elpepe25 Report post Posted January 31, 2008 Sorry I’m no writer, and this is long but here goes: It all started in October, I had gotten a couple of game cam pictures of this fella but had already tagged out for 07 so I decided I wanted this guy for Jan. I wanted this deer or nothing. I would check my camera on a week by week basis and he'd would be on there every time like clock work, every other day or so, but he always came in at like 10pm or 2am. So by the time mid December came around I had acquired a lot of pics of this bad boy, like 50-75 or so. I showed a couple of friends the pics of him, and a few "other" guys and didn’t think anything about it. My friends kept it quiet, the few "other" guys didn’t. Random people I know were asking me about the deer. Needless to say I was not happy about the outbreak and the snowball effect. It seemed everybody in town knew about the deer. There is one group of hunters in particular that had heard of the buck and we refer to as the "Swarm." They don’t really hunt for deer but other hunters’ spots instead. A real bunch of scumbags, but there wasn’t anything I could do being public land and all. Then the deer quit showing up......at all. Then.......the December archery hunt/ and rifle hunts started and the rumor mill kept churning out good ones. "So and so went in there and hammered him." "He's dead." "I went in there and found bloody drag marks coming from your spot." All these rumors were really getting to me. Between the rumors and the lack of recent game came pics I was learning a brutal lesson "loose lips sink ships." Finally January showed up and I was back in the game. I hadn’t received or seen any pics of my buck dead or anything, but I honestly wondered if I was wasting my time sitting my spot, I wanted this deer or nothing. I sat 3-4 days a week, 12 hours a day staring out of my Double Bull Blind. Every Morning I could, I would walk the 2 miles in by flashlight, sit all day and hike out by flashlight. I went 8 days with-out even seeing a deer out of my blind. I saw more hunters than deer. I tried my best to dig deep, and I told myself even if I don’t kill this buck I’m going out wait the Swarm, and I wasn’t going to allow them to run me off. I was now sitting out of principle. I was turning myself into a wreck. Between lack of sleep and obsession, I was pretty depressed. January was now half over. I truly believe hunting 1 particular deer and accepting nothing else is the hardest hunting challenge I have ever had. Then on the 25th I went and checked my camera and my buck had came in on the 18th. He was still alive. My doubts and fears reversed themselves in a flurry of yells, whoops and fist pumps. Back in the game. This buck or nothing. I sat Saturday and Sunday that weekend with just small buck and does coming in. Then on the 28th I found myself sitting in the blind once again with time passing very slowly. Since I had been sitting a lot without seeing a lot I had been doing a lot of reading. Then at about 5 minutes till 5pm I was looking through the Cabela’s reloading catalogue and I heard something slurping water. I looked up and it was him, quartered away , 20 yards. Time slowed, I slowly set the catalogue down and reached for my bow. I kept one eye on him as I ducked behind the window and drew my bow. Some time in the process his 6th sense told him to look my way. Once I felt the roll over of the cam and had a rock solid anchor I leaned out and buried my pin on his last rib as to drill the shoulder on the other side. I don’t recall ever squeezing the trigger but soon my Lumenock hit home and he crashed off into the thicket. I waited the mandatory 30 minutes and retrieved my arrow. Great sign on the arrow and immediately at the sight of the hit. I just walked to the last place I saw him running and he was within 20 yards of that spot. The G5 Montec had once again done its job and I had a blood trail of only 40 yards. After a few photos I had a moment of silence to remember what went into this harvest, and to what this deer meant to me. Total I spent 132-140 hours in the blind, had hiked in 11 times to hunt putting on some 44 miles. This deer represented the best test I have received in the woods. He made me earn it. Patience, perseverance, determination, doubts, fears, hate, anger, jubilation, and joy were all felt on this hunt and to the extremes at times. This buck or nothing The night game cam photos are from november, the day game cam just before and after the shot, and finally the field photos He gross scores 107 1/8 inches P/Y and has double split brow tines. This make 2 P/Y bucks in 3 months <img src="http://forums.coueswhitetail.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="rolleyes.gif" /> Thank you if you made it all the way through that. Robert Poor Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jamaro Report post Posted January 31, 2008 great job.... J- Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
longshooter Report post Posted January 31, 2008 Congrats on a awesome buck........ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cjw2222 Report post Posted January 31, 2008 Wow that was a great writeup with a great ending. Congrats on killing an absolute monster and even more congrats for earning every inch on those antlers. I wouldnt mind seein some close ups of those brow tines. hard to make them out in the pictures Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NOFX Report post Posted January 31, 2008 Congratulations, you really earned it. Now the swarm can migrate else where. Awesome buck!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Browning'sCustomMeat Report post Posted January 31, 2008 SIMPLY AWESOME! Way to hold out for the one YOU wanted! I don't know if I would ever be able to go that long with those thoughts in my head. Congrats to you with great persistence it pays off. Hopefully now you have smoked the swarm and they can BUZZ off! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
willhunt4coues Report post Posted January 31, 2008 CONGRATS ON THAT BUCK. YOU SURE WORKED HARD FOR HIM. WAY TO STAY IN THERE AND NOT GIVE UP. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elpepe25 Report post Posted January 31, 2008 I wouldnt mind seein some close ups of those brow tines. hard to make them out in the pictures Here ya'll go Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GRAYLIGHT Report post Posted January 31, 2008 A major congratulations to you! an inspirational story... Way to go! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HBU Report post Posted January 31, 2008 That's a great buck, way to go. I'm glad it worked out for you. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
azryan Report post Posted January 31, 2008 great story...it makes taking that buck all the sweeter....now go rub it in to the "swarm" you deserve too awesome buck Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DesertBull Report post Posted January 31, 2008 Awesome! I would have dumped the hide and guts on the Swarm's doorstep. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AZ402 Report post Posted January 31, 2008 Cool buck, congrats!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fatfootdoc Report post Posted January 31, 2008 elpepe, Awesome buck, but you should really change your name to PERSEVERANCE!!!! I dont think I ever could have done what you did!! Well Done. ag Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coues Sniper Report post Posted January 31, 2008 No writer my a$$, great story man! The time you put into that deer and the cam pics you have 2 minutes before the shot and immediately after, man that's something special. That buck is a brute. Congrats on a truly well earned trophy. Just awesome man. Huge congrats to you Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
