ODDLY ENOUGH

ODDLY ENOUGH

Odd call: Hunter blows nose, brings big buck running

JACKSON, Miss.

The deer hunter figured sneezing had blown his chance at a deer, but blowing his nose brought a big buck running.

Ron Manning of Hinds County said he’s hunted deer for 54 years and had never seen anything like what happened earlier this month — though he did once see a deer that tried to eat grape bubble gum and got gum all over itself, he told The Clarion-Ledger.

On Jan. 16, he said, he suffered a volley of nine sneezes in 10 minutes. He tried to muffle the noise in his elbow, but figured he had no chance of seeing a deer for an hour.

So he went for the honk.

The next thing he knew, “a 17-inch, 8-point came roaring in,” Manning said. “He had his ears laid back, his eyes glazed over and the hair standing up on his back. Obviously, I said something to upset him because he came to fight. He wasn’t cautious. He came in running. He was wide open, coming to me. I shot him at 25 yards.”

Manning joked that instead of a grunt/wheeze call, this deer was fooled by a cough/sneeze.

“I wish I knew exactly what I did so I could duplicate it,” Manning said.

Associated Press