“You are absolutely nuts! I cannot believe you passed up that buck! He’s huge! What in the world is the matter with you?” questioned almost demanded by friend and cameraman Jeff Parker. “That was one of the biggest if not the biggest bucks I have ever seen!”
I listened patiently as he continued to question my sanity.
We were hunting in Frio County, Texas about half way between the iconic Brush Country deer hunting towns of Pearsall and Uvalde, just south of the Frio River. The ranch belonged to a dear friend, Gary Machen. Gary, plus Murphy Ray who co-authored the basic deer management bible, PRODUCING QUALITY WHITETAILS, along with Al Brothers and I co-founded the Texas Wildlife Association back in 1985. While not a degreed wildlife biologist, Gary knew more about white-tailed deer than most with PhD’s in wildlife conservation. His lessons learned through trial and error and not being “scared” to try what were then revolutionary management techniques and practices, many of which he helped develop.
At the time I was working with several outdoor television shows. As a matter of fact, during that time I worked with shows on about every outdoor network, and I appeared in a television shows just about every day of the year. As a professional wildlife biologist I had been at the right place at the right time, back when quality deer management was just being conceived. Timing is even more important in life than it is in hunting, i.e. being at the right place at the right time. But then one also has to have the courage to take advantage of situations provided.
At the time of my hunt, Gary had been into a really good deer management program at this location for four years. This involved proper rotational livestock grazing, thoughtful harvest of both bucks and does, and giving bucks the opportunity to mature in the presence of excellent day to day nutrition. In his case, the property was home to extremely good native deer browse species, but he also planted food plots and had the advantage of an irrigation system that watered the various agricultural crops he planted and harvested each year. As a result, deer that lived on Gary’s place never went hungry, even when we were into the frequent droughts experienced in South Texas!
Late summer of that year I had made a deal with Gary to hunt his property for a series of television shows. After agreeing to the price of the hunts we further agreed I would not take a buck unless I thought he was at least 6-years old. I set up my hunt to occur in early December, at a time, when in the past we had rattled in lots of bucks on his place.
Jeff and I arrived at the ranch well before first light, had coffee with Gary and his gracious wife Barbara, then walked into the brush immediately behind their home. During a scouting trip, I had seen a buck that was at least six years old, a typical 12-point a short distance behind their home.
During my first rattling session just after legal shooting light, I rattled in three bucks. Two were youngsters and one a really nice, wide and massive mid-150’s B&C, 10-point. He was likely three or four years old. When nothing else showed after thirty-minutes we “slip-hunted” along the edge of a brushy sendero moving into the slight northerly breeze.
With a half mile behind us, I found a place near a dense whitebrush thicket where I could see clearly to my left and right, and directly down wind. Years ago I had taught myself to shoot both right and left-handed. With shooting lanes to both the left and right, I was ready to take a deer before he ended up directly downwind of the rattling sounds, as I knew he would eventually do.
After letting nature’s sound return, I started grunting softly and rubbing on a nearby bush, doing my best to duplicate what bucks were doing at the time. I set up a scenario like two bucks coming upon each other, and then after rubbing nearby bushes, start circling each other. I snort-wheezed a “fit, fit, fit, feeeee”. I mention this because no one else at that time was using this most aggressive vocalization that whitetail bucks utter. Matter of fact when I told other about it, they laughed at me…. Immediately after the snort-wheeze I hit my rattling “horns” together and made as much racket as I could, doing my best to sound like two mature bucks trying to kill each other, as happens in real life during the rut.
Immediately two bucks responded. Tempting! One was a really nice typical 11-point and the other a long-tined and wide typical 8. But neither looked like they were over four years old. More rattling. Four more bucks came in for a look, but nothing that looked like they were six-years old or older.
Jeff got great footage, as I knew he would. When nothing else appeared after waiting 30-minutes since the last buck walked away, we moved on. I had learned a long time ago that often older, mature, big-antlered bucks are slow to respond and often do not make an appearance until fifteen minutes or more after I had stopped rattling. So be patient when you are rattling!
We spent the rest of the day hunting relatively close to the house and rattled up another twenty-three bucks. You’ve got to love rattling when things are “working right”!
Next morning, we drove to the middle of the ranch. On our first set up we rattled in four bucks. One was a really massive 10-point, mid-160’s B&C. He looked like he might be 5-years old but no older. We then moved a quarter of a mile to the north west. There I set up under a raised deer blind where I could see in numerous directions, watching downwind.
During my second rattling sequence I spotted a buck coming our way. His antlers were TALL and WIDE and MASSIVE, a huge typical ten with an unbranched extra tine about 20-inches long that almost looked like a second main beam. No doubt he would have gross-scored mightily close to 200 B&C.
The buck approached to within less than forty steps. He was magnificent in every way, except for one. His face, neck, and body said he was well shy of six years of age. He looked like a three-year old! I lowered my rifle, and simply admired him. Behind me I could hear Jeff telling me to shoot. “Shoot him…” “That’s the biggest buck I have ever seen you rattle in…” “Shoot!”
I ignored his urging. My agreement with my rancher friend was to not shoot a buck I thought was less than six-years of age.
After about ninety-seconds the buck walked away. No sooner had he disappeared than Jeff questioned my sanity. I wagged my head in a negative manner, “Too young…”
As luck would have it, I rattled in that same buck two days later and again turned him down. By then I was certain Jeff thought I had truly lost my mind. Later that same afternoon we finally found a buck I thought was at least six, a 24-inch wide 9-point with a kicker. One shot of a Hornady round from my single-shot .300 Win Mag put him down.
It was two years before I again hunted Gary’s property for a TV show. This time I was with a different cameraman. I had spent several evenings and morning scouting the property prior to the hunt and had found an old, long-tined typical 12-point. I felt assured he would easily exceed 170 B&C.
This time I hunted before bucks were readily “coming to horns”. The hunt was planned to take advantage of knowing where a particular 12 point buck lived. It was before the rut started and all bets were off as to where he might be. I chose to hunt from a raised deer blind near where I had previously seen the big typical 12 several times.
The first morning hunt was somewhat uneventful other than seeing numerous outstanding young bucks. My agreement to not shoot anything I thought was less than six years old was still in place.
Next morning, we were back in the same blind, looking for the big 12. Several bucks fed across the wide sendero that we were on. About ten in the morning, the big 10-point from the evening before appeared 800 yards away. He started feeding slowing in our direction. I heard my cameraman’s breathing getting deeper as he filmed the buck. “You need to shoot THAT buck! He’s huge!” I nodded.
The big ten stopped 250 yards away, turned broadside. “That’s the biggest wild typical I have ever seen! You NEED to shoot him!” Again I nodded. By then, looking at the buck’s body conformation I had decided he was definitely at least six years old. But still I did not shoot. The night before, visiting with Gary over a wee dram of “safe water” he had told me about a typical 14-point he had recently seen, an older buck he thought would gross at least 170 B&C or more.
“His short coming is his tine length. But then how many typical fourteen points have you seen?” commented and questioned Gary.
“Four to be exact!” I replied having to that point as a professional wildlife biologist establishing and maintain management programs on some of the best ranches in South Texas seen something over 50,000 whitetail bucks while doing helicopter game survey for the past numerous years.
Thus, you might understand why I was reluctant to shoot this huge ten-point which as we watched turned, and walked into the brush. “You’re absolutely crazy for not shooting that buck. He’s got to be beyond 180.”
“Tell you what, if he comes back out into the sendero, I’ll shoot him,” I replied thinking he would never again step into that sendero, at least not while I was there hunting. I was still really hoping either the big typical 12 or typical 14 would make an appearance. At the time I had not yet taken what I considered a big 12 point or a typical 14 points. Earlier that same fall I had taken a buck in a mid-western state, a big typical 10 that grossed over 200 and netted in the 190’s B&C. When I shot the buck I had assumed he was a “real free range” deer. But at his side I saw a metal ear tag. The buck was one that had escaped from a high fence…
Ten minutes after I passed the big ten, I saw movement in the brush, on the side where the big buck had disappeared. Two heart beats later he stepped out, looked in our direction then walked into the middle of the sendero. It was then I really paid attention to his body and antlers. Yes, he no doubt was at least six years old. Wide, dark antlers with ivory tips, ten tall points. No doubt his antlers were “north” of 170, likely low 180’s B&C. He was the epitome of a big-antlered, mature South Texas Brush Country whitetail buck.
I decided to take him. Immediately my heart beat increased dramatically and I almost started shaking. Taking several quick deep breaths, I pointed my rifle in the buck’s direction. Then started trying to get the crosshairs to settle on his shoulder. Thankfully he was occupied watching another approaching buck.
At the time I was shooting a .300 Win Mag, using Hornady’s 180-grain ammo. In what seemed like forever the crosshairs finally settled and were planted on his shoulder. I pushed the safety to fire, took one more breath, let it all out and then squeezed the trigger. At the shot the buck took a couple of steps and fell. No sooner had I shot, I bolted in a fresh Hornady round and immediately got the crosshairs back on him. If he so much as wiggled I was ready to shoot him a second time. He did not move.
After getting all the “cutaways” etc. for the tv show, all the while me keeping an eye on the downed buck, I walked to his side. He indeed was big of body, but also antlers. A slick, monstrous typical 10! I was thrilled. No doubt he was my biggest typical whitetail buck.
A little while later we loaded my buck and headed to Gary’s home where he and I would weigh, age and measure his antlers for his management program records. As we were driving up, Gary was waiting for us. “Heard the shot, which buck did you take?” he asked, knowing I had two bucks I was after, the typical 12 and 14.
When he looked at the buck on the back of my pickup, he started smiling widely. “Do you know which buck this is?”
“A BIG one!” I commented.
“Remember two year ago that big typical 10 point you rattled in and passed, the one that had what looked almost like a second main beam?”
“Certainly do! He was simply too young!” I responded.
“Well you did finally take him! This is him. If you look closely you can see where he had and the broke off that long extra point. I saw him earlier this fall when he shed velvet. He still had it and it was nearly as long as his main beam, likely 20 or more inches. Had he not broken it, I got a feeling he would have gross-scored well over 200 B&C. We’ll score him after we weigh and age him!” A quick look at his lower jaw teeth revealed he was likely seven. He field dressed at 176-pounds.
Later that evening after taking care of the meat, Gary and I scored my buck. He grossed 184 and because he was so symmetrical netted 182 B&C. Had he not broken off the extra point he would have easily gross-scored over 200! Regardless, I was thrilled with my buck. Because of all things considered, he is my best ever typical whitetail buck, and certainly my favorite. I love his antlers’ size, shape and color. Having taken him on Gary’s property, where I helped back then with the management program makes him all the more special!
