Mike Handley posted on November 11, 2012 10:52
By Mike Handley
A wide-eyed Shane Ragon clapped a hand to his open mouth like he was trying to swallow a cuss word in the presence of a preacher.
The 40-year-old bowhunter from Calhoun City, Miss., didn't know whether to laugh or cry, to shout hallelujah or utter something less suitable for a tent revival. What he did know was that every time he tried to walk away from the buck lying dead in the sweet potato field, he turned right around and went back to it.
"I just couldn't leave that deer," Shane said. "I'd let go of those antlers and walk off, but then I'd go back. I did that at least three times.
"My hand was shaking so badly, the flashlight's beam was dancing around like a strobe light," he added.
Shane knew that the buck behind his bow sight's pin was bigger than any other he'd shot, but he hadn't exactly paid that much attention to the rack. He was too busy trying to hide behind a power pole and praying the animal would come within range.
It did, too, and became the year's first 200-incher from Mississippi (and, surprisingly, NOT from the Delta). His 9-year-old son, Zane, calls it "the biggest thing in the world."
The full story of Shane's Oct. 6 impromptu bowhunt will appear in Rack magazine next summer, and it's a good one.
