My Deer Hunting Story Published

Age doesn't diminish the thrill of the hunt 

by Marian Love Phillips for The Vicksburg Post

I am a proud mother of 4 daughters, 9 grandchildren and 2 great grandsons and have been hunting for over 30 years and I'm 75 years old.  

I was happy to again be invited to hunt at the famous Christmas Place Plantation and Hunting Club on the edge of the Mississippi Delta recently.  The Howell family camp is approximately 2,500 acres with a 40 acre lake and the most beautiful place on Earth to hunt.  It has been almost three years since I have killed a deer there because of rota-tor cuff surgery.  

Last January I was able to killed a 180-pound sow, plus a smaller hog.  It has always been on my bucket list for several years to get a hog. Now, I was so anxious to get a deer after so long a time. 

So, there I was, 16 feet high in a double wide with my blogging friend and mentor, Rex Howell, of Deer Camp Blog (bodocktimes.blogspot.com) in the Dove Field Stand. While on the stand I prayed for a deer. Finally, at 5:00 p.m. on a very windy and cold Saturday afternoon, Rex spotted a doe approaching from the right toward the field and I put my .270 rifle up to scope.  She was slowly feeding toward the center and he said to me, "Can you shoot that far?"  

 I looked back at him and saw that he had his fingers in his ears,  That was my signal!

 BOOM! 

Dropped her at 85 yards in her tracks. I was so very excited and my knees started knocking so bad.  

When we got to my deer, Rex congratulated me and took a picture with my doe.  We loaded her up in the buggy and headed back to camp so happy.  She weighed 118 pounds. I was so thankful to get a deer in our great outdoors and hope to keep hunting as long as I can.  

Christmas Place Deer:  Vicksburg resident Marian Love Phillips poses with the deer she shot while hunting at Christmas Place Plantation and Hunting Club on January 9.  The doe weighed 118 pounds.

Vicksburg resident Marian Love Phillips is a longtime hunter and outdoors-woman.  Visit her hunting blog at mariandeer.blogspot.com

Hunting Stories Wanted - This is part of an occasional series of hunting stories told by or submitted from Vicksburg Post readers.  If you'd like to submit a story or hunting photo, please send an email to sports@vicksburgpost.com.  Include your name, the hunter's name, details of the hunt such as time, date, size of the animal, weapon used and any interesting details.  Also include a telephone number so we can contact you.  If submitting a photo of children, please take the picture before they have been blooded. Any photos containing excess amount of blood and gore will not be published.