"Your buck is here, Rob"
That's the text message TBHer Codie sent at 4:24 Saturday afternoon that let me know the buck I was hunting was at another feeder setup instead of mine. It was a text that put a wet blanket around the high expectations I had about the afternoon's hunt.
You see, I had come to full draw on my target buck on Saturday morning, only to have him turn and walk straight away from me and never return. It was a little bit frustrating to not close the deal after being so close, but on the other hand, having him at 17 yards made me realize how special this deer truly was.
Anyway, back to the afternoon's hunt. Codie sent me a series of other text messages about five minutes later that said that another buck had escorted my target buck away from his setup. This gave me a little hope, as GoogleEarth indicates that my blind was approximately 2,498.68 feet away from his- something a buck could cover easily in an evening.
Sure enough, exactly one hour later, at 5:24, the beast stepped out of the brush and onto the old, abandoned well pad that I was hunting on. He had his ears pinned back and quickly ran off a few other deer before freshening a few scrapes about 30-40 yards from me. Before long he was eating corn right beneath me. I came to full-draw with no problems and touched my release off when he was quartering away at 15 yards. I watched the lumenok bury just behind his shoulder and knew that the shot was true. I watched as the giant buck crashed about 30 yards from where he was shot! I held my nerves together ok before the shot, but afterwards I was shaking like a leaf- so much so that it was difficult to even send a text message!
The biggest surprise of the night came when we were scoring him, as he scored 200" right on the nose. I had estimated that he would score 191, so the extra 9" was unexpected and certainly a pleasant surprise! We couldn't believe it when we punched the last measurement into the calculator and it registered 200" even!
This is my biggest buck to-date by over 52", and one that I will always be proud of. Unfortunately my dad needed to leave town for the weekend and wasn't able to be with me when I arrowed him. He had sat with me on every hunt except this one as we waited for the buck to show, including Saturday morning's hunt when I came to full draw, so I really wish he would have been there. That being said, it was fun to have a lot of friends down at the ranch with me when it happened, and my dad was back first thing Sunday am so he got to see him before it got dropped off at the taxidermist. My parents have done an incredible job managing the deer on our ranch and I really think the best is yet to come! (Yes, it is high-fenced for those of you who will ask)
Spread: 20 3/8
Left Side:
MB: 24 2/8
G1: 5 6/8
G2: 13 2/8
G3: 11 2/8
G4: 6 2/8
G5: ------
Abnormal: 8 7/8
H1: 5 4/8
H2: 4 6/8
H3: 3 7/8
H4: 3 5/8
Right Side:
MB: 24
G1: 6 4/8
G2: 10 6/8
G3: 10 4/8
G4: 8
G5: 4 2/8
Abnormal: 5 4/8
Abnormal: 4 4/8
H1: 5 3/8
H2: 4 5/8
H3: 4 2/8
H4: 4
There is a flare on a neighboring property and the moisture in the air Saturday evening reflected its light and made for an awesome photo opportunity. Thanks to Codie for taking some of these awesome photos!
That's the text message TBHer Codie sent at 4:24 Saturday afternoon that let me know the buck I was hunting was at another feeder setup instead of mine. It was a text that put a wet blanket around the high expectations I had about the afternoon's hunt.
You see, I had come to full draw on my target buck on Saturday morning, only to have him turn and walk straight away from me and never return. It was a little bit frustrating to not close the deal after being so close, but on the other hand, having him at 17 yards made me realize how special this deer truly was.
Anyway, back to the afternoon's hunt. Codie sent me a series of other text messages about five minutes later that said that another buck had escorted my target buck away from his setup. This gave me a little hope, as GoogleEarth indicates that my blind was approximately 2,498.68 feet away from his- something a buck could cover easily in an evening.
Sure enough, exactly one hour later, at 5:24, the beast stepped out of the brush and onto the old, abandoned well pad that I was hunting on. He had his ears pinned back and quickly ran off a few other deer before freshening a few scrapes about 30-40 yards from me. Before long he was eating corn right beneath me. I came to full-draw with no problems and touched my release off when he was quartering away at 15 yards. I watched the lumenok bury just behind his shoulder and knew that the shot was true. I watched as the giant buck crashed about 30 yards from where he was shot! I held my nerves together ok before the shot, but afterwards I was shaking like a leaf- so much so that it was difficult to even send a text message!
The biggest surprise of the night came when we were scoring him, as he scored 200" right on the nose. I had estimated that he would score 191, so the extra 9" was unexpected and certainly a pleasant surprise! We couldn't believe it when we punched the last measurement into the calculator and it registered 200" even!
This is my biggest buck to-date by over 52", and one that I will always be proud of. Unfortunately my dad needed to leave town for the weekend and wasn't able to be with me when I arrowed him. He had sat with me on every hunt except this one as we waited for the buck to show, including Saturday morning's hunt when I came to full draw, so I really wish he would have been there. That being said, it was fun to have a lot of friends down at the ranch with me when it happened, and my dad was back first thing Sunday am so he got to see him before it got dropped off at the taxidermist. My parents have done an incredible job managing the deer on our ranch and I really think the best is yet to come! (Yes, it is high-fenced for those of you who will ask)
Spread: 20 3/8
Left Side:
MB: 24 2/8
G1: 5 6/8
G2: 13 2/8
G3: 11 2/8
G4: 6 2/8
G5: ------
Abnormal: 8 7/8
H1: 5 4/8
H2: 4 6/8
H3: 3 7/8
H4: 3 5/8
Right Side:
MB: 24
G1: 6 4/8
G2: 10 6/8
G3: 10 4/8
G4: 8
G5: 4 2/8
Abnormal: 5 4/8
Abnormal: 4 4/8
H1: 5 3/8
H2: 4 5/8
H3: 4 2/8
H4: 4
There is a flare on a neighboring property and the moisture in the air Saturday evening reflected its light and made for an awesome photo opportunity. Thanks to Codie for taking some of these awesome photos!
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