Texas Hill Country Buck (Updated with B&C score)
12-04-2007, 08:12 AM
#1
Boone & Crockett
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: The Republic of Texas
Posts: 12,040
Texas Hill Country Buck (Updated with B&C score)
Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good... On Saturday morning, I went back to the stand I'd hunted two weeks earlier. I had shot a black boar there, and was hoping that the red sow that was with him would return. As I was waiting for the pigs to return, a very nice buck came into the pasture. He was a mainframe six point, with no brow tines, and a small kicker on his right G-2. At least 3 1/2 years old, maybe 4 1/2. Mature six points like this are considered "cull bucks" at our lease, but, you have to have video of the buck and approval from the lease manager before you are allowed to shoot a cull. So, despite the fact that I knew this was a good cull buck, I passed the shot.
I went back that evening, with a borrowed video camera in hand. Had a number of deer wander in and out of the pasture. 7 or 8 does. A younger "slick six". A couple small 8 points, and a very nice 8 point that I thought to be 4 1/2 years old. Got him on tape, but, didn't shoot. A couple weeks earlier, my son had shot a nice 8 point, but, I was told that he was only 2 1/2 and shouldn't have been shot for at least another year. Anyway... I didn't want to seem greedy, and had set my mind on just taking a cull and a doe or two this year. So, I passed the shot on this nice 8 point.
When I got back to the hunting camp, after some of the other guys finished dressing out the deer they had taken, and after a delicious dinner (why does deer camp food taste so darn good?), everyone was comparing videos. When my video of the 8 point came up, the lease manager happened to be walking by and said "Why the heck didn't you shoot that buck? He's at least 5 1/2 years old." This sorta gave me the hint that I wasn't really in the deep stuff as a result of letting my son shoot one that was a bit young. I knew also that he was heading back home that night, so I talked to the guy who would be in charge when he left about the cull buck I had seen. He said not to worry about video. If it showed up again, take him. Everyone was up late that night, polishing off most of a bottle of Patron Tequila, and some homemade bourbon brewed up by one of the guy's uncle in Louisiana that had been "aging in a charred oak cask for 15 years." I don't drink, so I sat there with some Minute Maid Lite Lemonade and laughed as the guys got 'Mellower and Mellower..."
The next morning, I was up bright and early and headed back out to the blind at about 5:00 a.m. I was a little surprised at the number of other guys who were up as well... figuring that the previous night's Tequila and Shine would keep them in bed until noon. I was sitting there in the blind, and it was still an hour and a half until shooting light, so, I took off my jacket, wadded it up into a pillow, and fell sound asleep sitting in my chair with my head against the window. I woke up at about a quarter to seven. I guess about 10 minutes or so after legal shooting time, looked out the window, and saw a nice buck in the pasture about 40 yards away. His rack looked nice, but, he was facing directly away from me, slowly grazing in that direction, so I wasn't able to get a good view of his body and neck size, which are two of the criteria that the guys use to judge age.I watched him for the better part of a half hour. He'd give me some good looks at his rack, and I could tell that his neck looked fairly large. In the meantime, a couple does and a nice younger 8 point came into the field, about 100 yards away. The buck I'd been watching looked very big by comparison, but, I thought... maybe it's because he's only half as far away. He just looks big... I added up the measurements of his rack in my head.
Finally, he turned broadside and I could see that he had the sagging belly and the big neck of an older deer. In fact, he looked quite a bit larger than the cull and the 8 point I'd seen the day before; but, he quickly stepped behind some brush. I watched a little while longer and finally, he stepped out from behind the brush, about sixty yards away, facing broadside to my right. I settled my crosshairs on his shoulder, exhaled a bit, and slowly squeezed the trigger of my .243. At the shot, he reared up on his hind legs, like Silver in the old Lone Ranger TV show, and then stumbled down to his left. He then got up and took off at full speed to my left for about thirty yards, before somersaulting into some scrub brush.
I waited for a couple minutes, watching him through my scope, and then climbed down from the blind to get a closer look. There was no ground shrinkage on this guy. I struggled to drag him back closer to the blind so that it would be easier to load him on the trailer. After taking a few photos, I dragged him up on the trailer and headed back to camp on the 4 wheeler. He weighed in at 158 lbs... a really big one for that area. In dressing him out, I found that the bullet had entered his right shoulder, missing the bone, took out a 2 inch chunk of rib, went through his heart and lungs, took out a 1 inch chunk of rib on the left side, went through the meat of the left shoulder, again missing the bone, and had lodged just under the skin of his left shoulder.
When he was measured, I found that my field "guess" was within about 3 inches. What do you all think he scored? I'll post his stats tomorrow...
I went back that evening, with a borrowed video camera in hand. Had a number of deer wander in and out of the pasture. 7 or 8 does. A younger "slick six". A couple small 8 points, and a very nice 8 point that I thought to be 4 1/2 years old. Got him on tape, but, didn't shoot. A couple weeks earlier, my son had shot a nice 8 point, but, I was told that he was only 2 1/2 and shouldn't have been shot for at least another year. Anyway... I didn't want to seem greedy, and had set my mind on just taking a cull and a doe or two this year. So, I passed the shot on this nice 8 point.
When I got back to the hunting camp, after some of the other guys finished dressing out the deer they had taken, and after a delicious dinner (why does deer camp food taste so darn good?), everyone was comparing videos. When my video of the 8 point came up, the lease manager happened to be walking by and said "Why the heck didn't you shoot that buck? He's at least 5 1/2 years old." This sorta gave me the hint that I wasn't really in the deep stuff as a result of letting my son shoot one that was a bit young. I knew also that he was heading back home that night, so I talked to the guy who would be in charge when he left about the cull buck I had seen. He said not to worry about video. If it showed up again, take him. Everyone was up late that night, polishing off most of a bottle of Patron Tequila, and some homemade bourbon brewed up by one of the guy's uncle in Louisiana that had been "aging in a charred oak cask for 15 years." I don't drink, so I sat there with some Minute Maid Lite Lemonade and laughed as the guys got 'Mellower and Mellower..."
The next morning, I was up bright and early and headed back out to the blind at about 5:00 a.m. I was a little surprised at the number of other guys who were up as well... figuring that the previous night's Tequila and Shine would keep them in bed until noon. I was sitting there in the blind, and it was still an hour and a half until shooting light, so, I took off my jacket, wadded it up into a pillow, and fell sound asleep sitting in my chair with my head against the window. I woke up at about a quarter to seven. I guess about 10 minutes or so after legal shooting time, looked out the window, and saw a nice buck in the pasture about 40 yards away. His rack looked nice, but, he was facing directly away from me, slowly grazing in that direction, so I wasn't able to get a good view of his body and neck size, which are two of the criteria that the guys use to judge age.I watched him for the better part of a half hour. He'd give me some good looks at his rack, and I could tell that his neck looked fairly large. In the meantime, a couple does and a nice younger 8 point came into the field, about 100 yards away. The buck I'd been watching looked very big by comparison, but, I thought... maybe it's because he's only half as far away. He just looks big... I added up the measurements of his rack in my head.
Finally, he turned broadside and I could see that he had the sagging belly and the big neck of an older deer. In fact, he looked quite a bit larger than the cull and the 8 point I'd seen the day before; but, he quickly stepped behind some brush. I watched a little while longer and finally, he stepped out from behind the brush, about sixty yards away, facing broadside to my right. I settled my crosshairs on his shoulder, exhaled a bit, and slowly squeezed the trigger of my .243. At the shot, he reared up on his hind legs, like Silver in the old Lone Ranger TV show, and then stumbled down to his left. He then got up and took off at full speed to my left for about thirty yards, before somersaulting into some scrub brush.
I waited for a couple minutes, watching him through my scope, and then climbed down from the blind to get a closer look. There was no ground shrinkage on this guy. I struggled to drag him back closer to the blind so that it would be easier to load him on the trailer. After taking a few photos, I dragged him up on the trailer and headed back to camp on the 4 wheeler. He weighed in at 158 lbs... a really big one for that area. In dressing him out, I found that the bullet had entered his right shoulder, missing the bone, took out a 2 inch chunk of rib, went through his heart and lungs, took out a 1 inch chunk of rib on the left side, went through the meat of the left shoulder, again missing the bone, and had lodged just under the skin of his left shoulder.
When he was measured, I found that my field "guess" was within about 3 inches. What do you all think he scored? I'll post his stats tomorrow...
