rtp
Well-Known Member
I posted a pic of this buck back in Sept sometime as this was the one and only buck I would be hunting this year as he was last year.
By the time I caught up with him last January his rack was busted up bad so he got a pass to this year. I have been watching this particular buck off and on in this part of the ranch since he was 2.5 years old. He was a main frame 8 point with big split G2s at that age. Because of those forks, I started calling him Muley. He maintained those two traits each year while gaining some others. I started getting pics of him in late August of this year. I never got more than 2 pics of him on any day and all but one was at night. By the end of Sept he was starting to show nearly every night and then on Sept. 30 I got my second daytime pic. Perfect I thought, as opening of our bow season was Oct 1st. I thought I was going to get him that day. Well I sat and saw exactly zero deer Oct 1st. I keep hunting and waiting as the month went on through the hot days, 90plus degrees, and with lots of anticipation on the cool days. Nothing but does and 1.5 year old bucks. I knew over the years he traveled to both the property to my south and the one to the west and I was worried someone else had gotten him and I was hunting a dead deer. As it turned out I never got another pic of him after Sept 30. At the last minute Monday morning I told my wife I was making the 2 hr drive to my ranch and would return home that night if I wasnt successful. She told me I was crazy and "ate up with it". As you can tell she aint a hunter. I agreed and headed out the door about 8:30 that morning. I settled in my popup late in the afternoon as it was starting to cool down some. I had deer moving pretty early so I was encourage. At about 7:15 I opened a side window enough to look out with my binoculars and low and behold I see a big buck headed my way. I immediately recognize it is him because of the browtines. That is all I need to see. I gather my bow and ready my arrow. He appears in my one open shooting window and turns broadside. As I come to full draw a doe moves in front of the buck. I play this cat and mouse game for about three minutes and am about out of shooting light when he come broadside and is clear of any other deer. I let the arrow fly and hit him perfect. He crumples about 100 yards away. He is bigger than I expected and by far my largest buck with a bow. This is a Texas buck and no it is not high fenced and yes a small amount of corn was involved in my food plot. I have hunted this ranch for the past 15 years and started my management plan 6 years ago which includes supplemental protein feed from mid Jan thru Sept/Oct and letting deer get some age on them. We pass a lot of deer we never see again and we also shoot some deer we have never seen before so I think the trade off is probably even on that front. This buck is 6.5 years and has 17 scoreable points and I dont think the severe drought we have faced hurt this guy. I included a side pic of the buck so you can see the large forks on his G2s. I thank the Lord he presented me with the opportunity to hunt this deer last year and this year.:yeah:
By the time I caught up with him last January his rack was busted up bad so he got a pass to this year. I have been watching this particular buck off and on in this part of the ranch since he was 2.5 years old. He was a main frame 8 point with big split G2s at that age. Because of those forks, I started calling him Muley. He maintained those two traits each year while gaining some others. I started getting pics of him in late August of this year. I never got more than 2 pics of him on any day and all but one was at night. By the end of Sept he was starting to show nearly every night and then on Sept. 30 I got my second daytime pic. Perfect I thought, as opening of our bow season was Oct 1st. I thought I was going to get him that day. Well I sat and saw exactly zero deer Oct 1st. I keep hunting and waiting as the month went on through the hot days, 90plus degrees, and with lots of anticipation on the cool days. Nothing but does and 1.5 year old bucks. I knew over the years he traveled to both the property to my south and the one to the west and I was worried someone else had gotten him and I was hunting a dead deer. As it turned out I never got another pic of him after Sept 30. At the last minute Monday morning I told my wife I was making the 2 hr drive to my ranch and would return home that night if I wasnt successful. She told me I was crazy and "ate up with it". As you can tell she aint a hunter. I agreed and headed out the door about 8:30 that morning. I settled in my popup late in the afternoon as it was starting to cool down some. I had deer moving pretty early so I was encourage. At about 7:15 I opened a side window enough to look out with my binoculars and low and behold I see a big buck headed my way. I immediately recognize it is him because of the browtines. That is all I need to see. I gather my bow and ready my arrow. He appears in my one open shooting window and turns broadside. As I come to full draw a doe moves in front of the buck. I play this cat and mouse game for about three minutes and am about out of shooting light when he come broadside and is clear of any other deer. I let the arrow fly and hit him perfect. He crumples about 100 yards away. He is bigger than I expected and by far my largest buck with a bow. This is a Texas buck and no it is not high fenced and yes a small amount of corn was involved in my food plot. I have hunted this ranch for the past 15 years and started my management plan 6 years ago which includes supplemental protein feed from mid Jan thru Sept/Oct and letting deer get some age on them. We pass a lot of deer we never see again and we also shoot some deer we have never seen before so I think the trade off is probably even on that front. This buck is 6.5 years and has 17 scoreable points and I dont think the severe drought we have faced hurt this guy. I included a side pic of the buck so you can see the large forks on his G2s. I thank the Lord he presented me with the opportunity to hunt this deer last year and this year.:yeah:
