MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- A “dry run.”
In the hunting community it means when a hunter returns home from an excursion empty handed, save a few stories. The term is not uncommon among deer hunters.
Sgt. Chris D. Washington was among several hunters who had a dry run while deer hunting on base Saturday.
The day started off promising. At 5 a.m., there was a thick, low-lying fog and light, east breeze that made conditions “really good for deer hunting,” said Sgt. Washington assuredly as he climbed into the seat of his pickup, “It would be perfect if the sky was overcast, but I think the deer will be moving.”
Washington had drawn the Hotel training area to hunt, and he liked his chances.
“There’s deer out there,” Washington said during the drive from the game warden building to the training area. “I just have to find them. With any luck, I will.”
The 25-year-old from Kilgore, Texas, knows the Hotel area. An instructor with Combat Skills Training School, 1st Marine Logistics Group, he spends a lot of time there sharpening Marines’ infantry skills.
The headlights of his F-350 cut through the fog that hung about the hills he was traveling through. After more than 20 minutes of driving winding, gravel roads that gradually climbed in elevation, Washington was as far as he could go in a vehicle. He had to make the rest of the trip on foot.
He grabbed his bag of hunting supplies – deer scent, binoculars, two-way radio and map – slung his rifle – a .308 Remington Model 700 – and started walking. After a few minutes of trekking through thick, waist-high brush, Washington was in position atop a hill that gave view to acres of rolling hills and gorges. It was just before 6 a.m. and starting to get light.
“My wife is wanting me to hurry up and get a deer,” he said jokingly in a whisper. “She wants me to bring home some meat. I’m looking to kill a buck, but I’ll take a doe if I see a nice one.”
As the sun rose above the hilltops, Washington spoke of how he killed a doe last season that dressed out at 100 pounds and a recent close call with a good sized buck.
“We saw a huge buck when we went out hunting last week,” he said. “It was a good sized deer, but I couldn’t get my bow up in time to shoot him.”
Washington spent the better part of an hour watching the hills and sharing hunting stories and wild game recipes before something caught his eye.
On a hill about 1,000 yards away, two hunters had jumped a buck while they were stalking. The buck took off down the hill to get away. In doing so, he was closing the distance between himself and Washington.
“Keep coming,” said Washington, not taking his binoculars off the buck.
He did stop, however, in a thicket about 500 yards from Washington’s position. Washington kept his eyes fixed on the spot where the buck stopped.
After several minutes of playing the waiting game and not seeing the buck again, Washington tried to get the attention of a nearby hunter by waving his arms.
Lieutenant Col. Dennis Loftis (ret.), president of the Pendleton Sportsman’s Club, was perched atop an adjacent hill but hadn’t seen the buck spook. Loftis would possibly be able to walk to where the buck had hidden and flush him out in the open for a shot. A steep cliff kept Washington from getting any closer, and he was unable to signal Loftis.
“I was hoping the buck would get closer to me,” Washington said. “I would’ve popped him if he would’ve got close enough.”
Washington waited and watched for several more minutes and then decided to do some stalking in the opposite direction of the buck’s position.
Washington walked for an hour. The only game he saw was a covey numbering about 50 quail.
Upon returning to his pickup, he was met by Loftis, whose hunt also ended empty-handed.
“Part of the fun of hunting,” Loftis said, “is swapping stories at the end of the hunt. “I wanted to get a buck, but the deer weren’t that active today. That’s just the way it goes sometimes.”
Loftis agreed with Washington when he said, “there’s always next time.”