#1766570 - 02/04/10 09:44 AM
Re: Finally got him scored Officially
[Re: Wes Parrish]
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102
10 Point
Registered: 08/01/02
Posts: 3650
Loc: Tennessee
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Wes,
I appreciate the kind words. And yes, it was an old buck. But "proud" may not be the best word to describe how I felt about this GREAT animal. Confused might have been better.
In ALL honesty, it was an opportunity that I made good on. I had actually been told of this buck a few weeks earlier by a man I just happen to meet under some bizarre set of circumstances involving my 4-wheeler and his dog. I hope to get a published story out of the whole incident but we'll see.
I'd love to say that I am a GREAT bowhunter because I killed that buck or several of the other P/Y class bucks by which I've been blessed. I'd love to say that I knew where he lived and what he looked like because I had trail cam pics of him since birth. I'd love to say I had passed him up at 3.5 to let him grow. But I'd be LYING! Truth is, I had heard about a "big buck" in this area, found his sign by accident, and was (for lack of ANY other explanation) BLESSED with an opportunity to put an arrow through him. (and if that is not enough, I got to shoot him TWICE, once at 16 yards through the right lung, liver, and guts, and again when he stopped at 42 yards right up the old keyster and forward into the abdominal cavity.
I can honestly say that out of all the mature bucks I've killed, there was only ONE that I had laid eyes on pryor to me killing it. Now, don't get me wrong, I had found sign of big deer in the areas I have set up and killed many of my bucks, but only ONE time, had I targeted a SPECIFIC buck. And it grossed 150 on this past Monday.
I started bowhunting in 1981, and believe me, it did not take long to realize how tough it was going to be to kill a deer, ANY deer, with my bow. In 1999, as I was approaching my 100th bow kill, I began to entertain the idea of trying to kill mature bucks. The idea of trying to kill mature bucks, on purpose, with my bow, was daunting. In fact, on PUBLIC land, almost discouraging. I've tried some of the camera techniques used by the "Video Gurus" but in this part of the country, you are pretty much just helping to fill the shelves of the local pawn shops.
I, like most other hunters I know, simply can't afford to own parcels of land or pay for a guide service. So public is the only answer. It takes me lots TIME, research, LOTS of scouting, and paying close attention to VERY small details from what people say. Even at ball games by people who are not even hunters.
Yes, I'd say confused is the best way to describe how I've felt about this buck. How in the world did this guy exist and make it this long on PUBLIC land???
Why did he choose to make an appearance, in front of my stand at that time???
And MOST of all...how in the heck did his antlers get so big??? There is NO FOOD to speak of anywhere near this animal except acorns and forage. I have hunted this area since 1988 and have never even seen a deer CLOSE to his size or mass, though I did kill a 115 class that was about 5.5 not far from him.
And to make things even more confusing to me, I had already killed the "buck of a lifetime" that grossed 150. Seriously, my friends and I all agreed that there was no way I'd ever top that buck. I even sprinkled in a few more P/Y class bucks to top off my mature buck goals. I had no ambitions to ever try to better these deer and had in fact, have recently resigned myself to return to my bowhunting roots, and just enjoy my bowhunting for what it is, making CLEAN kills on legal deer while enjoying GREAT friends and family in the outdoors.
THe ONLY POSSIBLE conclusion I can come up with about all this is simply, there is someone in charge of all this that has other ideas. I am just along for the ride, and the oportunities this ride gives me. I've been told, he has every single hair on my head counted.
102
_________________________
God, Family, Job, Bowhunting
Luck is where Opportunity and Preparation MEET!
When in doubt...back out!
SCAPAS.stay calm and pick a spot.
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#1766653 - 02/04/10 10:26 AM
Re: Finally got him scored Officially
[Re: 102]
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CopperHead77
12 Point
Registered: 08/20/07
Posts: 6707
Loc: Hickman Co.
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THe ONLY POSSIBLE conclusion I can come up with about all this is simply, there is someone in charge of all this that has other ideas. I am just along for the ride, and the oportunities this ride gives me. I've been told, he has every single hair on my head counted.
102
A big AMEN to that!
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#1766667 - 02/04/10 10:33 AM
Re: Finally got him scored Officially
[Re: CopperHead77]
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Stemwinder
Spike
Registered: 02/03/10
Posts: 40
Loc: TN
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Great buck, congratulations.
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#1766683 - 02/04/10 10:39 AM
Re: Finally got him scored Officially
[Re: CopperHead77]
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whistlinwingman
8 Point
Registered: 07/11/05
Posts: 1824
Loc: Morristown
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THe ONLY POSSIBLE conclusion I can come up with about all this is simply, there is someone in charge of all this that has other ideas. I am just along for the ride, and the oportunities this ride gives me. I've been told, he has every single hair on my head counted.
102 A big AMEN to that!
I second that. While reading this it gave me cold chills. Thanks 102
Edited by whistlinwingman (02/04/10 10:40 AM)
_________________________
"I'm a great believer in luck, I find the harder I work the more I have it" -Thomas Jefferson
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