I posted a picture Tuesday of a buck I was very lucky to take Monday afternoon. The story and hunt will go down as my most favorite one so far. Sorry for the long read but here we go.
I arrived at camp Monday afternoon at 1:30 and it was 70 degrees. I was supposed to have my 11 grandson with me for his first hunt of the year. His mom suprised him Saturday night with a suprise vacation to NYC on Monday.
Arriving at camp there were two kids and Skip playing catch with a football. I was bummed out a little Michael wasn't with me. It sat in the shade with Craig and we watched them play. At about 1:50 Craig said hey we need to go feed in front of the 6x6 where his oldest son was hunting a deer.
So Craig, Skip, Leyton and myself filled up the tailgate feeder and a coupla bags of corn and took off. Skip said anyone grabs a gun? Nope, so we stopped and Craigs truck was closest so he grabbed a gun. We drove across the road looked a several deer on the field in front of the 6x6 and proceeded to corn it. We headed back to camp and when we closed the front gate I said. Hey let's go throw some corn out in front of the tin can. Nobody had hunted there in awhile and I wanted to sit there that evening and see what was hanging around there. So we hang a left and head that way.
The tin can is a bow blind that sits in a finger of trees in a small creek that runs East and West and is about 450 yards long. It's 100 yards wide at the East end and 10 yards wide at the west end. The finger of trees are in our East wheat field. On the south side of the finger the wheat is about 200 yards wide. On the north side the wheat is about 60 yards wide. We have to pull in the field about 100 yards west and north of the finger of trees in the wide open. There is no other option.
We slow down pulling in and there's a small buck standing on the south side of the finger looking into it. We look at him and start forward nothing special. We get almost to the west end of the finger and the small buck we had seen trots over to two other bucks right by the finger on the south side. Im in the back seat and Cant see the other two. Craig and Skip see them and said that one buck was big as they run through the finger to the north side. We are on the south side.
The three bucks are now chasing a doe on the north side and we are on the south sitting in the mule watchin legs running around and trying to see horns. No can do. The deer work to the East about 100 yards and get back in the finger. We get out Craig says here you do the shooting. I said why me? He said I don't know just take the gun. So I took his rifle that I'd never seen before. I haven't shot a deer with a gun in 3 years just a bow. Oh well.
Me and Craig walk thru the finger to the north side and look east and no deer. Skip is on the Southside and no deer. They are in the finger now where it is about 50-75 yards wide with that doe. We walk to the creek in the finger and get a game plan together. We figure they are 125 -50 yards east of us now.
We decide I am going back to the north side and get a rest and they will get to the mule and pull back west drive over to the south fence and drive down it 450 yards , try and get east of them then drive north to the finger and hope this pushes them to me on the north side. I know confusing.
Ok I walk thru the finger to the north side and about 75 yards in front of me is a tree I want to get to. It has a good branch to get a rest on. I walk about 10 yards and hear them start the mule. I take another step or two and I am looking east where the deer are and one of the smaller bucks breaks out of the finger about 150 yards from me into the wheat. He is running about 1/4 speed and angling away from me at about 11o clock not straight away. I throw the gun up looking thru the scope and I see its the smaller buck I had seen.
I bring the scope back to the finger and out runs something. It catches me off guard a bit well a lot. My mind is what the heck, that things huge, can't be that wide, no way, they always look better running away, am I going to shoot, I can't make this shot all in about 2 seconds. He is following the same path as the smaller buck at 11 o clock. Another 1 second passes and I am saying your an idiot not shooting at this thing. Well after 3 seconds of seeing this deer for the first time ever I decide I'm shooting. Well he has now run thru the corner of the wheat field and is now in knee high broom weed still running. About 30 yards in front of him are the mesquite trees and gone for ever! Another 1 second passes I click off the safety and cross hairs at the base of his neck and squeeze the trigger. All this takes 5 seconds. I hear the rifles report and an instant "whop" and I am thinking to myself. That was a whop... No way? Still looking thru the scope the buck is gone I reload and the third buck runs thru my scope. I'm standing there thinking what just happened?
Well they turn the mule off after going no where and walk over to me. The conversation went something like. What happened? I just shot at a monster. I can't tell you how many points all I can tell you he is wide. Really Wide! We've been here 15 years and I ve never seen any thing like it. Really they say! Where was he ? I don't really wan't to tell yall this but I thought I heard a "whop". Where was He? He was in the broom weed and I pointed down to the east. They said way down there I said yes. They said no way. I said yeah and he was running away from me. Running away from you Really? Yeap. I had to take a shot at him he is big.
We wait a few minutes and start walking down there. Their asking you know where he was when you shot and I said of course I do. We walk thru the wheat and get to the broom weed and walk about 25-30 yards into it. I said I shot at him with in 10 yards of here. They looked back and said really, here? Yeap! I took about three more steps and looked to my left and in front of me about 8 yards and saw a white belly. I said looky there and pointed. He was dead right there. His horns were sticking above the broom weed. Holy Cow!!! Unbelievable!
Craig ran over a tried to chest bump as best two fat old guys can we hugged, high fives, laughed like three Jr High kids.
The deer ended up having a 27 7/8 inside spread 24 7/8 & 24 6/8 main beams and scored around 148. +/-. Who cares. What a buck! The most unbelievable part of the story was the shot. We ranged it at 275 yards while running with a borrowed gun. I never made it to that tree for a rest so it was standing free handed. It was a true Hail Mary shot that was answered. No one was and is still suprised that my aim was true.
The best part of it all was it happened with a 9 year old and two of my best friends sobering there when it happened. Them both selflessly making me take the gun. That's what its all about.
Sorry for the long read and poor spelling or structure!
Happy Thanksgiving to ALL!
I arrived at camp Monday afternoon at 1:30 and it was 70 degrees. I was supposed to have my 11 grandson with me for his first hunt of the year. His mom suprised him Saturday night with a suprise vacation to NYC on Monday.
Arriving at camp there were two kids and Skip playing catch with a football. I was bummed out a little Michael wasn't with me. It sat in the shade with Craig and we watched them play. At about 1:50 Craig said hey we need to go feed in front of the 6x6 where his oldest son was hunting a deer.
So Craig, Skip, Leyton and myself filled up the tailgate feeder and a coupla bags of corn and took off. Skip said anyone grabs a gun? Nope, so we stopped and Craigs truck was closest so he grabbed a gun. We drove across the road looked a several deer on the field in front of the 6x6 and proceeded to corn it. We headed back to camp and when we closed the front gate I said. Hey let's go throw some corn out in front of the tin can. Nobody had hunted there in awhile and I wanted to sit there that evening and see what was hanging around there. So we hang a left and head that way.
The tin can is a bow blind that sits in a finger of trees in a small creek that runs East and West and is about 450 yards long. It's 100 yards wide at the East end and 10 yards wide at the west end. The finger of trees are in our East wheat field. On the south side of the finger the wheat is about 200 yards wide. On the north side the wheat is about 60 yards wide. We have to pull in the field about 100 yards west and north of the finger of trees in the wide open. There is no other option.
We slow down pulling in and there's a small buck standing on the south side of the finger looking into it. We look at him and start forward nothing special. We get almost to the west end of the finger and the small buck we had seen trots over to two other bucks right by the finger on the south side. Im in the back seat and Cant see the other two. Craig and Skip see them and said that one buck was big as they run through the finger to the north side. We are on the south side.
The three bucks are now chasing a doe on the north side and we are on the south sitting in the mule watchin legs running around and trying to see horns. No can do. The deer work to the East about 100 yards and get back in the finger. We get out Craig says here you do the shooting. I said why me? He said I don't know just take the gun. So I took his rifle that I'd never seen before. I haven't shot a deer with a gun in 3 years just a bow. Oh well.
Me and Craig walk thru the finger to the north side and look east and no deer. Skip is on the Southside and no deer. They are in the finger now where it is about 50-75 yards wide with that doe. We walk to the creek in the finger and get a game plan together. We figure they are 125 -50 yards east of us now.
We decide I am going back to the north side and get a rest and they will get to the mule and pull back west drive over to the south fence and drive down it 450 yards , try and get east of them then drive north to the finger and hope this pushes them to me on the north side. I know confusing.
Ok I walk thru the finger to the north side and about 75 yards in front of me is a tree I want to get to. It has a good branch to get a rest on. I walk about 10 yards and hear them start the mule. I take another step or two and I am looking east where the deer are and one of the smaller bucks breaks out of the finger about 150 yards from me into the wheat. He is running about 1/4 speed and angling away from me at about 11o clock not straight away. I throw the gun up looking thru the scope and I see its the smaller buck I had seen.
I bring the scope back to the finger and out runs something. It catches me off guard a bit well a lot. My mind is what the heck, that things huge, can't be that wide, no way, they always look better running away, am I going to shoot, I can't make this shot all in about 2 seconds. He is following the same path as the smaller buck at 11 o clock. Another 1 second passes and I am saying your an idiot not shooting at this thing. Well after 3 seconds of seeing this deer for the first time ever I decide I'm shooting. Well he has now run thru the corner of the wheat field and is now in knee high broom weed still running. About 30 yards in front of him are the mesquite trees and gone for ever! Another 1 second passes I click off the safety and cross hairs at the base of his neck and squeeze the trigger. All this takes 5 seconds. I hear the rifles report and an instant "whop" and I am thinking to myself. That was a whop... No way? Still looking thru the scope the buck is gone I reload and the third buck runs thru my scope. I'm standing there thinking what just happened?
Well they turn the mule off after going no where and walk over to me. The conversation went something like. What happened? I just shot at a monster. I can't tell you how many points all I can tell you he is wide. Really Wide! We've been here 15 years and I ve never seen any thing like it. Really they say! Where was he ? I don't really wan't to tell yall this but I thought I heard a "whop". Where was He? He was in the broom weed and I pointed down to the east. They said way down there I said yes. They said no way. I said yeah and he was running away from me. Running away from you Really? Yeap. I had to take a shot at him he is big.
We wait a few minutes and start walking down there. Their asking you know where he was when you shot and I said of course I do. We walk thru the wheat and get to the broom weed and walk about 25-30 yards into it. I said I shot at him with in 10 yards of here. They looked back and said really, here? Yeap! I took about three more steps and looked to my left and in front of me about 8 yards and saw a white belly. I said looky there and pointed. He was dead right there. His horns were sticking above the broom weed. Holy Cow!!! Unbelievable!
Craig ran over a tried to chest bump as best two fat old guys can we hugged, high fives, laughed like three Jr High kids.
The deer ended up having a 27 7/8 inside spread 24 7/8 & 24 6/8 main beams and scored around 148. +/-. Who cares. What a buck! The most unbelievable part of the story was the shot. We ranged it at 275 yards while running with a borrowed gun. I never made it to that tree for a rest so it was standing free handed. It was a true Hail Mary shot that was answered. No one was and is still suprised that my aim was true.
The best part of it all was it happened with a 9 year old and two of my best friends sobering there when it happened. Them both selflessly making me take the gun. That's what its all about.
Sorry for the long read and poor spelling or structure!
Happy Thanksgiving to ALL!
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