Since I bought my farm in New York state near the St Lawrence River/Canada, I have taken a lot of average bucks including two 8 points & a couple of 6 points W/a lot of 5/4 points thrown in. In 2004 I killed a real bruiser of a 4 point that dressed @ 219#. Here is a shot of that deer hanging next to my 285# bulk.


He was the dominant buck & I never saw any rack bucks until I harvested him. He was 4 1/2 years old & in his prime, he just had "bad genes" as far as rack potential. I had played cat & mouse W/that buck for 4 seasons & there were even a few scars on his neck from some close encounters W/my bullets. He had me patterned, but I changed up on him & stayed out in my tri-pod late on a rainy election day morning.

Getting back to this year's buck.

2 years ago I passed on a high & tight rack buck that was perhaps 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 years old. The rack was very narrow so I let him walk.

Last year, during the 1st few days of our long 6 week firearms deer season I saw what looked like the same buck in the same area. His rack was just a bit wider & had tines that were perhaps 4"-5" in length. I passed on that buck & ended up taking a small spike horn in the waning weeks of the season.

This year, the season has been very slow W/me only seeing 4 deer since the Oct 24th opener. The wind has been out of the eastern quadrants most of the time so I have avoided my most productive stand, the tri-pod that looks over a 15 acre cut that was harvested in 1999.

Yesterday evening the wind was right & I got into the tri-pod @ 3:00 PM. Right @ sundown I caught a glimpse of movement 240 yds out were I kill most of the deer from that stand & were I had seen the rack buck that I let walk the previous 2 seasons. I could not make out a deer, but something just didn't look right. I put the glass on the area & sure enough, a large deer was standing directly in front of a tree facing dead straight away. That explained not being able to make out a deer W/the naked eye.

AS I put the cross hairs of the Kahles 3X9 on the deer's rump, the deer moved it's head to the right & I could see long G-2s & as the deer moved it's head around I could see a wide (for this region)tall rack W long G-2s & G-3s. This was the picture I always had in my mind of what it would be like to see a big buck through the scope.

As I kept the cross hairs planted on the base of the tail waiting for that damned buck to turn & expose his ribs, I started to shake. As I waited, I resisted the temtation of a "Texas heart shot", but the shakes got worse. I even put the gun down a couple of times to gain some composure.

Finally the buck turned to the left just enough for me to get a sight picture behind his left shoulder. I squeezed the trigger & the gun went "click"! I had failed to chamber a round after I hoisted the gun into the stand hours before. I had been sitting there W/essentially an empty gun for 1 1/2 hours!

I worked the bolt of the M700 CDL & when I got back on target, the buck had turned his head more & was looking right dead @ me. This time I didn't have time for the shakes, I squezzed the trigger, the handloaded 280 round roared to life & sent a 139gr Hornady Interbond on it's way @ 3150 fps.

The buck dropped like he was pole-axed. He never quivered of moved a muscle. I watched him through the scope as I speed dialed to house. My wife had heard me shoot. "I killed i big one" I told here.

After watching the buck for a few moments to make sure he wasn't just stunned, I got down & walked the 240yds over slashings to my prize. I haven't determined the entry yet, but the bullet exited right behind his jaw & severed the cartoid artery. His head was lying in a pool of blood.

Here are some pix that I took this morning.






Now this might not look like a "trophy" to someone that can travel the country & hunt the best trophy areas, but this is a very respectable buck in this area, he's the biggest rack I ever took & I might never get a chance @ a bigger one. I do beleive that this is the buck I previously let walk. @ this point I figured it was time to take him before someone else did. I don't think any of the hunters in this area would have let this guy live if they got their crosshairs on him.

The rack is beautifully symetric. The G-2s are 8 1/2" & 8", the G-3s are both right @ 7" & the spread is 14", pretty good for this area. Our winters are harsh, there are few mast producing trees in the area & the only agriculture is dairy farming, so there is little nutrition once the snow covers the hay fields. Deer survive the winters on Cedar & maple brouse. The 6 week long season takes it's toll on bucks & few get to be more than 2 1/2 years old. Body size can be huge though, 240# dressed weight bucks turn up avery few years & I took a big doe that was 42" around her chest in 2005. Mother nature concentrates on survival & big racks come secondary.

This was not a big bodied deer. Although he was pot bellied, he was run down from the rut & had no fat left on him. He'll probably dress out to 140-150#. My "tape" has him @ 143# dressed weight. 2 weeks earlier & he probably would have went 180#

Anyway, I'm sure tickled & I plan to have him mounted.

EDIT: Scroll down for better PIX.

Great deer! Congrats!!!

Great job!

Heck,I would be tickled pink to get a crack at a Buck like that.Congrats!!!!

Nice buck.
Enjoyed reading your post.

Thanks
Phil

Nice buck. I would have shot him, too.

He wouldn't have walked by me. Nice buck. Congrats

quote:

Originally posted by OLBIKER:
Heck,I would be tickled pink to get a crack at a Buck like that.Congrats!!!!

+1

Congrats.

Weidmannsheil on a job well done! So nice you recognize the buck for a possible trophy of a lifetime - he deserves that honour.

- mike

Great buck and great story - congratgulations.

Nice shot, brother. Like it when they just go down at the shot. Good for all parties involved - now bring on those tenderloins...

quote:

Originally posted by mho:
Weidmannsheil on a job well done! So nice you recognize the buck for a possible trophy of a lifetime - he deserves that honour.

- mike

The greatest thing about hunting your own property just across the road from the house is that you get to "know" individual bucks.

I mounted the big 4 point because he had given me the slip sooo many times. I had shot @ him twice in 2001 & finally got him in 2004. He had 2 scars on his neck that I put there W/glancing hits from a rifle that was not as accurate as my M700 CDL 280..

I'm pretty sure the 8 point is a buck that I let by in 2007 & 2008. He has some distinct markings that are easily recognized. He was a cagey bastard & I never saw him more than once in a given deer season.

Soon, I will see him every day on my trophy wall next to that huge 4 point that played cat & mouse W/me for over 3 years.

Very nice buck!

Congrats!

Job well done.

Way to go, and nice write-up, guy! Thanks for sharing.

KG

Very nice.

Persistence paid off. Thanks for the entertaining and honest story.

I'll bet you there are a bunch of us who have heard that "click" on an empty chamber-- or missed when it went "bang"-- or had second thoughts about shots we passed up. ['Tis nice when we get a chance at 'em with bigger horns in subsequent seasons.]

I know that it's with a more humble sense of hopeful expectation rather than a sense of entitlement that I approach the woods these days.

Kudos re: your wall- hanger!

A 4 1/2 year old buck in upstate NY is a trophy in anyone's book.

quote:

Originally posted by AnotherAZWriter:
A 4 1/2 year old buck in upstate NY is a trophy in anyone's book.

AMEN to that..

once again, nice deer!!!

The cool weather up here on the Canadian border allowed me to hang the buck for a week W/O the fear of spoilage to the meat or cape. The carcass has loosened up & is nice & limp now so I took him down, cleaned all the caked blood from the neck & got him ready for the taxidermist to have a look at.

I took him by the taxidermist's on the way to the butcher & inspection of the entry/exit wound right behind the jaw/ear showed less bullet damage than what I expected. Since my butcher is very good W/the skinning knife and recommended by my taxidermist, he will cape the head/neck out & I will pick it up in the AM.

My neighbor came over to help load the deer into the truck & I had him snap a few PIX. Unfortunately he is not a very good photographer & the close-up is not @ the right angle to show all the tines.

Anyway, here are some better PIX.





Here's a cropped version of the 1st photo.

Great looking animal! Congratulations! And interesting story too.

Great looking buck!

I used to live on the other side of the St-Lawrence river...in Montreal, Quebec.

Beautiful looking animal and congratulations again!
CL

Congrats!! That's a darn fine buck.

Cheers
Canuck

A nice job done.

If I never kill a buck W/a bigger rack, I will not feel cheated.

If you look in the pix you can see that the white belly hair comes quite a way up his side. Especially the way he was "pot bellied". That high white side coloration makes me sure that I passed this buck up last season. (his rack grew a LOT in that year since then) I'm pretty sure I let him walk in 2007 too when he had a small "high & tight" basket rack. I only got to see him from the rear in 2007.

The fact that I let this guy go once, most likely twice adds a lot of satisfaction considering the farm next to mine has some guys hunting it that shoot every deer they see. I was kicking myself @ the end of last seasom when the only buck I bagged was a small spikehorn that I shot thinking it was a doe. That spike had even been hit by a car, but @ least he was healed up.

Of course all this does not mean I won't be looking for a bigger rack for the rest of my hunting days. I just won't feel like it's all that important after tagging this buck. There are bigger bucks around here, but all things considereed, symetry & all, I'd rank him right up there in the top 10%.