In keeping with tradition, the story will be long and proably boring. This is going to take several post to get it all in, so if you don"t like reading just scroll through the pics.
My Deer of a Lifetime
Everyone has their own idea of “a deer of a lifetime” based on where they hunt, how much cash they have to spend on a hunt as well as their own personal set of criteria about the hunt conditions. I have dreamed of this deer for many years. Not necessarily this exact deer, but the deer that was harvested during a hunt that I would never forget that was shared with friends and family that I care about. It would be the deer that scored much more than anything I had ever harvested and the one that had my heart pounding out of my chest when he walked in and kept me shaking 20 minutes after I released the arrow.
I just harvested my “Deer of a Lifetime”!
For the last three years Judy and I have taken a break from hunting our Whodathunkit Ranch in Edwards County to go on a hunt on the Schaar Ranch in Goliad County. The Schaar is a low fenced cow and cutting horse operation that runs 3 five day hunts for a maximum of 6 people each year. It is one of those hunts that once you are on, you are on for life until you decide to give up your spot. Many of the people hunting the ranch today have been hunting it for 20 years. It was blind luck that we have this opportunity to join in this list of fortunate people. Judy met Ronnie Bradford on one of the Knock-It-Up hunts in Mississippi when they just happened to have a last minute spot come open. Since then several people have moved away or aged to the point they were no longer hunting and I was able to secure an entire week of 6 spots on the ranch for the 2010-2011 hunting season. I started calling up all my hunting buddies and friends and offering them a spot on the hunt until we ended up with a solid group of friends that made the hunt so much more special.
The motley crew included my favorite hunting partner, who just happens to be my wife (Judy) as well as Denny Adelung, Brian McKinney, and Ryan Mahan. We all met up at the Whataburger in Goliad on Friday Dec 3rd where we also met Ronnie, his wife Joan, and Chris (assistant guide). We made our way to the ranch and arrived around 3pm and began setting things in order and preparing for the next morning. We looked at sheds, trail cam pics and discussed the lay of the land as well as the ranch rules which are few in number and easy to understand. You can kill one buck of any size or any age, one turkey, one Javi and all the pigs and coyotes you can stick. No long tailed cats may be harvested and stay in your stand until Ronnie or Chris comes to pick you up.
The next morning was cold a windy as the cold front had moved in the night before. I found myself sitting in the Merlin stand which I knew well. I had spent 5 full days in the same stand 3 years ago chasing a giant 135 – 140” 6 pt that I wanted bad. Though I saw him several times he was just to clever to come into bow range. As the sun came up I realized just how good the summer rains had been to the ranch and how much the mesquite flat had filled in. The view was not as open as it had been in years past, but it was big buck country for sure.
As I scanned the flat with my binos I caught a buck moving through the tangled mess of mesquite and weesatche trees. He was about 200 yards out and making his way in my direction but he was in no hurry. He moved slowly,stopping often to stick his nose in the air and lick his nostrils to improve his ability to wind any predator (including me) that may lurk in the shadows. He was a sure’nough stud. I estimated him to be over 22” wide with 24”+ beams and long times. He had great mass and kickers on both G2’s and one on his G3. I rough scored him at 150 and there was no doubt this was a deer I would take if given the opportunity.
Over the next 15 minutes I watched as my worst fears became reality. This old boy was smart and this was not his first rodeo. He circled the feeding area downwind of me. Now I was all scentlocked up and had sprayed down good. My clothes never come in the house and I dress outside (which is a bit chilling at 36 degrees with a northern blowing 20 mph). Even with all those precautions he hung up at 29 yards with his nose in the air. He stretched his neck multiple times and constantly licked at his nostrils. He was catching a whiff of something he did not like, but he could not quite make it out. Though he was broadside at 29 yards a mesquite bush covered his vitals and I struggled to convince myself I could thread an arrow through there. All I needed was for him to take one more step and he was mine.
It was not to be. He let out a low snort and turned and began working his way back the direction he came, again very slowly and with all his senses alert and his muscles ready to bound out of harm’s way. No white flag of the tail and no urgency, but he was vacating the area none the less. He was without a doubt a monster, but watching a buck that is over 22” wide walk away from you just makes him look that much bigger. He punished me for 20 minutes as he seemed to taunt me with his slow retreat as if to say “not this year big boy”.
The rest of the morning was fairly uneventful with the exception of a nice 135” 3-1/2 year old ten point that is going to make a great deer in a couple of years. The only other animals spotted were the darned green jays that seem to eat as much of your hand corn as the deer do, and noisy little boogers at that. Then I get a text from Judy. BIG BUCK DOWN. She was so excited, trying to read her text was like trying to solve Chinese arithmetic problems, but I got the idea. She watched him go down and did not want to go see him until I got there.
She was standing at the feeder looking at her arrow stuck in the ground when I arrived and the excitement on her face was worth a million dollars. She was pumped, as she should have been. As we made our way 15 yards into the brush behind the feeder we found a stud of an 8pt with his head stuck in the brush. He carried real nice mass, had awesome brow tines and those dark chocolate horns that we love so much in S. Texas. She made a perfect shot on this mature buck that scored 131-1/8. Not her biggest bow buck but another Pope and Young buck to her credit. Seeing her that excited brings me great joy. It is so much sweater when it is caused by hunting since many men do not have a spouse that shares the same passion about hunting as they do.
TO BE CONTINUED
My Deer of a Lifetime
Everyone has their own idea of “a deer of a lifetime” based on where they hunt, how much cash they have to spend on a hunt as well as their own personal set of criteria about the hunt conditions. I have dreamed of this deer for many years. Not necessarily this exact deer, but the deer that was harvested during a hunt that I would never forget that was shared with friends and family that I care about. It would be the deer that scored much more than anything I had ever harvested and the one that had my heart pounding out of my chest when he walked in and kept me shaking 20 minutes after I released the arrow.
I just harvested my “Deer of a Lifetime”!
For the last three years Judy and I have taken a break from hunting our Whodathunkit Ranch in Edwards County to go on a hunt on the Schaar Ranch in Goliad County. The Schaar is a low fenced cow and cutting horse operation that runs 3 five day hunts for a maximum of 6 people each year. It is one of those hunts that once you are on, you are on for life until you decide to give up your spot. Many of the people hunting the ranch today have been hunting it for 20 years. It was blind luck that we have this opportunity to join in this list of fortunate people. Judy met Ronnie Bradford on one of the Knock-It-Up hunts in Mississippi when they just happened to have a last minute spot come open. Since then several people have moved away or aged to the point they were no longer hunting and I was able to secure an entire week of 6 spots on the ranch for the 2010-2011 hunting season. I started calling up all my hunting buddies and friends and offering them a spot on the hunt until we ended up with a solid group of friends that made the hunt so much more special.
The motley crew included my favorite hunting partner, who just happens to be my wife (Judy) as well as Denny Adelung, Brian McKinney, and Ryan Mahan. We all met up at the Whataburger in Goliad on Friday Dec 3rd where we also met Ronnie, his wife Joan, and Chris (assistant guide). We made our way to the ranch and arrived around 3pm and began setting things in order and preparing for the next morning. We looked at sheds, trail cam pics and discussed the lay of the land as well as the ranch rules which are few in number and easy to understand. You can kill one buck of any size or any age, one turkey, one Javi and all the pigs and coyotes you can stick. No long tailed cats may be harvested and stay in your stand until Ronnie or Chris comes to pick you up.
The next morning was cold a windy as the cold front had moved in the night before. I found myself sitting in the Merlin stand which I knew well. I had spent 5 full days in the same stand 3 years ago chasing a giant 135 – 140” 6 pt that I wanted bad. Though I saw him several times he was just to clever to come into bow range. As the sun came up I realized just how good the summer rains had been to the ranch and how much the mesquite flat had filled in. The view was not as open as it had been in years past, but it was big buck country for sure.
As I scanned the flat with my binos I caught a buck moving through the tangled mess of mesquite and weesatche trees. He was about 200 yards out and making his way in my direction but he was in no hurry. He moved slowly,stopping often to stick his nose in the air and lick his nostrils to improve his ability to wind any predator (including me) that may lurk in the shadows. He was a sure’nough stud. I estimated him to be over 22” wide with 24”+ beams and long times. He had great mass and kickers on both G2’s and one on his G3. I rough scored him at 150 and there was no doubt this was a deer I would take if given the opportunity.
Over the next 15 minutes I watched as my worst fears became reality. This old boy was smart and this was not his first rodeo. He circled the feeding area downwind of me. Now I was all scentlocked up and had sprayed down good. My clothes never come in the house and I dress outside (which is a bit chilling at 36 degrees with a northern blowing 20 mph). Even with all those precautions he hung up at 29 yards with his nose in the air. He stretched his neck multiple times and constantly licked at his nostrils. He was catching a whiff of something he did not like, but he could not quite make it out. Though he was broadside at 29 yards a mesquite bush covered his vitals and I struggled to convince myself I could thread an arrow through there. All I needed was for him to take one more step and he was mine.
It was not to be. He let out a low snort and turned and began working his way back the direction he came, again very slowly and with all his senses alert and his muscles ready to bound out of harm’s way. No white flag of the tail and no urgency, but he was vacating the area none the less. He was without a doubt a monster, but watching a buck that is over 22” wide walk away from you just makes him look that much bigger. He punished me for 20 minutes as he seemed to taunt me with his slow retreat as if to say “not this year big boy”.
The rest of the morning was fairly uneventful with the exception of a nice 135” 3-1/2 year old ten point that is going to make a great deer in a couple of years. The only other animals spotted were the darned green jays that seem to eat as much of your hand corn as the deer do, and noisy little boogers at that. Then I get a text from Judy. BIG BUCK DOWN. She was so excited, trying to read her text was like trying to solve Chinese arithmetic problems, but I got the idea. She watched him go down and did not want to go see him until I got there.
She was standing at the feeder looking at her arrow stuck in the ground when I arrived and the excitement on her face was worth a million dollars. She was pumped, as she should have been. As we made our way 15 yards into the brush behind the feeder we found a stud of an 8pt with his head stuck in the brush. He carried real nice mass, had awesome brow tines and those dark chocolate horns that we love so much in S. Texas. She made a perfect shot on this mature buck that scored 131-1/8. Not her biggest bow buck but another Pope and Young buck to her credit. Seeing her that excited brings me great joy. It is so much sweater when it is caused by hunting since many men do not have a spouse that shares the same passion about hunting as they do.
TO BE CONTINUED
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