My "11th Hour Buck"

[Chairman]

Well folks, I finally went and did it....

My wall will be bare no more! I finally took a wall-hanger. I'm still in a fog, right now... My opportunity came at the very last moment possible, at the Truman Lake Managed Deer Hunt for the Disabled (Nov. 9th & 10th). I took him at 5 O'clock, last night. I'll give more details soon ~ I'm too exhausted, for now. It was one tough hunt... We hung him overnight, took him to the taxidermist this morning & I just don't have any energy left. I did have to at least post the photo ~ I'm on cloud 9( and the 10th, 11th & 12th cloud, too).

The fog is very dense *up here*. It may take me a few days to actually realize what just happened. As soon as I can see straight, I'll post the details...

 

[SUPER R]

Chairman: Congratulations that is a GREAT buck!!!!

YOU ARE THE MAN

 

[Passthru]

Very very COOL Congratulations!!! as soon as your rested we want story

 

[Gun Docc]

Congrat's Chairman,

Yep i'd say you got yourself a fine ''Wallhanger'' there for sure and i bet you done got the cobwebs cleaned from the wall where he's gonna hang....hehehe

glad to hear your hunting season has went well so far and give us the full story after you rest up a bit

Later,

 

[StringShooter]

Great job! Nice 10 point that would fit on anyones wall!

I will have to read your story when I get back late this weekend.

Get some rest, you sure deserve it.

 

[hucklburry]

Nice buck!! Congrats! Can't wait to hear the story.

--Jim

 

[Chairman]

...and now, the rest of the story.

I worked hard for 3 months, to be able to participate in the hunt. I still wasn't sure if I was going to be able to last the entire weekend. I figured there would only be one way to find out...

The weather didn't cooperate at all, on Saturday. I actually have a sun-burned face to prove it.

It was a tough hunt, and we hunted hard. Actually, it seemed more like a comedy of errors. I forgot my shooting stick on Saturday, so my guide made me one. When I did remember to bring the shooting stick the next morning, my wife accidentally left it leaning against the truck. Yep ~ I ran over it while backing out of the driveway. I never even got to use it ~ not once!

Then, my scope base came loose.... Of course, I found out the hard way ~ I had shot at a nice 8 point Sunday morning, and it was a clean miss. I thought my hunt was over, after inspecting my Encore. I thought it was going to be a repeat of last year ~ skunked.

Since I was hunting with a handgun (because of my shoulder), I didn't have a back-up. A friend loaned me his back-up rifle (a single-shot NEF Handi-Rifle in .243), which saved the day.

There were 10 hunters left on Sunday, so we came up with a plan. We would fill all the blinds in one area, and the volunteers would do a drive. They only jumped 4 does, which I saw run directly away from my blind...too far to shoot.

Me & my guide decided to go it alone. We returned to an area in the park where there wasn't anyone in any of the blinds. My guide did a one-man drive, and failed to jump anything. I had one last card up my sleeve....with only 45 minutes left in the hunt.

I suggested we go to a blind that overlooked a food plot ~ a perfect evening blind, IMHO. On the way to the blind, I couldn't believe my eyes. There were does everywhere, in the same area of the blind we were heading towards. I kid you not ~ there were at least 20 does lining the road, the ditch & the treeline along the road. We tried not to spook them, but it didn't work out that way. BUT ~ they all spooked/ran towards where the blind we were heading to was located. We hurried and set up, with only minutes to spare. The herd of does made their appearance, and I chose the largest one. I put the cross-hairs behind her shoulder, and started squeezing the trigger. She flagged all of a sudden, and trotted off. I picked another doe, and had just got ready to squeeze the trigger, when my guide whispered, "Buck ~ BIG BUCK"!

I couldn't see him... I turned ever-so-slightly towards my guide, and mouthed, "Where"? He just nodded towards the does. I looked through my scope again, and caught a glimpse of antlers. That's as long as I dared to look at the rack ~ I've made the mistake of looking too long, before. My guide said he was a "shooter", so I took his word for it.

Just as I put the cross-hairs behind his shoulder, he started to leave. I followed him, and the buck decided to turn and take one last look at us. I saw his eyes, followed his throat down to his chest, and squeezed the trigger...

I hit him hard! He hunched over, and took off running with his head hanging down. That ever-so-deafening silence followed, with my heart in my throat. I looked at my watch ~ there was only 20 minutes of legal shooting light left... That's why I call him my "11th hour buck"....

We waited 20 minutes before tracking him. My guide turned towards me, when he reached the spot where the buck had been standing. He motioned, with his hands 6" apart, the direction & width of the blood trail. It looked like the buck was painting the center stripes of a highway ~ it was a good hit. Now all we had to do was find him... It wasn't five minutes later, when I heard what I needed to hear ~ "Here he is ~ I found him"!

My guide drove me to the spot where the buck was laying. I could see some antler sticking up above the tall grass. When Adam (my guide) picked the buck's head up, I went into shock ~ literally... I had no idea he was so HUGE ~ his rack & body! I've heard of "ground shrinkage", but this was quite the opposite... I felt as though my throat was swelling shut ~ it was getting difficult to breathe. For once in my life, I was totally speechless...

When we returned to camp, everybody gathered around my tailgate, and cameras started flashing. The director of the managed hunt told me this was the biggest buck ever taken at the Truman Lake hunt, in all the 12 years it's been held. Plus, since it was the biggest buck of the hunt this year, I had just won a free shoulder mount. Now I was not only in shock, but I entered this "haze".

Everything happened so quick, I still wasn't able to absorb all of this at once. It's been 2 days now, and it's finally starting to sink in. I've been told that the rack will probably score somewhere between 130-135. The buck weighed around 220-230 lbs...

I've always said that I'm a meat hunter~ but if a trophy buck ever walked out in front of me, I'd take him. I never thought it would happen, let alone in the near future. Now that it has happened, I'm at a loss of words to describe the feelings I'm going through. All I can say is, I've been blessed with a memory of a lifetime. Who 'da thunk...

 

[Chairman]

I thought I'd post one more picture, just to show y'all just how big this guy really was...

 

[Passthru]

That is a beautiful buck Chairman,and a big body also....Free mount,you cant beat that with a big stick!

 

[Matt in MO]

Way to go Chairman! excellent story! Great buck! What kind of food plot was it? The does have been thick on my winter wheat, surely the bucks will appear soon with the rut starting.

Where was the managed hunt? 10+ years ago we used to take drives through Truman State Park and count the deer, and throw marshmallows at them. Well over 100 does many times. Few bucks would be seen standing in the open, but one was a monster.

We used to have a great taxidermist here in Springfield but he quit the business.

I'll be taking my 10 year old hunting this weekend and try to get him a buck. His older brother (13) has shot three nice 8 pointers the past three years so the pressure is on!

 

[Chairman]

The food plot was clover. The past 4 years, it was winter wheat.

The hunt was held in Shawnee Bend & Berry Bend. Our "deer camp" was the Shawnee Bend golf course clubhouse.

I took the buck at Shawnee Bend, down near the swimming beach. You can see the food plots from the SouthWest(?) part of the dam. You can probably even see the blind ~ located along the tree line.

The taxidermist (he was at the hunt) saw a HUGE B&C buck, over at Berry Bend. He told me it was one of the largest bucks he's ever seen! Now you know THAT'S gotta be a biggun' !!!!!

It always does my heart good, when I hear about someone taking their children hunting. Way to go. I wish I'd been introduced to hunting at an early age.

 

[swampfox]

great story and nice buck!

 

[Hideandwatch]

WOW!!! Im really excited for ya! Big Buck! it makes it even more special with all the preperation you've taken in getting into shape for that hunt. Congrats Chairman!

 

[encorepistol]

beautiful deer there , My best deer to date came from truman lake back in 89 across from the state park off an old road called racket. He would have been around a 150 class but he broke off hi right main beam about 1/3 of the way from the tip he had 11 inch brow tines and 13 inch G2s 6 inch bases the works.It was a shame to have broken it off but he was still a beautiful buck.

 

[GIVEMTHEBLADE]

Wow!!! Thats a dandy!!! You should be proud!!!