DonMartin
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I had the good fortune this year to assist a friend of mine, Mesa AZ resident Bill Scott, aka "Scotty" on his Strip deer hunt.
Scotty is 76 years old and drew this tag with 14 bonus points. (Wonder why I can't draw--I've got 16!).
Also going on the hunt was one of my guides, Tad Levandowski, who is also from Kingman.
A couple of friends of mine who live in St. George, Colby and Dan, also were going to come up for the weekend and help with the glassing. Turned out they hit the jackpot!
Scotty and I looked at 9 different bucks the day before the season opened and I saw a really nice mature buck that I thought Scotty would be interested in.
On opening morning Scotty, Tad and I were back in the same area, but didn't see the big buck.
We glassed all morning and other than a couple of small bucks, didn't see anything of interest until about 10 a.m.
One of the young bucks we spotted on our hunt.
That's when I glassed up what looked like a HUGE deer across a canyon. The buck was headed to a small patch of trees way up on a mountain. I couldn't tell how many points the big rack had, but I could sure see a lot of glint in the morning sun, and I was sure that it was a shooter buck.
Of course the problem was he was way up on a very steep mountain and would be an extremely tough hike to get to him. And while Scotty is in great shape for a 76 year old man, I knew it would be a challenge to get where this big buck lived.
Later that morning we were met by Colby and Dan, who had taken the day off work to come down and help glass.
They had some good news. While glassing from a mountain top at daylight they had found a buck they thought we might want to take a look at.
They even had video footage of the buck feeding, and it didn't take me long to decide we definitely wanted to get a closer look at him.
The boys said they thought the buck was 28-30 inches wide, and they felt he would score at least 190. What amazed me was they had found this buck, who was with a 3X3 and 7 does, at over a mile away!
What more can you say about great glass? On these kinds of hunts, where deer are in thick cover or in old burns, great glass is absolutely essential for finding big old bucks.
We took a quick break for lunch then headed out to where they had last observed the buck.
Our plan was really simple. They would be high on a mountain with the big glass, while we would come in from below.
Well it didn't take the boys very long to find the buck again.
He had moved less than 50 yards and was bedded down in the shade of some tall turbinella oaks.
We got the scoop on where the buck was at and started to make our move while the boys watched and videotaped the stalk from above. The wind was shifting and swirling where we were and we had to do kind of an end around the mountain to avoid being detected by the bucks and their does.
After a while it became painfully obvious that the boys had a much better view of the basin the deer were in than we did.
Finding land marks that we both could see just wasn't working.
It was frustrating when you know there is a big buck below you, plainly visible to the "eyes in the sky" but you can't see him!
Finally, after some very slow and deliberate walking and glassing it was Tad that first located the buck.
I had been glassing the tall, thick brush and burned trees out to 400 yards, when the entire time, the buck was just 130 yards away from us!
The boys on the mountain were going crazy as it looked to them that we were literally on top of this buck.
When Tad told me where the buck was at, I quickly found him. He was standing up and all I could see was a glistening black nose, a huge white forehead, and a set of tall, antlers with deep forks!
It took me about three seconds to say to Scotty, "You need to take this buck!"
Problem was Scotty couldn't see him.
I gave him my walking stick to get a rest on, but that didn't work. Try as he did, Scotty just could not see the buck! It turned out that he was looking for an entire deer, not just a head and antlers.
I knew that it was just a matter of time before the old buck was going to blow out of there. Bucks don't get big and old making a lot of mistakes, and I'm sure this buck thought he was completely hid and wasn't visible.
Finally I told Scotty we had to move. We had to find him a rest on one of the many burnt trees that were in the area, but moving might just cause this old bruiser to take off.
It was a chance I felt we had to take. (NOTE: I had asked Scotty if he wanted to put my Model 25S Harris bipod on his old pre-64 model 70 in 270 caliber, but Scotty declined)
In hindsight, if we had the bipod on his rifle, Scotty could have sat down and with the legs extended on the bipod, could have got a steady rest.
I also have a three legged shooting aid called Bog Pod that I will bring along in future hunts.
Anyway, we moved about 20 feet when I spotted a burnt tree that was about 6 inches in diameter. I checked it and it was sturdy and strong.
I got Scotty up to it and told him to use it as a rest.
Even doing that Scotty couldn't see the buck, which was still looking right at us.
Suddenly I heard Tad say, "He's starting to walk away" and with that I looked up to see the buck nonchalantly walking quartering away.
"Shoot him Scotty!"
With that, the first round was fired.
Dust flew up in front of the buck and he turned around and started walking straight towards us. Then he stopped and turned broadside.
The next couple of shots were just over the buck's back, but strangely, he didn't run. He just stood there and then slowly turned.
"Don't shoot," both Tad and told him, but Scotty wasn't going to let this big buck get away.
The next shot was a perfect "Texas heart shot" and down went the buck. I wasn't sure if the shot was that good, so I told Scotty to shoot again. As before the round sailed just over the now down buck's back. But turned out that another shot wasn't necessary.
The Barnes TSX bullet penetrated through the buck's entire body, and in short order he expired.
As we walked up towards the buck it was obvious that there was no ground shrinkage with him.
Mater of fact, he just got bigger!
What we thought was a 4 x 4 buck with a big set of eyeguards, turned out to be a buck with a double set of eyeguards and a small point on the main beam that curled down. The front points of the rack both curled in, so Scotty gave the buck the nick name of "Curley."
The buck actually has 7 scorable points on the left antler and 6 scorable points on the right!
Later back at camp, Colby scored the old buck. He has over 14 inches of eyeguards and 36 inches of mass.
His outside spread was exactly 28 inches wide. All total, the buck scored (gross) 193 2/8 points!
The buck is the largest that Scotty has ever taken.
Scotty wanted renowned wildlife artist Henry Aguilar of Henry's Artistic Wildlife in Kingman to do the mount for him.
After the buck was caped out, we noticed that the wear on the teeth of this buck indicated he was very old.
We are going to send in a tooth to the Arizona Game & Fish Department, but I'll be taking the jaws out to the Region III office in Kingman where Jeff Pebworth will give us an estimate on how old he thinks the buck is.
Note: A couple of days later while we were hunting for a mountain lion we had got on a trail camera, I met up with one of Clay Bundy's guides and his young client. I told them the location of where I had spotted that big buck.
I figured that since his client was young, they could make the hike in to where that big buck was last seen. I hope they got him.
Scotty and his 2014 AZ Strip buck
AWO guide Tad Levandowski holds Scotty's once in a lifetime buck!
Laura Borden holds Scotty's antlers!
Scotty secures his big buck for the ride back to camp
This was a short hunt, thanks to some great glassing on the part of my friends and mule deer affectionados Colby and Dan, Scotty ended up with a buck of a lifetime!
Don Martin
Arizona Wildlife Outfitters
Scotty is 76 years old and drew this tag with 14 bonus points. (Wonder why I can't draw--I've got 16!).
Also going on the hunt was one of my guides, Tad Levandowski, who is also from Kingman.
A couple of friends of mine who live in St. George, Colby and Dan, also were going to come up for the weekend and help with the glassing. Turned out they hit the jackpot!
Scotty and I looked at 9 different bucks the day before the season opened and I saw a really nice mature buck that I thought Scotty would be interested in.
On opening morning Scotty, Tad and I were back in the same area, but didn't see the big buck.
We glassed all morning and other than a couple of small bucks, didn't see anything of interest until about 10 a.m.
One of the young bucks we spotted on our hunt.
That's when I glassed up what looked like a HUGE deer across a canyon. The buck was headed to a small patch of trees way up on a mountain. I couldn't tell how many points the big rack had, but I could sure see a lot of glint in the morning sun, and I was sure that it was a shooter buck.
Of course the problem was he was way up on a very steep mountain and would be an extremely tough hike to get to him. And while Scotty is in great shape for a 76 year old man, I knew it would be a challenge to get where this big buck lived.
Later that morning we were met by Colby and Dan, who had taken the day off work to come down and help glass.
They had some good news. While glassing from a mountain top at daylight they had found a buck they thought we might want to take a look at.
They even had video footage of the buck feeding, and it didn't take me long to decide we definitely wanted to get a closer look at him.
The boys said they thought the buck was 28-30 inches wide, and they felt he would score at least 190. What amazed me was they had found this buck, who was with a 3X3 and 7 does, at over a mile away!
What more can you say about great glass? On these kinds of hunts, where deer are in thick cover or in old burns, great glass is absolutely essential for finding big old bucks.
We took a quick break for lunch then headed out to where they had last observed the buck.
Our plan was really simple. They would be high on a mountain with the big glass, while we would come in from below.
Well it didn't take the boys very long to find the buck again.
He had moved less than 50 yards and was bedded down in the shade of some tall turbinella oaks.
We got the scoop on where the buck was at and started to make our move while the boys watched and videotaped the stalk from above. The wind was shifting and swirling where we were and we had to do kind of an end around the mountain to avoid being detected by the bucks and their does.
After a while it became painfully obvious that the boys had a much better view of the basin the deer were in than we did.
Finding land marks that we both could see just wasn't working.
It was frustrating when you know there is a big buck below you, plainly visible to the "eyes in the sky" but you can't see him!
Finally, after some very slow and deliberate walking and glassing it was Tad that first located the buck.
I had been glassing the tall, thick brush and burned trees out to 400 yards, when the entire time, the buck was just 130 yards away from us!
The boys on the mountain were going crazy as it looked to them that we were literally on top of this buck.
When Tad told me where the buck was at, I quickly found him. He was standing up and all I could see was a glistening black nose, a huge white forehead, and a set of tall, antlers with deep forks!
It took me about three seconds to say to Scotty, "You need to take this buck!"
Problem was Scotty couldn't see him.
I gave him my walking stick to get a rest on, but that didn't work. Try as he did, Scotty just could not see the buck! It turned out that he was looking for an entire deer, not just a head and antlers.
I knew that it was just a matter of time before the old buck was going to blow out of there. Bucks don't get big and old making a lot of mistakes, and I'm sure this buck thought he was completely hid and wasn't visible.
Finally I told Scotty we had to move. We had to find him a rest on one of the many burnt trees that were in the area, but moving might just cause this old bruiser to take off.
It was a chance I felt we had to take. (NOTE: I had asked Scotty if he wanted to put my Model 25S Harris bipod on his old pre-64 model 70 in 270 caliber, but Scotty declined)
In hindsight, if we had the bipod on his rifle, Scotty could have sat down and with the legs extended on the bipod, could have got a steady rest.
I also have a three legged shooting aid called Bog Pod that I will bring along in future hunts.
Anyway, we moved about 20 feet when I spotted a burnt tree that was about 6 inches in diameter. I checked it and it was sturdy and strong.
I got Scotty up to it and told him to use it as a rest.
Even doing that Scotty couldn't see the buck, which was still looking right at us.
Suddenly I heard Tad say, "He's starting to walk away" and with that I looked up to see the buck nonchalantly walking quartering away.
"Shoot him Scotty!"
With that, the first round was fired.
Dust flew up in front of the buck and he turned around and started walking straight towards us. Then he stopped and turned broadside.
The next couple of shots were just over the buck's back, but strangely, he didn't run. He just stood there and then slowly turned.
"Don't shoot," both Tad and told him, but Scotty wasn't going to let this big buck get away.
The next shot was a perfect "Texas heart shot" and down went the buck. I wasn't sure if the shot was that good, so I told Scotty to shoot again. As before the round sailed just over the now down buck's back. But turned out that another shot wasn't necessary.
The Barnes TSX bullet penetrated through the buck's entire body, and in short order he expired.
As we walked up towards the buck it was obvious that there was no ground shrinkage with him.
Mater of fact, he just got bigger!
What we thought was a 4 x 4 buck with a big set of eyeguards, turned out to be a buck with a double set of eyeguards and a small point on the main beam that curled down. The front points of the rack both curled in, so Scotty gave the buck the nick name of "Curley."
The buck actually has 7 scorable points on the left antler and 6 scorable points on the right!
Later back at camp, Colby scored the old buck. He has over 14 inches of eyeguards and 36 inches of mass.
His outside spread was exactly 28 inches wide. All total, the buck scored (gross) 193 2/8 points!
The buck is the largest that Scotty has ever taken.
Scotty wanted renowned wildlife artist Henry Aguilar of Henry's Artistic Wildlife in Kingman to do the mount for him.
After the buck was caped out, we noticed that the wear on the teeth of this buck indicated he was very old.
We are going to send in a tooth to the Arizona Game & Fish Department, but I'll be taking the jaws out to the Region III office in Kingman where Jeff Pebworth will give us an estimate on how old he thinks the buck is.
Note: A couple of days later while we were hunting for a mountain lion we had got on a trail camera, I met up with one of Clay Bundy's guides and his young client. I told them the location of where I had spotted that big buck.
I figured that since his client was young, they could make the hike in to where that big buck was last seen. I hope they got him.
Scotty and his 2014 AZ Strip buck
AWO guide Tad Levandowski holds Scotty's once in a lifetime buck!
Laura Borden holds Scotty's antlers!
Scotty secures his big buck for the ride back to camp
This was a short hunt, thanks to some great glassing on the part of my friends and mule deer affectionados Colby and Dan, Scotty ended up with a buck of a lifetime!
Don Martin
Arizona Wildlife Outfitters
