Best Buck So Far!
12-21-2009, 05:45 AM
#1
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 31
Best Buck So Far!
Opening Day, PA Rifle Season, November 30, 2009
Here's the story - unimpressive, but True!
It was raining, 42° and generally miserable. I got into my ladder stand around 6:45 AM which overlooked the side hill of a saddle where the deer always cross from the oaks on one side to the thick brush on the other side. Over the years, family members and I have taken over 20 deer in this general area which we call "above the camper below the Old Cherry Tree" (the Old Cherry Tree is about 7 or 8 Feet in Diameter - you can't miss it!). At about 8:45 AM I was getting quite cold and wet and miserable, so I decided to climb down from my stand and walk up the 4-wheeler path up towards the "Old Cherry Tree". I had just gone around some grapevines and raspberry thicket and saw 2 does milling around under an oak tree that borders a brush thicket that runs up the hill about 40 or so yards. I scoped them out to see if the little one might be a button buck - I didn't have a doe tag this year, so they were safe. A few seconds later the 11-point came busting out of the brush and ran up the hill skirting the brush, I found his chest and fired, he didn't act like he was hit and crossed the 4-wheeler path and turned around looking back where he came from and was broadside and uphill from me - I found his chest and fired again - he vanished from my scope. I still hadn't gotten a good look at the horns, but I knew he met the 4-point on one side restriction. I thought for sure that I had missed him, but being a good sportsman, I always follow my shots and went up the hill to look for him. After looking around for about 10 minutes, I saw an antler sticking up over a log on the ground and there he was! Then I saw the rack and started high-fiving myself (since I was alone in the woods!). Then the work began and I was no longer cold. I had to drag him the 200 yards down hill to the camper and load him into the truck by myself, but I didn't care the adreneline was still pumping like mad and the deer only weighed about 120 lb or so. To say the least, I was the talk of the hollow that first week for killing the "Double Drop-Tine Buck" that all the neighbors had on their trail cams. He wasn't on my trail cam, but there were 2 nice 10's and 2 nice 8's and a couple of 6's that didn't have brow tines on it - so I knew there wer some good one's there.
I green scored him using the on-line form on the B&C website and it calculated it at 149 4/8. He is at the taxidermists already and should be ready to pick up next June.
Here's the Pictures:
Here's one I shot on Thursday (with my camera!) on a neighbor's farm.
Here's the story - unimpressive, but True!
It was raining, 42° and generally miserable. I got into my ladder stand around 6:45 AM which overlooked the side hill of a saddle where the deer always cross from the oaks on one side to the thick brush on the other side. Over the years, family members and I have taken over 20 deer in this general area which we call "above the camper below the Old Cherry Tree" (the Old Cherry Tree is about 7 or 8 Feet in Diameter - you can't miss it!). At about 8:45 AM I was getting quite cold and wet and miserable, so I decided to climb down from my stand and walk up the 4-wheeler path up towards the "Old Cherry Tree". I had just gone around some grapevines and raspberry thicket and saw 2 does milling around under an oak tree that borders a brush thicket that runs up the hill about 40 or so yards. I scoped them out to see if the little one might be a button buck - I didn't have a doe tag this year, so they were safe. A few seconds later the 11-point came busting out of the brush and ran up the hill skirting the brush, I found his chest and fired, he didn't act like he was hit and crossed the 4-wheeler path and turned around looking back where he came from and was broadside and uphill from me - I found his chest and fired again - he vanished from my scope. I still hadn't gotten a good look at the horns, but I knew he met the 4-point on one side restriction. I thought for sure that I had missed him, but being a good sportsman, I always follow my shots and went up the hill to look for him. After looking around for about 10 minutes, I saw an antler sticking up over a log on the ground and there he was! Then I saw the rack and started high-fiving myself (since I was alone in the woods!). Then the work began and I was no longer cold. I had to drag him the 200 yards down hill to the camper and load him into the truck by myself, but I didn't care the adreneline was still pumping like mad and the deer only weighed about 120 lb or so. To say the least, I was the talk of the hollow that first week for killing the "Double Drop-Tine Buck" that all the neighbors had on their trail cams. He wasn't on my trail cam, but there were 2 nice 10's and 2 nice 8's and a couple of 6's that didn't have brow tines on it - so I knew there wer some good one's there.
I green scored him using the on-line form on the B&C website and it calculated it at 149 4/8. He is at the taxidermists already and should be ready to pick up next June.
Here's the Pictures:
Here's one I shot on Thursday (with my camera!) on a neighbor's farm.
12-21-2009, 05:53 AM
#2
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 1,304
Wow! You caught me off guard with that picture. It's awesome!
As for high-fiving yourself, I do that often too. I enjoy my own company. In fact, I get up an hour earlier every morning so I can be with myself longer. LOL!
Nice story. Where did the shots land? 120lbs? Is that a normal size weight buck in that area? Smaller? Larger?
Regardless, you got yourself a great buck and a nice story.
iSnipe
As for high-fiving yourself, I do that often too. I enjoy my own company. In fact, I get up an hour earlier every morning so I can be with myself longer. LOL!
Nice story. Where did the shots land? 120lbs? Is that a normal size weight buck in that area? Smaller? Larger?
Regardless, you got yourself a great buck and a nice story.
iSnipe
12-21-2009, 06:27 AM
#3
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 31
iSnipe:
Where did the shots land? - First was a double-lung straight through without hitting any ribs. Second was an uphill shot and entered the chest low in the briskit and exited through the shoulder completely obliterating the heart. After the first, he must ahve been trying to figure out what hit him or something.
120lbs? Is that a normal size weight buck in that area? Smaller? Larger? That's about average for adult deer in that area of PA - he looked like he'd already been gutted when he was laying there, so he'd pretty much worked every stitch of fat off him running does. Probably would have been 15 to 20 lb. heavier if I'd got him early in Archery season before the rut really kicks in.
Still - he'd have never been around to grow such a rack without the change in antler restrictions from 1 3" spike to needing 4-points on one side like it has been since 2001.
Where did the shots land? - First was a double-lung straight through without hitting any ribs. Second was an uphill shot and entered the chest low in the briskit and exited through the shoulder completely obliterating the heart. After the first, he must ahve been trying to figure out what hit him or something.
120lbs? Is that a normal size weight buck in that area? Smaller? Larger? That's about average for adult deer in that area of PA - he looked like he'd already been gutted when he was laying there, so he'd pretty much worked every stitch of fat off him running does. Probably would have been 15 to 20 lb. heavier if I'd got him early in Archery season before the rut really kicks in.
Still - he'd have never been around to grow such a rack without the change in antler restrictions from 1 3" spike to needing 4-points on one side like it has been since 2001.
