John Lester is an exceptional athlete, a cancer survivor, and an enthusiastic outdoorsman. Part 1 of this post spoke to his ability to deal with pressure on the ballfield and how he handled one of the greatest medical threats a person can face. Now, let’s get back to the hunt:
Drive to the Promise Land
Byers had been hunting this region of South Dakota for nearly ten years, not as a professional guide, but as unofficial leader of a hunting party. One of his most successful spots was nicknamed “The promised land” because it had produces so many great bucks over the year.
Byers and Lester spent the early afternoon working toward the honey hole and Byers felt confident that he could get a shot for his major league buddy. Byers posted Lester on
a hay stack that overlooked the tall grass of the valley while Byers made a mile long circle to push deer toward the stander.
Moving into the wind and zigzagging to cover maximum ground, a deer burst from a small patch of grass and bounded over the horizon. Although Byers only caught a glimpse, the beams of the buck looked long and the tines at least 10 inches high, exactly the class of animal he’d been looking for. Unfortunately, the deer broke away from Lester’s position, yet as the sun set that first evening, the duo made plans for the following day.
On the way back to camp, Byers asked about the pressures of pitching in the big leagues. Is there a correlation between having a three-ball, two-strike count with the game on the line and squeezing a trigger of a rifle or the release of a bow with a big buck in your sights? What’s commonly called buck fever?
“Oh yea,” said Lester. “There are parallels as far as pressure to that hunting experience. After I came back from the lymphoma, my butterflies, my adrenalin didn’t get as amped up as it used to. I think it’s because it’s one of those deals where I’ve have been through everything I have been through. What else is there to do? Baseball, hunting, fishing, is secondary. I still get that rush and the thrill of seeing an animal and this is my first time stalking a deer out in the open and it definitely correlates as far as controlling your breathing and control your emotions. Obviously you can’t control your heart rate because it’s going to do what it does, but to be able to ignore all those emotions and feelings and focus on what you are trying to do. Pick out that shoulder, don’t leave that target, focus on it, squeeze the trigger, bowhunting whatever, it definitely correlates to pitching especially because you must focus and try to hit that spot.”
On with the Hunt
The first day of the hunt was a learning experience for Lester, like watching an opposing pitcher show his stuff. As the second day dawned, he knew the lay of the land and
could anticipate the type of hunting and shooting challenge that lay ahead. Leaving the cabin earlier than the previous day, the two men headed for “The Promised Land” a honey-hole for Ken Byers and his friends over the years. Would the big buck seen yesterday still be in the area. With the rut in full swing an estrous doe could have led it miles away. Or, perhaps an even larger buck had moved in to claim mating rights with the doe.
Midway to their destination, Byers asked Lester if he was a bit like a major league catcher, since the man behind the plate often suggests which pitches to throw and where to place it?
“That’s one of the reason I enjoyed hunting with you yesterday Ken,” Lester said. “We talked through a lot of stuff as far as what deer we liked. When I’m hunting alone at home I have to make that judgment call, but that’s what makes you a good hunter, you end up learning on your own and from your mistakes, which sometimes stinks. That’s part of hunting and part of life and sometimes the ones that get away ends up making you a better hunter or a better person.”
“I guess this type of hunting is a lot different that back in Georgia,” said Byers as they neared their destination just before sunrise. “Yes, there’s quite a
difference between the prairie and tree stands,” said Lester. “It’s hard. The first morning we did the sit-and-wait game and we saw some deer at 400-500 yards running back and forth and I think it aided us enough to make a move and get closer. We couldn’t close the deal to get a good look at some bucks that were back there. That afternoon, I did a basically a Georgia hunt, sitting in a field and see what happens and saw some deer.”
Throughout the morning, Byers and Lester glassed and sneaked on deer. They saw 30 or more including 10 bucks, but not the big, tall tined trophy Byers had glimpsed the day before.
Late in the afternoon, their luck would change and Lester told the story with great excitement that night in camp: “We walked and walked and walked,” he began. “It got to the point where it was frustrating because we weren’t seeing what we wanted to see and get the results. I heard someone say on a hunting show somewhere, “It just takes 30 seconds to change around your whole day, week, or month, and that’s what happened. We were walking along and out of the corner of his eye; Ken spotted a doe in a bottom. She didn’t see us and we watched her and this buck came out from behind her. That was our 30-second change right there. It was kind of cool to be able to back out of there, make sure the wind was right, sneak in closer and get a better look. We were only 100 yards and talked quietly, ‘Was that the deer we wanted to shoot?’ We had plenty of daylight and were patient, hoping an even bigger buck would emerge. Our buck walked over a rise after the doe, and disappeared. We backed out again and circled and it turned into the old South Georgia adage, it stood there too long and we thought about it too long and had to shoot. It worked out , he’s a great deer and I felt bad as far as not taking the previous shot because of how good a deer it was. I had a bit of trophy eyes there, but I’m glad I took him and happy about the deer.”
Success with a Day to Spare
“I’ve never killed a wild turkey in the fall, said Lester the next morning after seeing a hundred or more feeding in plain sight of the cabin. “Do they have a fall turkey season here?”
After some research and a call to the local wildlife office, the answer was “Yes” and the hunt was on. This time I was the guide and Lester would soon learn that prairie turkeys were as different as prairie deer. We spotted a flock of gobblers along a gravel road on the way to purchase the licenses. Half an hour later we returned hoping that the toms would still be in the area. We worked half a mile up a twisting creek bed, yet never saw a feather. Merriam’s often travel miles during an extensive feeding route from roost to roost and had moved well ahead or crossed the creek.
We had four tags for turkeys and one borrowed shotgun with a strange peep sight. “Don’t use the rear sight,” warned its owner. “Just look down the barrel.” Ironically, within the next hour we got into another flock of gobblers and Lester used the “non-sight” to aim. Flushing gobblers filled the air, but no turkey dinner.
Like all outdoor adventures, the fun really starts when everyone returns to camp. Like the deer story, Lester was eager to share his adventure on the plains. “My first turkey hunt today was quite an experience,” he said with a broad smile. We headed back toward the ranch and saw eight gobblers along the road. After parking the truck, we put a little stalk on them which turned into an adventure and an hour later I got a shot at two really good gobblers. I followed them again and got one,” he said with a look of gratitude. “Both hunts were very, very rewarding, not easy, not ‘let’s sit here and see what happens,’ but rewarding as far as the work and effort we put into it. It was a lot of fun.”
If you enjoyed reading about Jon Lester’s adventures, check out “Celebrities in the Outdoors, where you’ll share “The Hunting Side of Jimmy Houston,” untold stories about Dale Earnhardt, and much more. https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Celebrities+in+the+outdoors%2C+joe+byers
