agrvarminthunter
Active Member
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- 132
We were staying with a buddy of mine in town so we didn't have to rough it out. I was prompted to hunt deer here after being in a coyote tournament last year and seeing a 30? ten point as well as several other bucks. The first morning the game warden catches us at sun up and checks licenses and everything. We go over that hill and see 8 doe, then look across and another 3 does. It was about 80 degrees down there and the deer bedded by 9 or so. We did see a big buck with about 20 does at 10 or so opening morning, but they gave us the slip. We then spent all day glassing and didn't see a thing. Right before dark we had two nice bucks jump across the road and never saw them again. While trying to pursue them I had the opportunity to hurdle a rattlesnake striking at me the deer had ran over. The second day we decided to try the area where I had seen that big buck the year before. At sunlight we saw 3 doe, within half an hour another 8 doe, then we went to sit on this hill and glass down where the 8 doe had headed. Were sitting up there glassing and dad says there's a deer, Joel says it's a buck. I look and we can determine it is a buck but he is about 1.5 miles and we can't tell how big. I told the guys I'm going after him. Dad looks at me and goes are you sure that is a long ways. I replied ?Only about a mile?. They laughed and through the hills I headed. I get over one draw and have 11 doe watching me walk towards that buck. I glass and glass, no bucks, time to continue on. Once I left my dad and Joel I guess they figured out there were 2 more bucks totaling three bucks. I kept looking back every once in a while at Joel to make sure I am headed the right way because the country looks way different than it did from up on the hill where they were at. He keeps giving me the keep going sign so I do. I pop up over this sand hill and there is a deer on the top of the next one. I pull my binoculars up as he is going over the hill and it is a spike. I am not for sure he doesn't have a fork though and I walked this far I am going to make sure he is a spike. I take about ten steps to finish over the sand hill and there are two bucks at 8 and 12 steps below me in the draw. I pull up on the bigger buck and squeeze the trigger, misfire (primer doesn't fire). The deer don't even hear me. I work the action of my knight muzzleloader again and squeeze the trigger. Sand flies over the top of his back. (Holy crap I just missed the biggest buck I have ever had in my sights. Hindsight I was 12 yards straight downhill, my muzzleloader was probably about 8 inches high in this situation). I drop down to my knees find my powder and bullet and manage to reload. The bucks are standing 60 yards broadside, but the little one is in front of the bigger one. He steps down and this time I connect because he hunkers up on his front end and goes over the hill. I go to reload my last quick load and I stick the bullet in before the powder I am so excited. Well, crap. I hear this crashing through the scrub oak 40 yards away and the biggest buck I have ever seen in my life stops 50 yards away broadside takes a look at me and goes over the hill where the other three bucks did. All this country looks just alike and I have no clue my buck is down 50 yards the other side of that hill, so I get out my marking tape and mark the spot where I shot from, the spot where he was first standing and the spot he was standing when I shot him. I see tiny drops of blood so I know he was hit. I am following tracks with my head down and nearly walk over him in the wide open before I see him down. I manage to get the guys attention up on the hill by waving my arms. My buddy grabs my pack and about 6 waters and heads my way. First thing he says to me when he gets there is ?Only about a mile, huh? I admitted it was probably about a mile and a half. We get him gutted and we have already decided this one is a wall hanger for sure, so we manage to tie ropes to his front legs and hold his head by the antlers and spend about an hour almost carrying him out so we don't damage the cape. I am still on an adrenaline rush from this one because this was only the second buck I had ever killed. A 3 point last year was my first.
My dad with me (The one that got me addicted to hunting)
He is 27" wide
Let me have some guesses at what you will think he scores. I didn't get a chance to score before I left him at taxidermist, but maybe I will get down there and score him sometime soon.
My dad with me (The one that got me addicted to hunting)
He is 27" wide
Let me have some guesses at what you will think he scores. I didn't get a chance to score before I left him at taxidermist, but maybe I will get down there and score him sometime soon.
