Anybody recognize this buck?

[Becker]

Actually grosses 114 if I remember right!!!

[Flatlander]

You definitely post weird stuff trphyhuntr, I'll give you that.

 

I think he is telling the OP to jump in . . . You know explain what the heck he is talking about.

[trphyhntr]

You definitely post weird stuff trphyhuntr, I'll give you that.

 

I think he is telling the OP to jump in . . . You know explain what the heck he is talking about.

no it means im "in" this thread and now waiting to see if OP is trying to start a chit storm.

[reganranch]

That makes sense, in for the fireworks so to speak.

[ultramag]

If anything post some better pics.. That looks like a great buck. Would love to hear a story.

[Couzer]

Yeah Tub congrats on a awesome buck, good for you guys for laying down the hammer first.

[Big Tub]

corrected info and updated a little info ... more later

[Big Tub]

Added a pic from the kill site.

[AZLance]

Maybe he poached the deer, and is hoping the guys in the Red Ranger don't recognize the buck or him...

[Guest 300ultramag.]

what a weird thread/topic

[Big Tub]

Following several days of not seeing much, expectations were not high. We drove up to the top of the hill in the dark. I stayed near the truck to glass while Ed walked up the road. He reached the opposite side of the canyon and was glassing into to bottom when he caught the movement and texted me “shooter buck.” It was in his sights off his shooting sticks for just a second or two but he was not steady enough for a shot. I changed my direction of glassing just in time to pick up a glimpse of two bucks but it was long enough to identify the nice buck as REALLY NICE and the other was a dink. Ed decided to move down and still hunt them with me being Big Eye in the Sky. We never did see them again that day but we did have two hunters from a red Rhino walk in on us. They set up opposite me on the hilltops on the other side of the canyon about 500 yards away. Nothing was moving as it had gotten pretty warm. Finally, getting bored in the late afternoon, I decided to walk the up-wind side of the canyon to see if I could push the bucks to someone. I ended up about 200 yards just on the other side of the canyon from the 2^nd guy. I think he was really trying hard to avoid eye contact.

 

Expectations were better the next day as we drove to the top of the hill. We hiked in another ¾ mile to the top of the tallest hill in the area and we began glassing in the gray light of dawn. The other two guys showed back but on a smaller hill 1 mile to the east and quite a bit later. We glassed for a little while when Ed spied the two bucks walking down a long finger into the bottom. I was busy eating my chorizo burrito but swung my binos on the tripod over to track them. The big one disappeared but the little one I could see most of the time. Before long, the little one bedded, disappearing into the thick brush and then the big one walked down a little further and bedded IN SIGHT! That was very fortunate. They were in a thick area that would be difficult to approach and next to impossible to see except from the exact location where we were.

 

Rock/Paper/Scissors went to Ed even though he did not think the big deer was merely OK. He worked his way down while I did my best to memorize the area and figure out a plan. He busted a couple doe but they did not seem to agitate the visible big buck that was busy chewing his cud. As Ed was about 2/3 the way there, the bucks got up and started moving across the little fingers. DRAT! They moved a couple hundred yards north with me picking them up in the big binos only every once in a while, finally disappearing into the bottom. Ed kept moving up closer and finally ended up opposite the deer on my side of the canyon and about 200 yards from where the deer disappeared. The wind had died down and it was getting HOT. Ed stripped down to one shirt and so did I while trying to keep my eyes in the binos looking for movement.

 

The action started about a half hour later. Ed was ready with his 7mm08 on his cross-sticks from a sitting position when the big buck stepped out onto just about the only clear area on the finger, 157 yards from Ed (he used that ½ hour to range the different trees). He had less than 2 seconds to study the situation and decide if that was the buck he wanted. Suddenly I saw the buck lunge and a half second later I heard the report from the rifle. The buck bounded down the opposite side of the finger into a thicket in the bottom. The little buck jumped upon the top of the finger pausing exactly where the big buck had stood and then ran down to the bottom. I remember saying that he would now show me where the big buck was. A few seconds later, I could see the little buck heading north, flagging with his tail as he ran off and I also thought I saw movement going away too. RATS!

 

Ed took what seemed like forever to get over to the impact site but he did have to circumnavigate quite a cliff. That cliff had given him the good visibility to see across the canyon, though. Following a couple miscues and “a failure to communicate,” Ed reached the spot. There was not one drop of blood or hair at the site. NOT GOOD! He proceeded into the bottom finding no sign of the big buck. After several minutes, he began following the tracks of the little deer and then ended up back tracking on the little deer’s hoof prints. It was then about 30-45 minutes after the shot and we were really getting bummed. Anxiety and nausea began to set in. He continued to follow the back track and ended up at the thicket. THERE WAS THE BIG DEER PILED UP IN THE THICKET! WHEW AND THANK YOU JESUS! There was a slight blood trail that started only one yard back before the deer piled up. How strange. Ed had hit him in the shoulder where the bullet fragmented and took out the heart – he covered almost 75 yard in that “dead run.”

 

The hard work began. Ed took a picture or two with his I-Phone then started field dressing and skinning the deer. The big buck had an enormous spread and great mass with fair symmetry. Ed finally admitted the deer was really nice. Meanwhile, I went to fetch the truck and see how close I could get on a very rough 4-WD road. I studied my GPS and chose the “Over Hill, Over Dale” path with the least overall net elevation change to get to Ed who had texted me his GPS coordinates. Upon getting to Ed, I gave into the fact that my route was not optimal. I helped finished skinning the neck and removed the head and we re-hung the carcass in some dark shade. Ed headed down the wash to the other close point with his pack and the deer head/hide while I went back to the truck “hunting” using Ed’s rifle hoping to see that little buck. After a little more 4-wheeling I met Ed in the wash. We hiked back 507 yd (don’t you love GPS’s?) to the deer for the final extraction. We strapped the carcass on my 600 lb capacity pack frame (yah, right 600 lb – 1^st time I have used it and it worked well). Ed carried it for the first 200 yards but the frame was certainly not adjusted for him. He took a break and I crawled into the frame. He had to help me stand up but I was able to make it back to the truck without any excitement (1 little water fall was a bit of a challenge). As we drove out, I began convincing him that he had to mount this deer.

 

Final processing was then performed back at Ed’s house. We hung the deer from his porch in the shade. Ed began cutting off fat, lots of fat. I was calling taxidermists and butchers. Brian, a fellow hunter friend and neighbor of Ed’s came over, and we lambasted Ed that he MUST mount this deer with full approval of the BOSS, Ed’s wife. A few more pictures were taken and I prepared to come back to Tucson to drop the head off with Devin of Az Wildlife Designs, who happens to live quite close to me. He scored the antlers at 114 3/8 gross and 111 net, which is beyond just “nice” and maybe beyond “really nice”. While I was playing with the phone, Ed managed to debone all the meat. He prefers to make jerky out of all of it but I convinced him to save me the back straps and tenderloins.

Providence certainly played the key role in getting this deer. Thank You Lord! We have hunted this area on and off for about 2 decades now and this is certainly the widest deer we have ever seen. We grilled up one of the back straps over the next several days and it was awesome! My son was down for both weekends but the rest of the hunt was anticlimactic as I continued in my stint as a nonconsumptive wildlife user. But who can complain after getting to help harvest a deer like this one???

[Dan]

Good story !!!! Congrat's on a trophy coues!!

[Yoshi]

^{Great B&C material!!!!}

 

^{Witch unit???}

[shanehamblin]

Sweet buck! But what was the beef with the other guys? Did I miss it somewhere? Congrats on a stud tho

[Big Tub]

S Az.is all you get.

 

I wanted to know if the other guys had more info on this buck and how long they had been chasing him.

 

Lance