SIDNEY–Within minutes of entering the woods last Saturday, fortune shined on hunter Gregory Rabe.

“I went out on opening day and, I don’t know, I think God blessed me with a deer,” Rabe said.

Additional Photos

WHAT A STORY: Gregory Rabe, left, and Nick Bragg, with young cousin Carter Bragg, shot the same buck while hunting recently. Rabe hit the first shot, then Bragg hit the kill shot. Rabe claimed ownership of the buck with the blessing of Bragg. Contributed photos

But, what began as a blessing could have easily turned sour when two men from separate hunting parties shot the same deer.

It all started when Rabe and his 19-year-old son, Kyle Rabe, entered a forest in Sidney on Oct. 29. The two men fanned out — Kyle walked deeper into the woods, and Gregory, 50, walked toward a clearing.

When Gregory reached the edge of the clearing, a flock of Canada geese flew overhead. He paused for a moment to watch their southern flight.

“When I looked back down, there was a buck running right straight at me,” he said.

The deer — a 247-pound, 10-point buck — was closing in fast. Rabe raised his .30-06 Remington rifle.

“I pulled up my gun, sighted him in and shot as quick as I could,” he said.

The buck was 20 yards away when the bullet entered its shoulder and exited halfway down its back.

But, the deer kept running.

Nearby, a separate hunting party watched the scene unfold. Hunter Nick Bragg, 33, and his young cousin Carter Bragg, 6, were perched in a tree stand.

“I saw a flash coming at him,” Nick Bragg said of the buck loping toward Gregory. “Then I heard the shot.

“Then the deer came at us.”

Bragg said the buck laid down about 50 yards away.

“I thought it was going to expire, but then it got up and ran right to our stand,” Bragg said. “It was about a yard from us. We had a staring contest for a second.

Bragg could see the buck was mortally wounded.

“Then he took off again and I put a kill shot in him,” he said.

Moments later, Bragg and Rabe met for the first time near the slain buck.

The felled deer could have gained either man his entrance into the Biggest Bucks of Maine Club. But, which hunter?

Determining ownership of the deer could have led to trouble, Rabe said.

“Sometimes people will steal a deer from you, especially a big one like that,” Rabe said. “It doesn’t always turn out good.”

But, that didn’t happen.

Instead, Bragg and his young cousin helped Rabe.

“The guy was honest,” Rabe said of Bragg. “I was pretty moved by it.

“The deer might have run off if he didn’t put the finishing shot in it. (Bragg) showed us right where (the buck) was, and he even helped us drag it out.

“I thanked him. He did the right thing. I thought it was wonderful.”

Bragg said quarreling over the buck never crossed his mind.

“I feel that every hunter has his day of being in the right place at the right time,” Bragg said. “This was not my time.

“And, certainly dispatching someone’s wounded deer is not the way I want to earn my big buck patch.”

Bragg said his young cousin’s reaction to the hunt was a reward unto itself.

“The memories and the expression on Carter’s face with the big buck completes my season,” he said.

Rabe’s buck weighed 206 pounds after it was dressed. It has since been sent to a meat processor and a taxidermist.

Rabe’s hunting career began when he was 15. Over the years, he has bagged five deer. This most recent kill is the biggest.

He has filed paperwork to join the Biggest Bucks of Maine Club.

“I feel really good about it,” he said. “I’ve hunted for a number of years on and off, and I finally got my big buck.

“My interest (in hunting) was waning a little, but, now that I’ve got this buck, I’m all fired up again.”

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