Today was a very, very good day...

[WhitewaterDuck]

Pics coming...got work to to first!

[tprice]

Well damn, what time you get off LOL

[WhitewaterDuck]

Dragging, loading, pic taking, trying to find someone with a scale that will weigh something upwards of 300lbs, snd skinning work!

[WhitewaterDuck]

Abby wanted to go to a new church today, so after missing five times on cranes in the frame and killing one that was, of course, not in the frame, we went to the new church. Kids loved it, we loved it, and we happened to see a landowner that gave me permission to hunt turkeys on his place this spring. We said hello, and I showed him pics of Holleman and the turkey he killed there, introduced my family, and inquired about going after fall turkey there. He said sure. I asked him if anyone was hunting there...I was hoping to expand my access to deer since season just closed where I could bow hunt with cell service within 20 min. of hospital. I’d love to bow hunt this place, but I can’t until I get a partner and am able to have a day off call, as cell service is nada in the river bottom where the deer roam. He said there were people deer hunting, but he didn’t know when or where...he just lets people hunt to bless them...I said I’d wear orange and might go sit on the ridge where I have cell service and hunt for turkey/whitetail with my rifle. We leave church, and Abby has a trip to Cheyenne planned with the boys....free afternoon.

I almost talked myself into sitting on the couch and going tomorrow to lessen the chance I’d run into another hunter, but it felt good outside, and I had been recently burned at my bow hunting spot by “waiting till the next day”...see cell cam pics from my bow hunting thread. So I grabbed my stuff and headed out.

I rode the ridge overlooking the river bottom to make sure no one was in there...then I went to the far south end of his property where the river bottom gets absolutely thick as snot and walked over the ridge and settled into a comfy position about 20 feet below the ridge line on a 45 degree hill/mountainside about 100 feet above a spot I found turkey hunting that I wanted to bow hunt. I had small holes through the thick where a few open spots would possibly allow me a shot if I was lucky. I sat and glassed for about 3.5 hours and watched several does in the open grassy pasture and low wet grasslands on the other side of the thick river bottom. The closest doe was about 1000 yards. I had a big group of hen turkeys about 1500 yards north in the bottom keeping me entertained. About two hours before dark, I catch movement to my right...look...orange hat and dood with backpack and rifle slipping into the river bottom about 1200 yards to my north. I watch him through the binos and figure he’s going to blow deer out all over the place. He eases in and I lose him...see him...lose him...see him again and he throws grass into air to check wind. If he turned left and came south, I was going to leave, but he turned right and disappeared behind a bunch of trees and cover. I kept watching to see if I could tell what he was going to do...never saw him. I figure he still hunted north into the wind along the creek bottom just as I would have done had I had cell service there.

At this point, I’ve had my eyes in glass for 10-15 minutes, and I pan back over to look at the woods in front of me hoping he may have bumped something that hopefully made it down to me...and HE...buck not hunter...was just there. All I saw was rack and face and I went straight from glass to gun. Buck fever musta hit hard, because I, without questioning it, thought “300yards.” I struggled to get a good rest on a stool I brought with me on that steep hillside. I finally get settled...zero is 2” high at 100...dead on at 200...4” low at 300 approximately...so I follow a bit of his neck that I can see down, hold just at the top of the neck/body...boom! He stands there. Dammit...”he’s further than 300!” Now all I have is rack/face/throat patch. I shift and try to get better rest...feel good...know he’s about to flee...put crosshairs 3” high...boom! He stands there. Now I’m thinking my gun is off...or he’s further out there than I think. I load another round...realize this deer ain’t going anywhere...dial my scope up to 9x from 6x...take several deep breaths to calm the f down while keeping him in crosshairs. As I calm down, I decide to look with naked eye to see if I can somehow figure out how dang far he is through that jungle...and when I do, I see a fork in a big limb that I’d been locating the deer between...and realized the deer had to be right about...THERE! He was standing in a thick jungle of bedding cover with just his head and neck sticking out, and I could see him with naked eye and realized he was at 200 yards max. Why I went down the 300+ yard path and never looked at him except thru binos and scope can only be attributed to straight up buck fever. It’s hard to tell distances here...turkeys at 80 look like they are at 40 when you can clearly see for miles, but that bit of lost-mind had a lot to do with buck fever. That said, praise God I’m 52 and hunting with a rifle and can still get it! Can NOT buy that feeling at Wal-Mart!

Soooo...I took a deep breath, told myself to hold dead on where I wanted it to hit...and squeezed...boo-wop-yow-ooom! That was a sound I have not heard in years, and it was a good sound...and he disappeared! Glassed the spot for twenty long seconds and saw a leg kicking briefly. I knew the deer was grown, and I thought he was roughly the size of the deer I skull-cracked with my self bow. The self bow deer was in the same category with longer g-2s, but it did not have the brows or mass this deer has.

When I walked up on him...it was the first serious bout of ground growage I’ve really ever experienced. My ‘09 Ohio 8 weighed 280...this fat slob was noticeably bigger bodied. It took me and my Bud 6 rest breaks to drag him 60 yards over level ground, and Wade was wheezing, and I thought I might have the “big one Elizabeth” by the time we got him to the edge of the field. I could not find anyone that was open/operating that had a scale that could weigh him. I’m 220-225lbs buck-naked, and I'm wearing extra large Sitka coveralls in the pic. The deer weighed 300 if he weighed an ounce.

I wish I could have shot him with my bow, but watching that unfold, I don’t think anyone would ever get that close to the deer unless it was rut crazed and on a doe...which won’t happen here due to season going out well before rut. That deer smelled the guy 1200-1500 yards away and the wind wasn’t blowing straight to him...just rolling and swirling through the bottom. It took him 12-15 minutes from the time the hunter got on his level, but he smelled him, stood up, and eased to the edge of the thick to try to pinpoint the danger before committing to going anywhere. Even after two shots, he smelled danger, heard danger, but he wasn’t going to leave that cover until he knew where the danger was. Fortunately for me, I was in the one spot that he was barely exposed to. Thank you God for that! Pics don’t do this toad justice!

[WhitewaterDuck]

; ;

[triplebeard]

Hell yes! Great buck!

[scdiver]

Nice! Good write up too.

[Bad Habit]

Wow- awesome mass on the rack and what a pig. I thought your story was about a muley until the pic came up. Post his score when it's measured but I'm sure he's #1 for you right now.

[bearclaw]

Hell yea

[Tha Dick]

You go boy!! Awesome!!

[JJ1965]

Heck yeah! Great buck!

[Luvin' Labs]

Stud. That's awesome.

[Headhunter]

Congratulations! Awesome buck and great story.

[Palmetto Pride]

Great deer and story.

[jarrett80]

Nice one!

[Catdaddy]

Beautiful buck.

Sent from my moto z4 using Tapatalk

[Rubberhead*]

Yep. Jealous. Oh, and by the way, you look like a river rafting guide...

[WhitewaterDuck]

Wow- awesome mass on the rack and what a pig. I thought your story was about a muley until the pic came up. Post his score when it's measured but I'm sure he's #1 for you right now.

The mulies are hurting from everything I’ve heard and seen this year. Speculation is CWD. I found a big one dead for with no apparent trauma whatsoever two years ago and led GW to it. Saw a bunch of very studly bucks just riding to and from town the last two years. I haven’t seen any mulie bucks bigger than forkies anywhere this year. Taxidermist isn’t seeing half of usual big ones coming in, and people are perplexed and concerned. That said, I’m a southern boy, and I’ll take a big fat heavy whitetail over an equivalent mule deer every day of the week and twice on Sunday. I’m about to go try to shoot another Crane or three...then I’m going by to put a tape on him. And yes...my PB

[Chuck the Duck Slayer]

Sorry WWD but you remind me of Jeff Daniels
dumb-and-dumber-harry.jpg

Congrats on the stud of a deer

[youngjedi]

Thanks for sharing. Congrats!