Outdoorsman brings home deer with fishing rod

HENDERSON, Ky. - It's not exactly a big fish story, but technically, he did reel in the big one.

Henderson County resident Dan Phillips used a little ingenuity to bring home a 120-pound doe during a hunting expedition in early November.

Positioned in his deer stand, Phillips said he'd only been waiting about 30 minutes when he spotted a doe.

"This one presented itself as a good shot," he said.

And sure enough, when Phillips shot the arrow, it passed all the way through the doe. He found the arrow while tracking the deer.

"I waited about an hour and started tracking her," he said. "When I started tracking, I noticed she was headed for the Tradewater River. And that's not a good sign. I was afraid it would be in the water and that's a whole new problem."

Phillips said he's been in a situation before where he shot a deer that wandered into the water so he was hoping this wouldn't be a repeat performance.

It was.

"When I got to the river, (the deer) was deceased on the other side," he said, noting that the river is about 30 yards wide.

"I've done this before," Phillips said. "I had to swim to get a deer before."

Looking at the situation, Phillips thought, "I'm too old for this. And I wanted to keep my clothes on because it's November."

Not willing to walk away from the kill, Phillips said he first tried a rope that he attached to a metal hook.

He said the apparatus would not reach far enough.

After his arm grew tired, Phillips said he remembered his fishing pole with an 8-pound test line that he keeps in his truck "just in case I ever want to stop and go fishing," he said.

"I took the same arrow (he used to kill the deer) attached it to the rod, shot the deer again and started reeling it in," Phillips said.

The deer was hung on some debris, so Phillips said he walked up down and the bank to dislodge the deer.

"When I walked up stream, I was able to free it. So I reeled it in without breaking the line. That's what shocked me that the line didn't break."

Phillips said he got the idea to use the fishing pole because "I'd run out of ideas."

"I think I got a state record with an 8-pound tester pulling in a 120-pound deer."