Well, I am just back from my days hunt. Too sick to hunt yesterday, opening day.
Decided to take a friend over to a ranch and shoot some whitetail does. Hoped to find one of the big whitetails I has seen in archery season, but since I had a limited entry mule deer buck tag, a whitetail buck was low on the priority list.
At least, until this guy showed up.
View attachment 5435
Here is the quick story.
I asked a friend to join me, Bernie. He is suffering from a hip replacement surgery gone bad, and can barely walk, and does so painfully and with the aid of a cane.
The plan was for me to push a brushy creek bottom to him. The first push was a small stretch of creek, so I didn't even bring my rifle, not wanting to ease Bernie out of any shooting. Dumb, I know, but true.
On the edge of the last patch of brush, I see this big guy laying down looking towards me at a little over 100 yards. Not having my rifle, I did my best to push the buck to Bernie.
The plan worked great. The buck ran past Bernie at 125 yards, stopping in the only place where a farm building would be in the background, so Bernie held off. I admire his restraint and commitment to safety.
We pushed the patch of creek where we saw this buck had ran to, but did not see him there. We figured that our one chance had come and gone.
We went back to our first spot and pushed for some more does a few hours later. This time I took my rifle, on the off chance I saw another shooter buck.
I dropped Bernie at the stand and made the big loop again. As I neared the same patch of brush from where I flushed the big buck this morning, this big guy was bedded in the exact same spot, looking at me. I circled east, hoping I would again push the buck past Bernie. The buck watched me at 100 yards.
This time when he ran, he did not go towards Bernie. He ran straight west, across an alfalfa field. Half way across, he stopped to look back. Bad idea big guy.
I dropped the bipod, pulled the trigger, and "popped his last balloon."
I thought I would provide a couple extra pictures to show the unique character to his rack. He is a big 6 X 7.
He has a pretty good body size for most the bucks I have seen in this area.
View attachment 5432
Check out the crazy shape of the G2 on the passenger side.
View attachment 5433
His neck is quite swollen, though the rut is not yet going. He did have a bunch of really big rubs in the creek bottom, commensurate with his antler size.
View attachment 5434
So, I guess I won't be filling my limited entry mule deer buck tag this year, even though Spitz and Greenhorn have been spotting for me. Just couldn't pass on this guy.
My deer season is done until next month when I head to AZ for my "strip" deer tag.
In the mean time, I guess I will have to take my son over and see what he can find in the creek bottoms.
Decided to take a friend over to a ranch and shoot some whitetail does. Hoped to find one of the big whitetails I has seen in archery season, but since I had a limited entry mule deer buck tag, a whitetail buck was low on the priority list.
At least, until this guy showed up.
View attachment 5435
Here is the quick story.
I asked a friend to join me, Bernie. He is suffering from a hip replacement surgery gone bad, and can barely walk, and does so painfully and with the aid of a cane.
The plan was for me to push a brushy creek bottom to him. The first push was a small stretch of creek, so I didn't even bring my rifle, not wanting to ease Bernie out of any shooting. Dumb, I know, but true.
On the edge of the last patch of brush, I see this big guy laying down looking towards me at a little over 100 yards. Not having my rifle, I did my best to push the buck to Bernie.
The plan worked great. The buck ran past Bernie at 125 yards, stopping in the only place where a farm building would be in the background, so Bernie held off. I admire his restraint and commitment to safety.
We pushed the patch of creek where we saw this buck had ran to, but did not see him there. We figured that our one chance had come and gone.
We went back to our first spot and pushed for some more does a few hours later. This time I took my rifle, on the off chance I saw another shooter buck.
I dropped Bernie at the stand and made the big loop again. As I neared the same patch of brush from where I flushed the big buck this morning, this big guy was bedded in the exact same spot, looking at me. I circled east, hoping I would again push the buck past Bernie. The buck watched me at 100 yards.
This time when he ran, he did not go towards Bernie. He ran straight west, across an alfalfa field. Half way across, he stopped to look back. Bad idea big guy.
I dropped the bipod, pulled the trigger, and "popped his last balloon."
I thought I would provide a couple extra pictures to show the unique character to his rack. He is a big 6 X 7.
He has a pretty good body size for most the bucks I have seen in this area.
View attachment 5432
Check out the crazy shape of the G2 on the passenger side.
View attachment 5433
His neck is quite swollen, though the rut is not yet going. He did have a bunch of really big rubs in the creek bottom, commensurate with his antler size.
View attachment 5434
So, I guess I won't be filling my limited entry mule deer buck tag this year, even though Spitz and Greenhorn have been spotting for me. Just couldn't pass on this guy.
My deer season is done until next month when I head to AZ for my "strip" deer tag.
In the mean time, I guess I will have to take my son over and see what he can find in the creek bottoms.
