Two Trick-or-Treat Freak Nasties!

Today is Halloween and I’ve had a smile on my face the entire day.

And it has had nothing to do with my beloved Texas Longhorns winning their gridiron war with Oklahoma State tonight, nor with my kids and their zany costumes, or even thanks to the candy haul that somehow found its way into our home this evening.

Which reminds me, memo to the kids: leave the Milky Way bars alone!

Instead my goofy grin has to do with one of the best friends I have in the world and his achievement of a four-year long dream in his home state of Kansas.

You see, my pal Casey Ingold is as serious a deer hunter as you will meet.

Like many here in the H-365 world, Ingold talks about deer hunting often, he thinks about it almost as much, and he reads about it frequently.

Add in his post-season and pre-season scouting work, his aerial photo and topo map study, and his desire to constantly prepare for his next hunt and I’d bet that my friend goes to sleep dreaming about tagging big bucks just about as often as I do.

Is there a better day than Halloween to arrow your first Pope & Young bow buck? Kansas resident Casey Ingold doesn't think so.

But the Topeka, Kansas husband and father of three sons has his priorities in their proper place, rightfully putting family time and obligations ahead of his own desires to be in the woods at all costs during the fall hunting seasons.

Throw in the fact that he is a busy  full-time senior pastor at Covenant Baptist Church and it’s easy to see that unlike some big buck nuts, Ingold isn’t in his treestand every second of the deer season.

Since moving to the region, my buddy has become a spring turkey killing machine, annually filling his tags and getting his kids and a few pals into shotgun range of an Eastern gobbler.

And he’s also kept the freezer reasonably full of venison, thanks to his proficiency in tagging does and guiding his sons to a couple of their own deer.

But over the years that he has lived in NE Kansas, somehow, record book bucks have always eluded him despite a few close but no cigar calls.

Until this morning, that is.

Hunting on one of the best farms he has permission to hunt, Casey dutifully climbed into a treestand in a prime-time area that he had not yet been able to hunt this fall.

While the chilly morning was initially quiet, a short rattling sequence during the first hour of shooting light suddenly changed all of that.

That’s because a burly 12-point buck came bristling in, looking for the two intruding bucks supposedly picking a fight on the buck’s well-earned Sunflower State turf.

What that buck found instead was a well placed arrow from Casey’s bow. That lethal 20-yard shot was dead on in the boiler room and the big whitetail died in mere seconds less than 50 yards from Ingold’s stand.

“Burkhead, I FINALLY did it!,” my pal exclaimed when I answered the phone this morning. “I finally shot a big Kansas buck with my bow!”

Indeed he had – on Halloween Day no less – and the first of many more to come I’m sure.

But my Kansas pal wasn’t the only person fortunate enough to tag a great October 31st  monster buck.

Not too many miles west of my Lone Star State home, deer slayer Aron Stepich downed this magnificent North Texas buck on Halloween with his own well placed shot. 

October 31st provided a sweet North Texas' big buck treat to hunter Aron Stepich.

The e-mail sent to me this evening said that Stepich’s Halloween freak nasty of a whitetail had been initially taped out with a “…rough score (of) 202 gross (and) 195 net.”

To be honest, it looks to me like the buck’s super-sized headbones could even be bigger than that!

While I don’t know many of the details concerning the kill of this magnificent Red River Valley bruiser, I do know that if that 195-inch net score proves to be accurate and it stays true throughout the official 60-day drying period, then Stepich will have achieved one of the rarest of all accomplishments in the past-time of deer hunting.

And that is the tagging of a bona fide Boone & Crockett Club monster buck on Halloween Day!

Now that’s a trick that every deer hunter I know – especially yours truly – would love to be able to play on a freak nasty whitetail someday.

Especially with the spooktacular date of October 31st punched out on the tag!

Ohio’s Ultimate Freak Nasty?

In a year where huge antlered bucks seem to be crashing to the ground almost weekly, you knew it had to happen sooner or later.

So, it should come as no surprise to any big buck observer that the two most electrifying words in deer hunting have finally been uttered this fall.

World record. 

Is this non-typical said to be arrowed in southern Ohio a record book smashing whitetail? The rumor on the cyber-street says maybe.

Of course, with the prerequisite word “potential” dutifully inserted before the mere mention of any possible electrifying WR status, I might add.

And just where is this latest WR possibility?

Ohio, the site of the last official world record status to be awarded in the world of whitetail deer hunting.

That buck, of course, was the massive Mike Beatty Buck, a stunning 39-point non-typical deer arrowed in November 2000 by the then 31-year old Xenia, Ohio resident.

At a time when most of the nation watched breathlessly to see whether George W. Bush or Al Gore would win the White House as votes and hanging chads were counted and recounted, the eyes of nearly every deer hunter in North America turned to Greene County, Ohio where Beatty had downed a freak nasty for the ages.

Except that like the circuitous route that took Bush from the Texas’ governor’s mansion to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, it took Beatty an equally strange journey to capture the Pope & Young Club’s non-typical world record mark.

Why? Because at the time that Beatty had arrowed the buck sporting a gross score in the 300-inch range, he had done so with a Mathews Z-Lite compound bow with 80% let-off.

So it wasn’t until 2003 (when the Pope & Young Club voted to rescind their previous restriction of allowing no animal into their record book that had been taken with a bow featuring a let-off of more than 65%) that Beatty had his chance to officially enter his deer into the P&Y records and ask for his own version of a “recount.” 

The 2000 Mike Beatty Buck, a 39-point freak nasty from Greene County, Ohio, is the current Pope & Young Club world record non-typical with a score of 294 0/8 inches.

Finally, after panel scoring by the P&Y Club in early 2005, the Beatty non-typical buck was given an official net measurement of 294 0/8 inches.

And its rightful spot atop the Pope & Young Club’s non-typical throne.

That was because the Beatty Buck’s official P&Y score was more than enough to beat out the previous P&Y world record benchmark, the 279 7/8 inch Del Austin buck from Nebraska, a world record that had stood since 1962.

Ok, that was then, what about now?

Well, according to a variety of sources beginning to pick up this buck on their radar, the rumor mill indicates that this massive 2009 buck from Ohio is a potential record book smasher.

So just how big is this Ohio mega-monster taken by this as of yet unknown hunter in an as of yet unknown spot?

(Editor’s Note: the buck is said to be perhaps from Adams County, the same county where the 291 2/8 inches net Jonathon Schmucker “Amish Buck” was killed in November 2006)

Maybe big enough to shock the world.

“Details are sketchy, but this is apparently an Ohio buck that rough scores somewhere north of 320,” says Outdoor Life’s deputy editor Gerald Bethge (also the author of the great book “Advanced Rut Hunting” by The Lyons Press) in “OL’s Big Buck Zone Blog.”

Over at Mike Hanback’s “Big Deer” blog, he writes that this buck will add up in a hurry and that “…I do know it was killed north of Cincy but that is about it.”

If such dimensions prove to be even reasonably accurate, then there is the possibility that this buck could shake up the record book.

And while a 320-figure (which I remind H-365 readers is only a RUMORED figure at this point in time) would fall far short of the current Boone & Crockett Club world record mark of 333 7/8 (the Missouri Monarch found dead outside of St. Louis in 1981) it could potentially challenge an unofficial mark that exists in the B&C Club’s book.

And that mark belongs to the 307 5/8 inch net buck held by Tony Lovsteun, the celebrated Iowa youth who downed the massive non-typical back in 2003 near Albia, Iowa.

While Lovsteun’s buck ranks third all-time in the B&C non-typical rankings, the other two (the #1 Missouri Monarch and the #2 Ohio “Hole-in-the-Horn” Buck) are both entered as pick-ups, meaning that the Lovsteun buck is the largest whitetail ever legally killed by a hunter. 

Up until now, anyway.

So where will this supposed 2009 Ohio super-buck fall?

Who knows?

But here’s my take on this Buckeye State freak nasty shown in the above pic: the Ohio buck has two great main beams, a very good spread, and some serious mass and tine length to add up rapidly on the score sheet.

But 300 net-inches is about as rare as it gets in whitetail deer hunting history with only four bucks eclipsing that magical mark.

EVER.

And frankly, with what appears to me to be just 20-something points total in this picture, I don’t think this deer will add up to such a lofty and rumored number as a potential fifth member of the rarefied air of the 300-inch Big Buck Club. 

Mid to perhaps the upper 200s for this buck is my current take, but not over the 300-inch mark, at least in terms of the net number that determines record book entry and positioning.

But I’ve certainly been wrong before and perhaps I will be again in terms of this buck and its final score when all is said and done.

And like I’ve said before, with a mega-buck like this lying in the back of a pick-up, who cares what it will score?!?

Because this bruiser whitetail is indeed the poster-boy for the big buck term of “Freak Nasty“!

S0 congrats to the unknown Buckeye State hunter…and stay tuned for more info on this stunning Ohio deer because I’ll certainly keep digging.

Iowa Farm Freak Nasty

Quiz time: if you are a deer hunter, where is the best spot on the planet for a hunter to tag a true-blue BIG freak nasty whitetail, the kind of monster buck that we truly dig here at H-365?

Ok, time’s up.

In a word, the answer is Iowa.

As "Freak Nasty" week continues on H-365, we found a pic of this monster buck living high on the hog down on an Iowa farm!

Take this bruiser that showed up in the H-365 Inbox earlier this week from a good friend with some great Iowa connections.

Apparently, a farmer in the Hawkeye State got in on the ground floor of a big time harvest of some serious whitetail headbone!

Here’s what the e-mail said:

“Saw it bedded down while doing chores at north farm. snuck up on it and shot while it was bedded down. drove past it twice, it never moved. prob score around 180 nontypical, not for sure how to score. didn’t have time to measure had to catch ducks… (taxidermist) has now.”

I should hope the taxidermist has it now – that’s a world class monster buck sporting a Boone & Crockett caliber 10-point mainframe with baseball bat size mass, good tine length, and at least seven non-typical points!

Which leads me to ask our farmer friend in Iowa – do you need any extra help with your farm chores?!?

It also leads me back to an ongoing coffee shop discussion that I’ve had with some of my best hunting pals in recent years.

The gist of that conversation is this: where’s the best spot in North America to tag a bruiser buck like the freak nasty pictured above?

Well, the numbers don’t lie, right? 

After all, according to the Boone & Crockett Club in recent days, when it comes to total number of Booner bucks tagged by hunters since 2000, Illinois leads the charge with 523 total; followed by Wisconsin with 442 Booner bucks; and then by Iowa with 339 such critters.

But to fully understand the above numbers, then please consider the following figures as well.

In Illinois, the 2005/2006 ESPNOutdoors.com Deer Forecast survey that I authored showed that the Land of Lincoln state had an approximate 800,000 deer that year.

And while there were approximately 600,000 permits issued that year, previous data had shown that the Illini state has generally had around 230,000 deer hunters overall.

Incidentally, the state’s deer hunters took some 188,425 deer in 2008.

In Wisconsin, a state with roughly 1 million whitetails as of 2008, the Badger State reported 642,419 licensed gun deer hunters in 2008 that took a total of 352,601 deer including 103,845 antlered deer.

The state also reported 259,921 licensed archery hunters who took 99,281 total deer including 34,662 antlered deer.

Finally, according to the 2005/2006 ESPNOutdoors.com Deer Forecast, the Hawkeye State had 306,114 deer hunters and approximately 370,000 deer that year.  

Incidentally, Iowa deer hunters took 142,194 deer last fall including 51,710 antlered bucks.

So what does all of this numerical mumbo-jumbo actually mean?

Well, for starters, Wisconsin and Illinois both have much bigger deer herds and plenty more hunters than Iowa does.

So it would stand to reason that these two states will produce more sheer numbers of B&C bucks than their neighboring state west of the Mississippi does.

But that certainly doesn’t mean that the hunting and the big buck quality is any better in Illinois and Wisconsin than it is in Iowa.

In fact, it’s probably pretty close to being pretty much the same in each state.

Just look at what each state has produced in recent years, especially on the non-typical side of the scoring sheet.

In Iowa, teenager Tony Lovstuen downed the largest buck ever taken by a hunter in 2003 when he tagged a 307 5/8 inches net non-typical monster in Monroe County.

But just two years before, Illinois deer hunter Jerry D. Bryant knocked over his own freak nasty when he tagged a 304 3/8 inches net non-typical monster in 2001.

And then of course, Wisconsin has stolen its own share of big buck headlines this fall with the multi-pointed giant killed by Wayne Schumacher late last month. That buck – known as the “Lucky Buck” – is rumored to have a green score in the 251-inch range.  

So you see, I believe that the truth here is simply this: that a serious deer hunter can’t go wrong with a tag in any of those three big buck states this fall.

Especially when they are hunting down on the farm during H-365’s first annual “Freak Nasty Week!”

Freak Nasty Colorado Speed Goat

Those who know me know that when it comes to Western big game hunting, I’m a bona fide speed goat freak.

My pronghorn antelope obsession stems back from the many drives my family and I took through northeastern New Mexico on the way to Colorado.

If there is a better place to see hundreds of speed goats congregated near a roadway than on the hour and a half trek from Clayton, New Mexico to Raton, New Mexico, then I don’t know where it is.

Somewhere along the way with my nose pressed to the window on those many ski-trip and trout-fishing trip journeys, I determined that when I got older, antelope hunting was something I would pursue.

And I have, several times, in several states.

From the animal’s striking appearance and stunning beauty to its legendary speed as the fastest mammal on the North American continent to its binocular strength 8X vision to the sage brush smell of its coat to its delectable flavor on the grill, what’s not to like about the pronghorn antelope?

While I’ve never killed a “freak nasty” antelope, I’ve been keenly interested in these critters every since seeing “Flathorns” on my very first archery antelope hunt on the Crist Ranch in New Mexico years ago.

That buck carried his impressive horns forward in twin dagger like fashion and would have worn my tag had he ever ventured into bow range.

Whether or not he would have ever made the record book! 

Now please note, there is no “non-typical” category for pronghorn antelope in either the Pope & Young Club or the Boone & Crockett Club record books.

But when you take a look at this wild critter from Colorado you think that maybe there ought to be.

This buck’s photo is appearing all over the place from the TexasBowhunter.com Web site to the Boone & Crockett Club Web site to my e-mail Inbox.

One look and it’s easy to see why this buck’s photo is cyber-traveling.

Ok, here’s all I know about this critter at this point: it was taken earlier this year by rifle hunter Van Franke.

That’s it, that’s all I know.

But here’s what else I know – this buck would be one of the king daddy’s on the block if there was an actual “non-typical” category for antelope in the record book.

No word on what this buck would score if it can be scored.

With serious mass, short overall length, and questionable prongs (I see a potential prong existing on the speed goat’s left horn but can’t see one from this angle on the right horn) this buck may not be destined for the book.

But right in the middle of H-365’s “Freak Nasty Week” all I can say is this:

Who cares!?!

Happy Freak Nasty Week!

In honor of Saturday’s appearance of Halloween on the 2009 calendar, H-365 is going to spend this week looking at deer and big game hunting’s “Freak Nasties”.

From alien looking bucks to monster looking bulls, H-365 is pleased to announce the arrival of "Freak Nasty Week!"

From alien looking zombies – like this big bruiser caught on camera last fall just a few days before a North Texas hunter turned out his bright lights once and for all – to Medusa resembling bucks with point-explosions on top of their non-typical noggins to some  animals straight out of “Ripley’s Believe It or Not,” be sure to push past the sticky cobwebs this week to knock on the H-365 Internet door.

If you do, you’ll be in for some great tricks and treats courtesy of some of the gnarliest looking, wackiest looking, and scariest looking critters found anywhere on the planet!  

But that’s not all.

As the best 30 days of white-tailed deer hunting begin around much of Big Buck Nation, look for a collection of hunting stories aimed at helping you fill a tag on your own freak nasty monster this fall, a Halloween monster that will haunt the wall in your home for years to come!

And since the most wonderful time of the year is finally at hand for H-365 deer hunters – sorry Andy Williams, the rut rules in this kingdom – expect to see a few tales of big and scary ones that didn’t get away.

Come back and tune in often – can you do that on the I-net? – to share in this wonderfully maddening big buck affliction known around here as the “Rut B1T1” (Bag 1, Tag 1) strain.

So from one end of the H-365 world to the other, “Happy Freak Nasty Week!”

Cornhusker Buck: Live or Memorex?

Got this pic in the Inbox today from a good friend in Texas who had received it from a good friend in Colorado.

Information from the e-mail that accompanied this photo – which appears to be a cell phone shot to me – says this: “Killed in the Wildcat hills, Scotts Bluff/Torrington  area this morning 332 41pt 43 in spread 35 beam 7.5 bases New nebraska state record for both archery and firearm. There are only 27 deer ever shot and recorded in the Boone & Crockett books over 300 points.”

So the question I have is this: is this buck live or is it Memorex?

Is this reported Nebraska mega mule deer buck the real deal?

For starters, let me say that the longer I’ve been in this business, anytime I see a deer like this – call me a skeptic, if you will – the first thing that I wonder is whether or not this is another Internet hoax.

As in a PhotoShop enhanced photograph, a la Ralph Lauren style.

But a second thing I can’t help but wonder is this – is there a possibility that such a freak of nature is legit, wearing the headbones that God gifted that critter’s genetics with?

Perhaps.

With that last thought in mind, let me say that as an official measurer for the Pope & Young Club and the Texas Big Game Awards program, there are a couple of things that must be kept in mind when it comes to reported “scores” of a big buck or bull.

First, record book entry and a deer’s state or all-time ranking come from a big game animal’s NET score not its gross score.

And second, while “green scoring” is a common practice – that is putting a number on an animal’s rack or horns shortly after it has been killed – no Pope & Young Club or Boone & Crockett Club score is official until an animal has gone through the mandatory 60-day official drying period required by both record keeping outfits.

So is this deer – a mule deer, it appears to me from the photograph – a legit 332-inch monster non-typical?

Or is it the big game version of the old Memorex commercial? (Editor’s Note: For all of you young bucks out there, Memorex was the high-quality audio and video tapes that old-timers like me used to use to record stuff in the pre-Ipod and DVR era!)

I guess time will tell.

If so – and the reported score verifies – then this supposed Cornhusker Monster would join a couple of dozen or so other mule deer bruisers in the 12th edition of the Boone & Crockett Club record book with net scores of 300-inches or better.

In fact, a 332-inch net score – again, should that number prove  to be correct after all is said and done – would rank in the B&C book’s all-time “Top 10.”

Again, to sound like a broken record, I guess time will tell.

So what do you think?

First, am I right in my thought that this buck is a Cornhusker mule deer?

And if so, is it the real deal… or yet another in a long line of e-mail hoaxes or PhotoShopped photos? 

I’d appreciate any input or information that anyone out there in Big Buck Nation might have!

More Big Bucks Down (Sorry Tiffany!)

In a fall that continues to be nothing short of amazing, some freakishly amazing brutes have already been tagged.

And please consider that the November rut is still around the corner!?!

How about this bruiser smokepole buck taken by the Buckventures gang’s Brandon Adams during Kansas’ smokepole season?!?

Buckventures' Brandon Adams walks by faith but shot his muzzleloader by sight to tag this 190-class Kansas smokepole buck / Buckventures photo

I’ve gotten to know Jeff Danker and some of his Buckventures crew over the last couple of years as we’ve been at a church wild game dinner or two together.

As a Christ follower and a deer hunting addict, you have got to love somebody whose slogan is “Shoot by Sight, Walk by Faith.”

They are a good outfit with a TV show (Buckventures Television Show) on the Pursuit Channel and ICTV.

And they know how to put big bucks down (my apologies to Tiffany Lakosky for borrowing her well-known phrase!).

Take Brandon’s mega buck, taken back on Sept. 23. After getting the chance to hunt a magnificent 190 class buck in Kansas with Triple Creek Outfitters, he was able to make the most of his opportunity and let the smoke fly with his new Traditions Vortex muzzleloader.

As the pictures – and Buckventures‘ video – shows, he didn’t miss!

“I was running around, yelling, speaking Japanese….it was emotion that I’d never know you could have over a deer. We loaded it in the back of the truck and headed into town to see Richard and tell him the good news. When we arrived there were high fives, hugs, smiles and even a few tears…..(not from me) all around the lodge, this legend had been laid to rest. The deer was estimated at 7.5-8.5 years old, and with the help of 44 5/8” of mass the deer scored 181 5/8″ as a main frame 6×6, adding the 10 7/8” dagger brought the score to 192 4/8” gross.”

To read Brandon’s complete recount of this hunt for a world-class mega buck stud, click here for the full tale on the Buckventures Web site.

Moving back into the Midwest, the newspaper Web site the PostCrescent.com reports that life is “getting back to normal” for bowhunter Wayne Schumacher.

That’s because life got a little bit on the insane side with media attention and well-wishers leaving up to a reported 25 messages per day concerning the Fond du Lac, Wisconsin hunter’s mega-buck tagged late last month in the Badger State.

The "Lucky Buck" ran out of luck when it moved past Wisconsin bowhunter Wayne Schumacher's bowstand on Sept. 20 / Patrick Flood photo

That’s highly understandable since in the deer crazy state of Wisconsin, the Schumacher non-typical buck is rumored to have a green score in the 251-inch range.

If that verifies after the official 60-day drying period, it is well more than enough to eclipse the current Wisconsin Pope & Young Club non-typical record, the 233 2/8 inch “Field & Stream” buck taken just last year by Eau Claire bowhunter Bob Decker.

In fact, the Schumacher buck could be the highest scoring non-typical ever taken in Wisconsin by any weapon according to the Boone & Crockett Club.

“Some have speculated that the score may be high enough to surpass the current WI record (247 3/8) from Vernon County. Fond du Lac County has 9 entries with the largest being a 207 7/8 Non-Typical taken in 1956,” reports B&C on its Web site.

As mentioned, the Schumacher buck – taken with a Mathews bow and a Carbon Express arrow – has created a media frenzy ranging from a Field & Stream radio interview to Fond du Lac Reporter newspaper stories and photos (including this one by Reporter photog Patrick Flood) to magazines like Dan Schmidt’s superb Deer & Deer Hunting and even mainstream media video by CNN. 

Known to local hunters as the “Lucky Buck,” the bruiser non-typical finally ran out of good fortune on Sept. 20 when it suddenly appeared in front of Schumacher’s stand.

“I didn’t have time to get nervous. It was over before I knew it,” DeerFever.com reports Schumacher having said about the 15-year yard shot.

If those two monsters aren’t enough, consider that two other brutes have been knocked down by archers in recent weeks including this bona fide big boy buck from the Peace Garden state of North Dakota.

Not much is known except that Jon Skalicky's North Dakota bow buck is another monster!

According to the Boone & Crockett Club’s Web site, this huge framed buck was taken in late September – possibly near Valley City – by a well placed 25-yard shot from bowhunter Jon Skalicky.

While the score of the 4X5 main-frame rack – along with what appears to be a kicker point or two – is unknown at this time, this buck has some serious mass, tine length, main beam length, and a generous inside spread.

That may be enough to overcome the fact that the rack’s G4 on the deer’s left side will basically wash out from the score sheet as a deduction since it is unmatched on the right side.

Even so, look for this buck to challenge for a spot in the hallowed Booner record book.

And while I’m an official measurer and love putting a tape on antlers, I must admit that this ND buck is without question one of those bucks that you let an arrow fly regardless of what its score might or might not be.

When a deer is that big, who cares what it scores?!? 

Meanwhile, not much is known about the following buck, but I feel I need to include a short blurb about it since it is reportedly above the hallowed 200-inch mark as a typical.

According to the Boone & Crockett Trophy Watch Web page, the hunter’s name isn’t known.

Neither is the deer’s score or its vital numbers.

But it is obvious that this velvet-covered typical rack is a world-class monster even from just a quick cursory glance.

Not much is known about this reported 203-inch Alberta whitetail, but if that score holds and the velvet is stripped after the 60-day drying period, this buck could rank among the Top 5 bow-kills of all time / Boone & Crockett Club

And since the initial buzz is that this Grand Prairie, Alberta region fuzzy-horned monarch has a reported green score of 203 inches, hang on – there’s sure to be more news about a buck that could potentially rank among the Top 5 archery bucks of all-time.

Of course, the big Alberta deer still has to run the gamut of the official 60-day drying period.

And the unknown hunter would also be faced with the question as to whether or not he wants to remove the velvet for inclusion into the all-time record book rather than a one-time listing in the Pope & Young Club’s book as a velvet racked whitetail.

In other words, stay tuned to “Hunting365” – there’s plenty more to come on this massive buck and its story.

In the meantime, we’ll do all we here at the H-365 world headquarters to keep you updated on the unbelievable 2009-2010 whitetail deer season that is unfolding across North America.

With this year’s best deer hunting action yet to come, I might add!

Texas Warden Stops Potential Record Buck

Texas game warden Eric Minter stopped this buck earlier this week for carrying too many tines through the woods.

Most autumns, 44-year old Texas Parks and Wildlife Department game warden Eric Minter is stopping other hunters to look at the bucks in the back of their pick-up trucks.

Not this week – other hunters in the headbone rich Lone Star State have been stopping Minter to take a look at the bruiser buck riding shotgun in his truck.

That’s because this past Monday the Kaufman County lawman found himself as the lucky hunter staring down the buck of a lifetime from a Gorilla treestand hung 20 feet high in a creek bottom filled with acorn dropping white oaks.

When all was said and done, it was Minter putting his own tag on a whopper 27-point non-typical buck.

While there is no firm green score number on the multi-tined monster yet, one look at the photos from the buck would lead one to believe that this deer will score well above the 200-inch mark on the non-typical side of the scoring sheet.

“I’ve been kind of leery of telling everybody just yet because I don’t know what he scores and I don’t want to guess and it be a lot lower or higher than I expected,” Minter said. “But this is unbelievable.”

Some observers who have looked at the whitetail think it’s possible that the Minter buck could potentially challenge the existing Pope & Young Club state record non-typical in Texas, a 225 7/8 inch buck taken by bowhunter Jeffery L. Duncan on the Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge back in 2001.

Not bad for Minter’s first bow buck.

“I started bowhunting probably six years ago,” Minter said. “My thinking was that bow season would give me another 30 days in the woods to deer hunt. (But) I never dreamed I would do anything like this with my bow.”

Over that six year span, Minter has become pretty proficient with his stick-and-string, arrowing a couple of does and “…lots of (wild) pigs” roaming through the wilds of Kaufman County located just east of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.

A TPWD game warden since 1997, Minter admits that bow season up until this point in time has primarily served as “scouting time” for his rifle hunting efforts since he is a married man of 13-years and a father of three boys including 4 1/2 year old twins.

Besides, he laughs, he tends to be pretty busy during the general deer season making sure that other hunters are on the up and up in their own deer hunting efforts.

“There are pluses and minuses to working and hunting in the same county,” Minter said. ” I can go to my lease at just about any time, but I can also get called out just about anytime.

“I might have an off-day and think today is perfect and I’m going to hunt, but then I can get in my stand and be there for 30 minutes and hear a shot in a direction where there shouldn’t be a shot and off I’ve got to go (to check things out).” 

Despite getting to his modest sized lease a few minutes later than he wanted to this past Monday, Oct. 19, Minter had plenty to anticipate thanks to deer movement he, his lease members, and neighboring property owners had observed over the previous weekend.

After climbing into his stand, it didn’t take long for the early morning action to heat up quickly as shooting time arrived on the watch.

Thanks to the abundant acorns, a steady stream of does and small bucks kept the warden entertained. In fact, Minter noted that about 8 o’clock that morning, there were “…eight or nine deer in front of his stand…” chowing on the sweet white oak nuts.

Less than a half-hour later, however, things got much more serious as Minter looked up to see a large bodied buck cruising the edge of a thick line of timber leading towards the open oak flat he was overlooking.

Despite his best efforts, the bowhunter couldn’t get a clean look at the buck’s rack other than to note that there were several silhouetted points coming off one of the main beams.

If there was any doubt in Minter’s mind about the caliber of the buck he was looking at, his ears soon told him all he needed to know.

“(The) does started freaking out and running and this dude let out a grunt like I had never heard before,” Minter said. “He grunted like that twice.

“When I heard him, I thought ‘Golly, he’s got to be the biggest thing out there.'”

Little did he know.

Especially when the deer ran off and disappeared after the does leaving the warden to wonder how he was going to explain what he had just witnessed to his other hunting buddies.

Ten minutes later, he wouldn’t have to wonder any more as the buck reappeared.

“He came back into the opening and came right up (towards my stand) at about 30 yards,” Minter said. “The sun still hadn’t really cleared the tops of the trees yet so it was still kind of dark under the tree canopy. All I could make out was that he had two drop tines and that he was wide.” 

At first, the deer was facing Minter’s position.

 

But when the buck turned away  and looked to his right, an opportunity arrived for the hunter to draw back his Mathews DXT bow undetected.

 

Finally, the buck gave Minter the broadside angle that he needed.

 

“I had some trees marked at 20, 30, and 40 yards and he was the exact distance as my 30 yard tree so I put my 30 yard pin on him, tried not to look at the antlers anymore, and let it go.”

 

The Carbon Express arrow and Grim Reaper broadhead combination slammed home into the deer’s vitals, causing the buck to drop virtually on the spot. When the deer tried to get up, Minter put a follow up arrow into the buck, bringing a sudden stillness to the woods.

 

Except for the hunter’s own throbbing pulse rate, that is.

 

Amazingly, as the woods quieted down, deer started filtering back out to take advantage of the acorn bonanza lying on the ground.

 

Not wanting to disturb the deer for the sake of the other hunters on his lease, Minter sat patiently for some time.

 

“I ended up seeing more bucks after I shot him than I had seen all of the other days (this year) combined,” Minter said. “Before it was all over, there were two sevens, a six, a spike, and a good mature 12 that had come in.

 

When the 12-pointer  finally chased off the last of the feeding does, Minter was able to get out of his stand and see what his arrow had wrought.

 

What it had wrought is the non-typical buck of a lifetime for any hunter anywhere.

 

“I had never felt that much emotion deer hunting,” he said of claiming his big-antlered prize. “I never dreamed that I would get a buck of that quality – that’s always something that happens for the other guys.”

 

Not this time – the 5 1/2 year old buck field-dressing at 165-pounds is wearing Minter’s tag.

 

“I know there are a lot of guys that put in a lot of work,” Minter said. “I guess I was just in the right place at the right time and some good fortune shined down on me.”

 

So what does the hunter do now for an encore after killing the biggest buck he may ever see?

 

First, he says he is looking forward to getting his boys out in the woods over the next few years.

 

And second, despite the possibility that he may never see a better buck again, he is already looking forward to next year since he enjoys deer hunting so much.

 

“You know, I had so much fun sitting up there watching those deer come in before the big buck came along,” Minter said. “That was one of better days I had ever had hunting, even before the big deer came along.

 

Minter admits that in the final analysis, he has experienced a wide range of  conflicting emotions throughout this week.

 

“I realized that I had taken the best buck that I could ever expect to but I also realized that my hunting season was over now and its only bow season,” he laughed. 

 

“I guess I’ve got a lot of time to dedicate to work now.”

 

We should all be so lucky this fall.

 

 

 

Monster Colorado Moose!

Governor's Tag SCI Raffle hunter Armand LaBroucherie is all smiles after bagging this 175-inch Shiras moose in Colorado.

Hunting moose is a serious dream of mine, especially with my Hoyt.

Closest I’ve been to killing a moose however was on a night-time drive through Maine after an unsuccessful spring bear hunt in New Brunswick.

In fact, the reality is the two moose in the middle of the road were closer to killing me than I was to killing one of them.

So unless I win the lottery – and I don’t play it – bagging the largest deer in North America is going to remain a pipe dream of mine until I get the kids through college.

But that doesn’t mean I can’t dream, especially about bagging a toad bull like this one that showed up in my e-mail Inbox.

“Thought you might like to see a 57″ Shiras moose from Colorado one of  our hunters shot on Sept. 12, 2009. Scores 180 gross and 175 net.  Taken by Gov.’s Tag SCI Raffle hunter, Armand LaBrucherie. Scott Limmer, Comanche Wilderness Outfitters, Inc.”

Though far short of the Colorado B&C state record Shiras bull of 196 5/8 inches taken by Brad B. Schwindt in 1997 (a bull that ranks #6 all-time in the B&C Shiras records), the LaBrucherie bull is still a mega-bull.

In fact, once the official 60-day scoring period is up, this bull could be a potential “Top 5” Shiras moose in Colorado history.

As a friend of mine said in his e-mail, I “…need to spend some more time hunting in Colorado.”

No argument there, especially with a Shiras pic like this staring me in the face!

Tagging a Dark Thirty Buck

In many parts of Deer Nation, when hunting season appears on the calendar, the whitetail woods come alive with trophy bucks on the prowl.

Knowing what the locally preferred food sources are that evening deer are feeding upon can give you a leg up on a dark thirty buck.

Sometimes however, particularly when the early season heat is still on, the movement of many of these ghostly apparitions is well after dark thirty arrives each day.

After all, trail cameras don’t lie.

Oxford, Miss. bowhunter Ronnie Cannon is a successful archer of some two decades who knows how to tag bucks from the Deep South to the legendary Pike County, Ill. where he helps guide hunters every fall at Hopewell Views Hunting Club.

With such experience, Cornbread as his friends call him, knows all too well the frustration that comes when chasing a buck that has gone nocturnal.

“I’ve had a couple of rounds with those guys,” said Cannon. “You know the deer is there, his sign is there, his rubs are there, (and) his scrapes are there. You go in one day and find a scrape and you come back in the next day and find it worked over. That’s a pretty good sign that the buck is nocturnal.”

So what can you do besides simply swatting mosquitoes this fall when the buck you’re chasing goes underground during daylight hours?

Follow these tactics and you just might turn the lights out on a dark thirty buck once and for all:

Play the Wind – Play the wind right and the odds are still long that you’ll tag a trophy buck.

Play the wind wrong and you might as well sleep in.

Take, for instance, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department game warden Dale Moses’ story from a few years back.

Moses, a passionate bowhunter during his time off, is a stickler for carbon suits and a stringent pre-hunt routine designed to eliminate scent.

Except that one day he slept a bit too long, had to hurry, and didn’t keep his routine intact.

You know what’s coming next.

“I had a five-point buck underneath me in a shooting lane and he wasn’t paying any attention to me, but I also had a 170-inch 10-point that started coming in downwind of me,” Moses said.

“He was standing about 50 yards away looking at the five-point and all of a sudden, he bolted like he had been shot at.”

The moral of this story?

If you don’t want to know the sickening sound of a Booner noisily vacating the premises, do everything you can to control your scent.

And then, always play the wind correctly.

Sound Low Light Strategies – “In the morning, bucks and does are leaving food sources and headed towards bedding areas,” Cannon said.

“You need to be careful in getting too close to the food sources because you might bump them. Instead, hunt closer to the bedding area. But you need a well made plan with a good entrance route that will allow you to get near the bedding area undetected early.”

In the evening, it’s wise not to get too close to a deer’s chow hall.

Why? They may not arrive at an evening food source until darkness falls.

A better plan is to target the staging areas where bucks tend to hang out until low light conditions convince them that the coast is clear.
 
Read the Current Menu – The autumn season is a time of transition in the life of whitetails, from the lazy, hazy days of summer to the rigors of the autumn rut.

It’s also a time when the menu at the local deer dining hall is subject to change without notice.

“Late summer deer might hang around the bean fields in August and September, but they’ll move to the acorns and such a lot of times in October,” Cannon said.

“It pays to know the food sources (that) local deer utilize, when those sources are available, and where you can hang a stand for a particular wind direction.”

Watch the Weather – The passage of a major cold front on the weather map can often turn the deer hunting up a notch or two across the country.

“I used to really key in on opening weekend, but now I really focus on the first good weather change of the fall,” Cannon said.

“When you have to put on a little extra clothing, you can bet the deer will be a little more active. If I had hair all over me and weighed 260 pounds, I’d probably get up and move more when it got cooler.”

Remember Deer Biology – “Sleep, sex, and sustenance – those are the three things that drive a deer’s life,” Cannon said.

In addition to traditional buck signposts of rubs and scrapes, don’t ignore the bottleneck travel routes utilized by does.

Steve Lewandowski – an Oklahoma native who has spent plenty of time chasing whitetails in Texas and his current state of Missouri too – anchored such a spot a few years back and ended up arrowing a nice Sooner State wallhanger.

And believe it or not, he first saw the hat-racked sized buck during the second week of October – following a doe.

“I’m always a firm believer in where the women are, the men will follow,” Lewandowski said.

And as October continues on towards November’s rut, that is undoubtedly the best tip that a deer hunter can heed when it comes to arrowing a monster buck this fall.