Allright, I may like to tease but I am no sadist. This unbeleivable story came to a close saturday the 18th at about 4 pm. I wanted to start this post by saying that my friend Ryan is one of the best deer hunters I know. And I am fortunate to know quite a few good ones. He has an uncanny ability to consistantly tag big bucks. Ryan worked very hard for this buck. Last year he dubbed the buck Elvis because he was the King. He has been watching Elvis for two years, taking video, summer scouting trips, looking for sheds, and running trail cameras all in an effort to put this big guy on the ground. Last year he missed about a ninety yard shot at Elvis during shotgun season. Ryan used to be strictly a bowhunter, but decided to shotgun hunt the last few years to spend more time with his dad, who does not bowhunt. Ryan has a nice tack driver of a shotgun with a rifled barrel and scope, but decided to lend it to his dad to increase his odds of success. Ryan ended up taking his old pump gun equipped with a single brass bead, not really caring if he shot anything at all with the gun. That was the first time he saw Elvis. He told me at ninety yards the bead covered up everything but his rack and tail. He tried one shot, could tell it was a clean miss, and didn't shoot again for fear of wounding this great buck. He decided right then to do whatever he could do to finally harvest Elvis. Ryan saw him several more times last year, but never in range. Elvis spent almost ALL of his time in an oxbow penninsula about 35 acres in size. He was only spotted outside his stronghold one time, and he was hot on the trail of a doe. To get to Ryan's stands requires a long looping hike, traversing a steep muddy creekbank, and all the stealth one can muster. Imagine every time walking to your stand knowing there was a pretty good chance that a buck this caliber was within 250 yards at all times. There was not room for error. Fast forward to this year. Ryan had seen him at least a half a dozen times this archery season and twice had him within fifty yards. The buck had a knack for staying just out of bow range. This buck at one time was at 35 yards and Ryan could still see his pins, but not all the branches he knew were between him and the buck. He has practiced more self control than I think most hunters could. Three days later he had Elvis come in to forty yards and bed down right at dusk. He stayed in the stand for an extra forty five minutes and then took twenty minutes to climb out of the tree, waiting for a gust of wind each time to cover any noise he might make. That takes us to this gun season. He did not hunt him on Friday because the wind was not right. He snuck in saturday mornig and saw him with a doe at a little over a hundred yards but in some tall heavy grass and brush. I also wanted to let you know he graduated to a Knight Disc Extreme .45 caliber that he can hit a pop can at a hundred yards, but he was worried about how the brush might affect his bullet, so he held off. The wind started to switch, forcing Ryan to leave before spooking the buck. After waiting back at his house for the wind to change back, he again snuck out to the stand. He reached the stand around one, and had seen only does until right before four o'clock. Ryan was watching the does and then heard a series of deep gutteral grunts coming from the north. He knew it had to be Elvis. It was. He spotted him in the tall grass at about a hundred yards. Ryan was determined not to let this opportunity pass. He turned his scope up to six power and found Elvis in the crosshairs. It was at this point the buck started making a beeline for the does right under Ryan's stand. Ryan watched him walk in through the scope just in case he decided to make any last minute deviations. Elvis closed the gap quickly and when he reached 30 yards the scope was filled with the body of the buck. Elvis stopped and Ryan lit a fire. After the smoke cleared Elvis was standing there looking around trying to figure out what has just happened. Ryan wasn't sure at first what had happened either. Elvis then hopped, walked about ten yards, looked back, and tipped over. The powerbelt went in right behind his right shoulder and came out in front of his left flank. After a very emotional phone conversation with Ryan I realized what he had accomplished. I decided to get by on about three hours sleep and make the 5 1/2 hour drive to Carbondale the next morning to take photos and pay my respects to the King. Tale of the tape is (roughly) 174 net typical frame as an eight point. Add the junk and the overall gross was 197 7/8 nontypical. Definately the deer of a lifetime. But something tells me that in Ryan's case this wont be true. As a matter of fact his plan B buck is still alive right now and is the biggest mainframe nine I have ever seen. He will go around 190 as a nine. I will post those pics as well. Thanks for taking the time to read this story.
