My excitement for deer season was escalated this fall when I received this picture from a friend. He had been seeing a great non-typical buck fairly regularly through the archery season but couldn't seem get him within range of a bow. He lived in a fairly open area so closing the deal with a bow was very difficult. My friend offered to let me rifle hunt him since I was the only one who drew a rifle tag for this year.
Here is the picture he sent me...
I saw this buck with my own eyes during an archery hunt on October 30th. He was 300 yards away but his antlers were clearly visible in the low morning light. It was a great moment with my 7 year old along to see him as well. We watched him through binoculars for about 15 minutes as he was on property that we didn't have permission on.
Over the next two weeks the buck was nowhere to be found. He just disappeared like a lot of trophy deer seem to do. My friend looked and scouted everywhere we had permission so we assumed he had taken up residence on neighboring property that we did not have permission on.
Fast forward to November 12th- opening morning of season. My friends and I placed ourselves on high vantage points behind spotting scopes to try to locate him or another great deer. We saw many deer and I passed several decent bucks through the day, with some help from my friends, but never saw the buck. It is really hard for me to be patient in the presence of big deer. This was honestly the first hunt I have ever passed on a 4x4 frame mule deer. That evening my friend thought it would be a good idea for me to sit in the location where he had first seen the buck- about 2 miles from the place we had last seen him. With a lack of any better options I agreed and set up for the evening. With 5 minutes of legal light left he showed up...
Day time pic.
This is by far the best buck I have taken in my 27 years of hunting deer. His gross green score is 217-3/8". After deductions he nets 205-7/8". I owe a lot of thanks to the friends that helped and especially to the friend that did all the hard scouting work on this buck. Thank you!
Here is the picture he sent me...
I saw this buck with my own eyes during an archery hunt on October 30th. He was 300 yards away but his antlers were clearly visible in the low morning light. It was a great moment with my 7 year old along to see him as well. We watched him through binoculars for about 15 minutes as he was on property that we didn't have permission on.
Over the next two weeks the buck was nowhere to be found. He just disappeared like a lot of trophy deer seem to do. My friend looked and scouted everywhere we had permission so we assumed he had taken up residence on neighboring property that we did not have permission on.
Fast forward to November 12th- opening morning of season. My friends and I placed ourselves on high vantage points behind spotting scopes to try to locate him or another great deer. We saw many deer and I passed several decent bucks through the day, with some help from my friends, but never saw the buck. It is really hard for me to be patient in the presence of big deer. This was honestly the first hunt I have ever passed on a 4x4 frame mule deer. That evening my friend thought it would be a good idea for me to sit in the location where he had first seen the buck- about 2 miles from the place we had last seen him. With a lack of any better options I agreed and set up for the evening. With 5 minutes of legal light left he showed up...
Day time pic.
This is by far the best buck I have taken in my 27 years of hunting deer. His gross green score is 217-3/8". After deductions he nets 205-7/8". I owe a lot of thanks to the friends that helped and especially to the friend that did all the hard scouting work on this buck. Thank you!
Last edited:
