Will Foreman has hunted with his dad since he was 5 years old, and a tradition developed for the youngster during those days afield.
“We had a routine: He likes Vienna Sausages, so I’d bring a can of them and a (cold drink) to the stand,” father Terry Foreman explained. “I’d open that Vienna Sausage, and he’d eat three or four, and then he’d pour that juice out the window of the stand and say, ‘The deer are going to smell that and come out.’”
That ritual was repeated many times over the years, but the elder Foreman had no clue that it persisted even after allowing young Will Foreman to begin hunting alone this past season.
After hunting together only once, the now-13-year-old Will spent most of the rest of his hunting days by himself. There’s some discrepancy as to the reason for that (Terry says his son refused to hunt with him, while Will swears his dad wouldn’t let him), but that’s another story.
In any case, on Dec. 22 the Brandon hunters decided to team up again – and had the hunt of a lifetime.
After finally agreeing to go to a shooting house together, the Foremans sprayed estrus scent on their boots and made it to the stand about 3 p.m..
At about 3:15, Will Foreman pulled out a can of Vienna Sausages.
“I asked him what he was doing and he said, ‘I do it every time,’” Terry Foreman said. “He ate some of the sausages, and then he poured the juice out the window.”
The elder hunter was aghast.
“I’m like, ‘We’re not going to see a thing!’” Terry Foreman laughed.
Only 10 minutes or so later, much to the amazement of the elder Foreman, a doe popped out of the tall weeds. Following closely on its heels was a scraggly 4-point.
What caught the hunters’ eyes, however, were two large shapes still in the weeds.
“There were two bucks back there,” Will Foreman said.
The hunters could tell they were good deer, but Will was the first to really get a good look at one.
“He said, ‘I see him. He’s huge; he’s wide,’” Terry Foreman said.
It turned out that each of the hunters was looking at a different buck, but they quickly developed the plan.
“We only had one gun, so I gave him the rifle and told him that when (the buck)- steps out I’m going to stop him,” Terry Foreman said. “The buck finally came out, and I went ‘baaaa!’”
The buck stopped dead in its track about 30 yards out, and Will Foreman’s 7mm-08 exploded.
“The deer dropped right there, and I looked at Will and ask, ‘Where did you shoot it?’” Terry Foreman said. “He said, ‘I shot it in the neck.’”
The younger Foreman had been talking about making a neck shot all season, so when his father looked at him as if he’d lost his mind Will didn’t understand.
“He said, ‘I told you I was going to shoot one in the neck this year,’” Terry Foreman laughed. “He didn’t have a clue how big that deer was.”
At this point, all either hunter knew was that the deer had a big rack. What they didn’t know is that the antlers were huge.
The 210-pound buck’s 11 points were spread around a 23-inch inside spread on main beams that held 5 ½ inches of mass to the G2s, and didn’t shrink much past that point. The rack eventually green scored at 158 Boone & Crockett inches.
When they walked up to the beast, the celebration began again – but what really topped it off for Terry Foreman was what his son said next.
“He said, ‘Daddy, I’m just glad you were here with me,’” Terry Foreman said.
As for the future of this young hunter, Will Foreman said he’s got a lot of hunting left – and Vienna Sausages will continue to play a role.
“It’s worked,” he said.
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