Joy, elation, respect, and relief swept over me as I knelt down and wrapped my hands around this brute's antlers December 26th. It was the sixth time I had watched him from one of my stands, as I first spotted him at 50 yards, then 40, then 30 (he came out on the wrong side of some brush), 150 (trying to outsmart him, and he came out at the same place he did when I had him at 30), 10 (after shooting light), and finally 15 paces, after relocating my stand for yet a fourth time in my efforts to collect this guy.
I've never hunted a single buck so hard, nor more consistently in my life. I saw this guy the day after taking my nine-pointer earlier this year (
http://forum.hunting.net/asppg/tm.asp?m=424700), and have been on him hard ever since. He's a main-frame 5x5, with kickers coming off his brows to make him a 12-pointer. I'll have my taxidermist put a tape to him in a couple days when I take his cape over to him (he's in the cooler at the processor right now) and I'll let you guys know what he scores. The guys at the check-in station were guessing from 150-160, though I think that's a tad high. I'll be perfectly happy if he makes 140 (that's what I had estimated him at in the field). Regardless, he's truly a magnificient, beautiful animal, with gnarly bases that I can just get my hands around, and incredible symmetry. He is truly a buck I would have been willing to hunt my whole lifetime for, and I thank God I was privileged enough to take him.
