B
BigHungDog
Guest
HOLY CRIME BATMAN!!! SOMEBODY CALL THE POLICE!!! SLAP MY GRANDMA AND CALL HER NELLY!!!
Guys,
I've been a long time reader of these posts but I've never actually posted anything myself. That is until now. I never felt like I had anything earth shattering to say until now. But here it is - I SAW THE BIGGEST FRIGGIN MULEY I'VE EVER SEEN this past weekend. This King Toad is definitely a 250+ deer. I am still in shock over what I saw this weekend. It was unbelievable. I'll give you the play by play and share the experience with all of you. I probably shouldn't do this, but I am just so darn excited I could pee my pants and I just had to tell somebody about it. I tried to tell my wife, but she just thinks I am crazy and gives me funny looks when I explain it to her.
I was drawn for the East Kaibab early rifle hunt. As a diligent hunter I thought I should go do some early scouting and take a good hard look at the recent fire from this summer. What I really wanted to see was if any grass had started growing in yet. Well, there is some very nice grass growing in some areas and the deer are definitely feeding on it. Some areas seem to have burned too hot and I didn't see any new grass coming up yet. There are also large pockets of unburned areas within the overall large burn. These pockets are holding some huge deer. When I saw huge, I mean huge. I saw at least a dozen deer that were at least 28" wide and probably 3 or 4 that were better than 30" wide. I would have taken any of them until I saw the King Toad. I don't know what else to call him other than a King Toad. This guy was probably 32" wide, had huge mass and tons of junk on him. When I say junk, I mean enough to hang all of my Christmas ornaments on him. I tried to do a rough count of how many points were on him, but it was a little bit difficult to count through all of the velvet. The points seemed so close together that they were touching and just blended into one giant mass of junk. From my rough estimate I would say he had 12 points on one side and 9 on the other with what looks like a decent drop tine on his left side. I didn't get a real good look at the drop tine so I can't be so sure about it.
Here is how I found the King Toad. This in itself is quite a story. First I had to shell out $300 for my wife and her best friend to have a day at the spa so I could get out of the house with my bird dog for 3 days. I take my dog every where. I've found that bribery works well for both dogs and women. I hit the road with a fresh can of Copenhagen and a bag of Taco Bell burritos that I had put in the freezer the night before and my favorite person - my dog. She is much better conversation than anyone else I know. I started at Jacob Lake lodge to have a cold beer and shoot the breeze with anyone willing. The only willing person was an old man who told the most ridiculous stories of lost love and fortunes. I sat there listening and hoping he wouldn't keel over and die in front of me. I guess he liked me and he started to say that he "knew these hills better than any deer alive." So I took a chance and asked him if he had seen anything big "out in yonder hills." He said he had seen quite a few and would be willing to share his secrets with me if I would "kindly oblige him another beer." I felt sorry for the old guy having to resort to con games so I bought him the beer and sat there and shut up. He proceeded to tell me where he had seen a few "big 'uns." I took the bait and after a while politely left the lodge. I really wanted to see the recent burn and since the area he had told me about was in the northern half of the burn, I figured what the heck, I'd take a look. I took the 200A road away from the lodge to the 258 and went west to the 225. The old guy kept going on and on about the "Big Ridge" in section 11. I figured that would be as good of a place to glass as any so I made about a 1 mile hike east from the road and set up my easy chair and cooler full of Coors Light. Now I know what you are thinking at this point - this guy must have been drunk when he says he saw the King Toad. I wasn't. I only made it through half of my first beer when I started seeing some decent deer. Once I see deer I can't even think about beer. I'm not much good at multi tasking - just ask my wife. From my vantage point I first saw a nice bachelor heard of 4. Two of them would hang on anyone's wall. Then I saw a few does that had a couple of fawns. Those fawns are just so cute. I think my dog wanted to snuggle up with them, but I made her stay at my side. I saw another bachelor heard that had three small bucks and one nice shooter. I was watching the shooter when I saw something coming up about 50 yards behind them. I couldn't tell how big he was yet, so I just kept watching. He wasn't moving fast and I couldn't get much of a view of him. When he was about 200 yards away from me, he came into the clear. And HOLY SMOKES BATMAN!!! This guy was huge. This was the King Toad. I just kept watching him and getting more and more excited. I was counting the points and telling my dog about them and that's when it all went bad. I was so excited telling my dog about this deer and she could tell I was excited. I think she thought I was says "birds, birds, birds" and she started getting excited too. I told her to sit and stay, but then she saw movement from the King Toad and it was too much for her. She barked, ran a circle around me and broke in the direction where she saw movement. The King Toad ran off and that was the last I saw of him. My adreneline was going so much my hands were shaking and my palms were sweating. I poured out my half finished now warm beer, packed up my chair and binos and headed back to the truck parked on 225. I went back to the lodge hoping to find the old guy and thank him, but he was no where to be found.
I then went home and proceeded to try to tell my wife and her friend about the monster deer I had seen. She just looked at me probably wondering which divorce attorney to call first and said to her friend "He gets like this every fall. It just usually doesn't happen during the summer. I'm sorry my husband is a nut." My dog and I retreated to our sanctuary - the garage. The dog was in trouble too - as an accomplice to my craziness and she was happy to join me in the garage. We put away the gear, sat in the Lazy Boy (every garage needs one), turned on the TV (every garage needs one of those too) and proceeded to finish off the beer I had planned on drinking out in "them hills yonder."
Guys, I don't know about you. But I plan on the greatest hunting season I've had since I was 12 and first time hunting with grandpa. I just wish grandpa could have been there to see that King Toad with me.
Hunt safe and remember that it is more about the memories and our traditions than about anything else.
Big Hung Dog
Guys,
I've been a long time reader of these posts but I've never actually posted anything myself. That is until now. I never felt like I had anything earth shattering to say until now. But here it is - I SAW THE BIGGEST FRIGGIN MULEY I'VE EVER SEEN this past weekend. This King Toad is definitely a 250+ deer. I am still in shock over what I saw this weekend. It was unbelievable. I'll give you the play by play and share the experience with all of you. I probably shouldn't do this, but I am just so darn excited I could pee my pants and I just had to tell somebody about it. I tried to tell my wife, but she just thinks I am crazy and gives me funny looks when I explain it to her.
I was drawn for the East Kaibab early rifle hunt. As a diligent hunter I thought I should go do some early scouting and take a good hard look at the recent fire from this summer. What I really wanted to see was if any grass had started growing in yet. Well, there is some very nice grass growing in some areas and the deer are definitely feeding on it. Some areas seem to have burned too hot and I didn't see any new grass coming up yet. There are also large pockets of unburned areas within the overall large burn. These pockets are holding some huge deer. When I saw huge, I mean huge. I saw at least a dozen deer that were at least 28" wide and probably 3 or 4 that were better than 30" wide. I would have taken any of them until I saw the King Toad. I don't know what else to call him other than a King Toad. This guy was probably 32" wide, had huge mass and tons of junk on him. When I say junk, I mean enough to hang all of my Christmas ornaments on him. I tried to do a rough count of how many points were on him, but it was a little bit difficult to count through all of the velvet. The points seemed so close together that they were touching and just blended into one giant mass of junk. From my rough estimate I would say he had 12 points on one side and 9 on the other with what looks like a decent drop tine on his left side. I didn't get a real good look at the drop tine so I can't be so sure about it.
Here is how I found the King Toad. This in itself is quite a story. First I had to shell out $300 for my wife and her best friend to have a day at the spa so I could get out of the house with my bird dog for 3 days. I take my dog every where. I've found that bribery works well for both dogs and women. I hit the road with a fresh can of Copenhagen and a bag of Taco Bell burritos that I had put in the freezer the night before and my favorite person - my dog. She is much better conversation than anyone else I know. I started at Jacob Lake lodge to have a cold beer and shoot the breeze with anyone willing. The only willing person was an old man who told the most ridiculous stories of lost love and fortunes. I sat there listening and hoping he wouldn't keel over and die in front of me. I guess he liked me and he started to say that he "knew these hills better than any deer alive." So I took a chance and asked him if he had seen anything big "out in yonder hills." He said he had seen quite a few and would be willing to share his secrets with me if I would "kindly oblige him another beer." I felt sorry for the old guy having to resort to con games so I bought him the beer and sat there and shut up. He proceeded to tell me where he had seen a few "big 'uns." I took the bait and after a while politely left the lodge. I really wanted to see the recent burn and since the area he had told me about was in the northern half of the burn, I figured what the heck, I'd take a look. I took the 200A road away from the lodge to the 258 and went west to the 225. The old guy kept going on and on about the "Big Ridge" in section 11. I figured that would be as good of a place to glass as any so I made about a 1 mile hike east from the road and set up my easy chair and cooler full of Coors Light. Now I know what you are thinking at this point - this guy must have been drunk when he says he saw the King Toad. I wasn't. I only made it through half of my first beer when I started seeing some decent deer. Once I see deer I can't even think about beer. I'm not much good at multi tasking - just ask my wife. From my vantage point I first saw a nice bachelor heard of 4. Two of them would hang on anyone's wall. Then I saw a few does that had a couple of fawns. Those fawns are just so cute. I think my dog wanted to snuggle up with them, but I made her stay at my side. I saw another bachelor heard that had three small bucks and one nice shooter. I was watching the shooter when I saw something coming up about 50 yards behind them. I couldn't tell how big he was yet, so I just kept watching. He wasn't moving fast and I couldn't get much of a view of him. When he was about 200 yards away from me, he came into the clear. And HOLY SMOKES BATMAN!!! This guy was huge. This was the King Toad. I just kept watching him and getting more and more excited. I was counting the points and telling my dog about them and that's when it all went bad. I was so excited telling my dog about this deer and she could tell I was excited. I think she thought I was says "birds, birds, birds" and she started getting excited too. I told her to sit and stay, but then she saw movement from the King Toad and it was too much for her. She barked, ran a circle around me and broke in the direction where she saw movement. The King Toad ran off and that was the last I saw of him. My adreneline was going so much my hands were shaking and my palms were sweating. I poured out my half finished now warm beer, packed up my chair and binos and headed back to the truck parked on 225. I went back to the lodge hoping to find the old guy and thank him, but he was no where to be found.
I then went home and proceeded to try to tell my wife and her friend about the monster deer I had seen. She just looked at me probably wondering which divorce attorney to call first and said to her friend "He gets like this every fall. It just usually doesn't happen during the summer. I'm sorry my husband is a nut." My dog and I retreated to our sanctuary - the garage. The dog was in trouble too - as an accomplice to my craziness and she was happy to join me in the garage. We put away the gear, sat in the Lazy Boy (every garage needs one), turned on the TV (every garage needs one of those too) and proceeded to finish off the beer I had planned on drinking out in "them hills yonder."
Guys, I don't know about you. But I plan on the greatest hunting season I've had since I was 12 and first time hunting with grandpa. I just wish grandpa could have been there to see that King Toad with me.
Hunt safe and remember that it is more about the memories and our traditions than about anything else.
Big Hung Dog
