a mile or more. I walked down this big hollow about 1/4 mile and moved right up a side hollow to the pine tree which is on the ridge to my left as I go up the side hollow. The pine was surrounded by young pines trees mixed with various hardwoods and at the time provided an idea habitat for deer. The area has since grown up and is no longer a good area to hunt so feel free to go there if you wish.
I climbed into the pine tree well before daylight and ate breakfast in the tree under a clear sky full of stars. The day dawned clear and cool without a whisper of a breeze-very rare where I hunt. The sun had just peaked its head above the horizon and began to warm the woods. There were wisps of steam arising from everything adding a surrealistic tone to the setting. I heard a shot from my right. It came from somewhere on the far side of the road and beyond the far side of the ridge above the big hollow I had walked through on my way to the pine. A few minutes later I heard the sound of a deer traveling at a fast walk from the far side of the big hollow-the sounds continued down the ridge and stopped in the big hollow. I figured the deer had smelled where I had walked in and was going to spook and go one way or the other in the big hollow. After a few minutes I again heard the deer walking but more slowly this time. I looked closely and finally saw antlers-big antlers-the biggest antlers I had ever seen while hunting! The buck was slowing making his way up the ridge on the far side of the hollow I was overlooking. He was at distance of nearly 200 yards and walking more or less parallel to me so the distance wasn't changing very much as he walked. I rested my back against the pine tree but in order to see him I had to remain standing with no rest to assist me on the shot. I aimed for his rear rib on his left side angling toward the right shoulder and fired a round from my Remington Model 7 in 7MM-08 caliber. I was using the Remington factory load with 140 grain bullet.
At the shot the deer ran rapidly up the hill and when he reached the top all sound stopped. Had I missed? What had gone wrong? I played the scene over and over in my head and each time it came out the same-the cross hairs were where they should have been when the shot went off-it had to have been a hit! I took a compass bearing on the spot on the far ridge where I had last heard sounds from him and climbed down. I tried to find the spot where he was standing so I could look for a blood trail but wasn't able to locate the correct spot when I got over there. Frustrated, I walked up to the top of the hill to get a view of my pine tree and take a back azimuth on the compass to find the spot where the sounds had disappeared. I saw the buck laying there just a few feet off of my trail on that ridge. There sure wasn't any ground shrinkage on this one. He was by far the biggest buck I had ever shot. He was a nine point with the G4 on the right side broken off to prevent him from being a perfect 10 point. The G2s are both about 8" and the G3s are even longer. Brow tines and G4 are short-in the 2" range. He weighted 138 pounds field dressed at the checking station. I finally had my wall hanger at last. As a result of this most perfect end to a beautiful morning hunt I dubbed the tree "The Nine Pine".
This tree has even more stories which I will share in the "Further Tales of the Nine Pine".
Here is a photo of me with the buck the day I shot him.
And here he is on the wall.
GB
