Friday, November 18, 2011

Finding and Dragging a Doe!

Bob shot this doe in the late evening at Homewood Hunting Club in Claiborne County back in 2005 in Mike's Patch.  It was so dark and we could not find any blood so we had to get up early the next morning and go back to the camp to look for it.  Bob showed me approximately where it went in at the far right and I headed towards the left. I walked in about 100 or so yards and thought I saw something that looked like a deer laying by a log across a ravine.  I was able to walk around to it and when I got closer, it looked real small and started dragging this deer out of the woods...the more I dragged the heavier it got and the bigger it got.  Trying to get around a ravine and back, going around trees, brush, etc.  I yelled to Bob that I had found it and got it almost to the edge of the field where part of a tree had fallen down blocking the way but was able to get over it with his help.  (Bob had a stroke back in 1995 and he tends to drag his right leg and gets tangled up in the brush and may fall)  That is why I had to go in and help him find the deer.  We were so lucky that a coyote had not gotten to it overnight.  We got the 4-wheeler as close as we could to the deer and it took us three tries but we finally got it up on the wheeler.  Got back to the camp, weighed and was almost 120 lbs.  Yikes!  You should have seen us trying to load it into our 2005 Ford Focus car trunk...it was crazy but lots of fun!

Bob harvested two more deer and got another one that got eaten up by a coyote.  My hunting was not good that season.  Two deer (on separate hunts) showed up as I was peeing and another one I shot at the Ceder Tree Stand.  Got down and found blood and tagged where it went into the woods.  Had to pick up Bob at another stand on the 4-wheeler and was getting late so we decided to wait till the next morning.  On the way back to the camp we picked up my grandson, Carl, to help track and find my deer.  As luck would have it  - we did find it but had been eaten on possibly by the same coyote.  The two stands are close together even though you had to go back towards the camp and then head in another direction to get to Mike's Patch where Bob had hunted.   Most of the time the other hunters would help us since they knew his condition but we also hunted during the weekdays.  

Bob in 2005 with his 120lb. doe.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

My Shadow On Deerstand


This is a picture I took a few years ago while I was still in a hunting camp in Claiborne County called, Jasper Bottom.  Unfortunately, after 25 years of hunting there, I had to get out of my camp because the fees went up so high.  I now hunt where ever I get invited.  This weekend is opening weekend for rifle season and I plan to hunt on my granddaughter's family land south of town.  The stand I am in above will be the one I will hunt out of.  We had it moved a couple of years ago to its new site.  I hunted out of it last season but did not see anything.  Hopefully, this weekend I will see and possibly get a deer.  I want to wish everyone that's already hunting or will soon be hunting to be safe and obey the laws of hunting in our great outdoors!

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Showing Dad My First Deer

Here I am at my sister's home showing off my first deer to my Dad.  He was so proud of me that "opening day" of rifle season back in 1986.  He even thanked Bob, my future husband, for taking the time to teach me how to hunt.  The following November he died.
    

Sunday, October 23, 2011

My Shadow on a Tree


This picture of me with my shadow on a tree was most likely taken back in 1986-87 hunting season.  I had just started hunting and this was an evening shot.  My stand was near the Big Black River and as the sun was setting I noticed my shadow on a tree near me and took this picture.  I now use it as a logo on my blog called, Marian's Hunting Stories, etc., etc., etc.  It is amazing that you can take one picture and get so many compliments on it throughout the years.  I like it because it's different and a reminder of my early hunting days.  I was in my mid-forties at the time and enjoying hunts at Jasper Bottom Hunting Club in Claiborne County, Mississippi.  Two years ago I had to pull out of my hunting club after 25 years because the fees had gone up.  I really miss hunting there and it's sad that I don't have a deer camp to call my very own anymore.  It is a blessing that my husband and I get invited by friends and family to hunt at their camp or on their land.  I'm wishing all hunters in our great wild outdoors a very successful 2011-2012 hunting season.  Be safe!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

My Third 8 pt. Buck

Showing off my 3rd 8 pt. from the back of our Toyota Tacoma at my daughter's home.

My 8 pt. on the back of the 4-wheeler at Homewood Hunting Club in Claiborne County.

I shot my 3rd 8 pt. in January 2003 at Homewood Hunting Club in Claiborne County.  I was hunting Mike's Patch and it was getting late in the evening when I noticed a buck walking out in the far right corner. I could not believe that their was another buck further behind him and they were looking straight at me.  I watched them get closer and closer and decided to shoot the first one that walked out.  The second one had a higher rack but this one to me had a wider rack.  When I shot he just stood there and finally took off into the woods.  The other buck stood there for about 20 seconds and took off back into the woods.  I waited about 20 minutes and made my way tracking the blood and found my buck no more than 30 yards into the woods.  I walked back to my stand and got my 4-wheeler and headed back towards camp to wait for Bob and the hunters to come in.  I needed help in getting my deer out.  I was so happy to get another 8 pt., and hopefully one day I will get another buck...maybe a bigger one! 

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Me in a Tripod at Brown's Point Hunting Club

My husband, Bob, took this picture of me in a tripod on Kings Point Island, at Brown's Point Hunting Club (Anderson-Tully land) back in the late 80's.  This was George Joy's stand near the MS River.  I remember taking a beautiful picture of a sunrise from this stand and gave it to George.  I wished I had it now to show you how beautiful it was.  

Also, I don't know if it was this particular day or another hunt on this stand that I left my rifle on the floor of the stand and climbed down to use the bathroom.  Would you believe a doe just politely walked no more than 30 yards from me, looked at me and kept walking across the road.  She knew what she was doing!  I have never left my gun on the floor of a tripod since.  It taught me a good lesson.  

The orange hat that I'm wearing is one that I chose because I never knew another lady hunter back 25 years ago until I met, Margie Brown, at Jasper Bottom Hunting Club.  Her and her husband leased the  Anderson-Tully land in Claiborne County that we hunted on.  She wore a hat like this one and I wanted to be just like her.  I still have my orange hat and cherish it to this day.  I will most likely leave it to my daughter, Kathy, who is an avid hunter.

Monday, September 5, 2011

My Second Buck!

I shot this buck while hunting with my husband-to-be using his 30.06.  This was one week later after I had shot my first deer ever, a 6 pt. buck, only 5 minutes on the stand.  Bob and I were at his camp Homewood Hunting Club and we were in Mike's patch in a box stand on the edge of a field when two deer came walking through and I shot the biggest one. When I shot the gun for the first time I saw fire coming out of the barrel.  The deer did not go very far.  I remember Bob taking the gun from me and shooting it again and don't know why because it was already down.  We walked over and checked and was only one bullet in it. He took this picture of me with my second buck.  Two bucks within two weekends and two bullets!  Hunting was now in my blood. 

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Deer Sir Ugly!

I came across the other day an old picture of Sir Ugly that I felt so sorry for that I had him mounted on a plaque.

Bob and I were members at the time of Brown's Point Hunting Club on Kings Point Island.  You could only get there by a ferry boat on the Yazoo River.  I loved hunting at Brown's Point and have a lot of good memories there.  This one particular hunt, my friend Lynn, who was just beginning to hunt and I were hunting together near the Mississippi River on No. 36 or 37 deer stand which was located off the main road and back towards an incline.  At the bottom is where Sir Ugly stepped out at about 60 yards.  I thought it was a doe and so did she and shot dropping it in its tracks.  After waiting about 20 minutes we walked down to check on the deer and was not dead.  I had a .22 pistol with me and let her shoot it in the head.  We got back on the stand and waited for another deer. This deer would be a soldier's deer for his family who was a member and wanted Lynn to shoot it for him.  After about an hour or so, a doe appears out of nowhere and she told me to go ahead and shoot it.  I shot and it ran off. After awhile we both got down and I was showing her how to track a deer and only had tissue paper on me at the time.  She was excited and so was I about tracking this deer and placing the tissue everywhere we saw blood.  All of a sudden, Bob comes along walking down the main road next to the river and asked us who was doing all the shooting.   I told him that I shot the ugliest deer in the woods and now we were looking for the other deer. He said, "It's laying right here!" He almost stepped on it!  Well, that was the end of the fun tracking our deer.  I told him I shot this ugly deer and he said he had never seen an ugly deer before.  We all walked over and down the hill towards the buck and he said, "I have never seen an ugly deer, but this one is undoubtedly the ugliest deer I've ever seen in the woods." I think this deer just stood there and let me shoot him because he knew he was so ugly nobody wanted him.

Sir Ugly counted against Bob's buck and we were shot out!

I decided to mount Deer Sir Ugly because I felt sorry for him and now he has become quite a conversational piece in our household.

Sir Ugly
Killed by
Marian Phillips
December 1991

Proudly mounted below one of  my 8 points tanned hide that was also taken at Brown's Point Hunting Club on Kings Point Island north of Vicksburg.  (Note bullet hole in center of head)

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

My First 8 Point Buck!

This is an article from the "The Habitat" published twice annually by Anderson-Tully. The company is dedicated to the management, conservation, and stewardship of Anderson-Tully lands and the natural resources associated with those lands. Photo was taken by Glenn Smith on New Year's Eve, 1989.

Marian Phillips proudly exhibits the fine eight point buck she harvested last New Year's Eve on Brown's Point Hunting Club. Marian gives her husband Bob much of the CREDIT for her SUCCESS. It seems that on the morning hunt she saw several deer from her stand while Bob did not see any from his. Over lunch, Bob sagely suggested they switch stands for the afternoon's hunt. The rest, as they say, "is history". Congratulations, Marian!

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

My Old Hunting Buddies

My old hunting buddies at Brown's Point Hunting Club on Kings Point Island.
Fred Harris (Deceased), Myself and Billy Boykin, Sr.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

My First Deer!

While we were dating, I would go and sit with Bob, my husband-to-be, on a ridge and take my needlepoint with me and watch him hunt.  One day, I told him that I could do this and that was the beginning of my hunting experiences at the age of 45.  I had never picked up a gun or even shot one until I met him.  To get me ready for hunting, he would take me target practicing and I was soon on my way to becoming a hunter.  My first deer was a 6 pt. buck while on the stand for only five minutes (photo above).  It was opening day and it had been storming pretty bad and we stayed in our suburban until the rain let up.  In the meantime the other hunters decided to leave camp and go back home.  We went in on our 3-wheeler and Bob took me to my stand and then he walked down from me and had just sat down up against a tree near a creek bed and lit a cigarette.  Boon!  Was that her?  He waited with anticipation trying to figure out should he go and see what had happen, maybe I accidentally shot the gun off, or maybe I hurt myself?  He could not stand it anymore so he decided to come and check on me.  When he found me I was tracking my deer and had blood all over my face.  I told him that everyone had left the camp and I just went ahead initiated my own self…he said, it looked like it had shot me!  We found my deer a few feet away and I was on my way to becoming a deer huntress, which opened up a whole new world for me.  I had used my step-son’s .243 for the harvest at Jasper Bottom Hunting Club in Claiborne County, MS.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

My First Deer Stand!

My husband-to-be took these picture of me on my very first deer stand that he had made. It was located in Claiborne County at Jasper Bottom Hunting Club on the Big Black River where he was a member and took me hunting with him.  One day, I told him that I can do this...and as they say, the rest is history!  My deer stand was located on the backside of the property at the Big Black River.  This is where I killed my very first deer, a 6 pt. buck, after being on the stand for only 5 minutes on a rainy opening day.  My story to follow...

You can tell that I'm a happy camper sitting on my very first deer stand.  I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would ever be a deer hunter.  It has been over 25 years now and I have enjoyed every minute of it.  

My sign reads...
Marion's 
Hunting
 Territory
 11-22-86

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Linda and Ashley's Turkey Hunts

My husband, Bob, and I had been rolling out of bed long before dawn, off and on, for a week. It was the end of Maine's opening week of spring turkey hunting 2006. Bob had already tagged out on a nice Tom two days earlier, which he had called in while I was toiling away at work. Now it was Saturday and it was my turn to go after an Eastern Gobbler of my own.

We thought the birds would be roosted in the tall trees adjacent to one of the fields we frequently hunt. This had been one of those seasons when the turkeys just didn't want to cooperate and roost in the same area two nights in a row.

We set up our decoys in the field and concealed ourselves in a hedgerow along the edge. As dawn approached, the first gobbles of the morning echoed down the ridge. Unfortunately, the gobbles from the roosted birds were coming from a long way off. As time went by, it became obvious that, no matter what calls Bob made we were not going to entice these gobblers to come looking for love.
After what seemed like an eternity, Bob whispered "Are you up for a hike?" I quickly agreed, as I knew that there was a farm road that would allow us to approach the oak ridge where the turkeys were gobbling without spooking them.

We eased along the old dirt road and approached the area where my husband had taken his Tom earlier in the week. We stopped and listened, as we started to move along again, turkeys started to gobble. They were close... real close! Bob motioned to me to look for a place where we could set up our decoys and plan an ambush. As we looked over a small crest in the road, we could see a bright red head of a strutting Tom in the middle of the dirt road about 50 yards away. We both dropped to our knees, but we knew the bird had spotted our movement and listened for the tell tale putting of an alarmed turkey as he left the scene. To' our amazement, we never heard a putt.

We peeked over the small crest in the hill and, to our surprise; the long beard was coming toward us. Bob motioned to me to get down and to lay flat on my belly next to him. We were lying prone in the middle of the road as the Tom crested the hill. I had my 20 gauge Mossburg up to my shoulder and ready. To our increasing surprise, as the Tom spotted us in the road, he began to run toward us at a full gallop.

We were totally camouflaged and we think that he may have thought we were other turkeys. We also realized that, in our haste to hit the deck, the decoy Bob had been carrying was now lying in the road. It is possible that the approaching Tom thought that a more dominant bird was injured and he was coming in to get in a few licks of his own.

Whatever the reason, the Tom kept on coming at full speed. When I thought he was within range, I whispered to Bob "Now?" "Not yet?' he replied. I waited. "NOW?" "No, not yet: he replied again. "NOW?" I insisted. Bob finally gave me the green light. "Take him," he whispered loudly.
I had my front bead low on the bird's chest because as he was running, his head was bobbing around so much that I was having a hard time keeping him in my sights. As I squeezed the trigger, the shot toppled the Gobbler over backwards as if he had been run over.

It was at that point that I noticed he was being followed by a group of Jakes. Bob told me that he had seen them the whole time lagging behind the Tom. I had been so intent on making a good shot, that I hadn't even noticed them.

We hugged and admired my second long beard in two years of turkey hunting. The bird weighed 16 pounds and sported a 9-inch beard. While my Gobbler wasn't quite as big as Bob's, the hunt was one of the most exciting we have ever had.  Congrats Linda (Sunshine)!


Ashley Elliot, 11,
from Mount Vernon, Maine
with her first turkey, a Jake, weighing 15lbs.
My Congrats to you also Ashley!  Like Daughter like Mother!

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Kelsey Smith's 12 Point Buck




Talk about memories....
I have one that I would like to share with you. My name is Jeff Smith, I have two daughters that love the outdoors. They love to hunt and fish. Their names are Kelsey, age 14 and Anna age 11. This story is about Kelsey and her hunt. On Dec. 31, 2005, Kelsey and I got to our stand late around 4:20. We were hunting in a box stand in a 60 acre field with a food plot in one of the bottoms. Kelsey sat facing one direction and I watched the other way. At around 5:15 I heard some deer running in a thicket, then I saw them, 4 does with a large deer behind them. I told Kelsey to come get in my lap so she could see and maybe get a shot. The does came running out in the field and did not stop until they got around 275 yards. Then they stopped and looked back. Then we saw movement back in the thicket and saw it was a good buck. The does ran on out of the field and the buck just stood looking for them. The buck then came out in the field in a trot with his head down. Kelsey wanted to take a good shot so I tried to get the buck to stop by grunting with my mouth. I had to get really loud and the buck stopped and looked back. Kelsey made a great shot and dropped him in his tracks.
The shot was about 160 yards with her .243. Talk about making a Dad proud. The buck is a 12-point with a 19-inch spread and 6 ½ inch bases. The main beams are 25 ½ inches long. The deer weight is 210 lbs. We live in the West Lincoln Community around Brookhaven, Mississippi.
What a memory, 
Jeff

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Mother & Daughter Hunting Together

Picture of Kathy and I on our 4-wheeler at Homewood Hunting Club in Claiborne County.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Two Dogs Tall

Below is the story that my husband told me about the first time he came down south to hunt.  I decided for his birthday that I would set up a blog for him and called it - A YANKEE BORN IN MICHIGAN WHO GRADUATED FROM BOYS TOWN, NEBRASKA, WHO CAME DOWN SOUTH TO MISSISSIPPI TO LIVE AND DEER HUNT, WAS SOON GIVEN THE NICKNAME OF...TWO DOGS TALL


In November 1981, my son Greg and I went hunting for the first time. We hunted at Brown’s Point, on Kings Point Island north of Vicksburg at the invitation of Willis Dykes, the camp manager. Before going out on the first hunt of the day we were told to shoot any deer, buck or doe, as long as it was two dogs tall. Greg and I were together in the stand when we turned and saw two does crossing the path. I had a double barrel shotgun and Greg had a .3030. I asked Greg if he thought the deer was two dogs tall and of course he responded with a, “yes Dad”. I said, “let them have it”. Greg hit and killed his deer on his first shot and I shot both barrels at my deer. I was shooting a 30-yard gun at 60 yards. The deer ran into the woods turned back and ran across the same path that he had just come from. I was wearing a shooting vest and I had shot shells, deer slugs and bird shot all on my vest. What I was going to do with all that, I don’t know! I’m short, squatty and muscular and I looked like Elmer Fudd. I grab my gun and chased my deer…I was shooting and running at the same time. Starting with my buckshot, my birdshot and my slugs. I cleaned myself out. On the last shot I had one slug and my deer stop and looked at me and I let it have it in the neck. (When I skinned the deer out, I found one hole in it and had missed the other shots). Greg and I pulled our deer together and rested our guns against them to take a picture. At that time, the man who manages the dogs came riding up on this horse. His name was “Wild Man”. He had a long beard and half the teeth on his right side were missing. He was intimidating! I asked him what he thought of our deer and he looked at the deer and deposited the results of his tobacco chew on the head of my deer. He then turned and rode away into the woods, never saying a word to us. I turned to Greg and said, “son we are in trouble”. All the hunters gathered together on the road and one of the hunters came up and said, “I didn’t know what was going on with all that shooting - I thought that the Yankee Bob Phillips wanted to start the Battle of Vicksburg all over again”. We all went back to the camp and hung up the deer. We had never done that either and gutted them and that is when the hunters picked up the blood and put it on us. (See picture). After that was all over, we went into the camp house to eat lunch and Willis said, “well TWO DOGS TALL, you got your deer and you got your southern nickname all at one time”. My license plate on my Toyota Tacoma is – you guessed it! TWODOGS

Monday, June 6, 2011

Bob's Nice Buck


One of Bob's eight points taken at Halpino north of Vicksburg some years ago while he was still working at Anderson-Tully Lumber Co.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Carl's First Deer!

"First Deer for Carl"

A write-up in The Vicksburg Post ~ Carlton "Carl" Thomas was hunting with his Gran Gran, Marian Phillips, during youth weekend (2003) when he got a 5-point buck somewhere around the Big Black River. The deer weighed 150 lbs. and he used his Gran Gran's .270 to make the nearly 100 yard shot.  High Five Carl!

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Changing my Website to Blogger

Today, I copied my website pages (own domain ~ marianladyhunter.com) that I have had for over a decade to a new Blogger account.  This will make it easier for me to maintain myself. In the beginning I will be posting pictures that were on my old website to this one.  I already have a blog called, Marian's Hunting Stories, etc., etc., etc., and will continued to post to it daily.  I may post some pictures here that were taken long ago back in 1985 when I first started hunting.  I wish now that I had written a journal of all my hunting adventures like Bob told me too.  I did for awhile but stopped after a few hunts.  I do hope you enjoy my new A Dixie Lady Deer Hunter blog! Marian

Life @ 83 Years

That's so true. I'm so fortunate to still be alive at 83 years of age and enjoy my four daughters, six granddaughters, three grandso...