LoessHillsArcher
PMA Member
Figured I'd share the story and some pics of dad's great 8pt buck he shot during late muzzy last week. Again, no history with the buck other than he showed up during the rut and stuck around. Dad and I did have one encounter with him the one time dad made it out bowhunting. Here is the video of the encounter;
We continued to get pictures of this buck pretty regularly on a hidden rye plot. Finally after checking a cam and seeing the buck was on the plot a couple afternoons around Christmas dad decided that'd be a good spot to hunt. Dad saw zero action the entire evening until 5pm he looked over and in the far corner of the plot stood a lone deer. Dad immediately knew it was the 8pt he was there after. The buck was already 70yds broadside. Dad took his time and got the cross hairs on the buck. He squeezed off a shot and classic muzzle loader the smoke screens your view of the impact. Dad did notice the buck bolted, head low and forward, tail flicking, all the classic signs of a 12 ring shot! I was in a movie theater with Nicole and Russ was out of town at a wedding rehearsal but we were all confident of the shot... except for dad. He'd have swore he shot over the buck. Zero sign of a hit at the impact site or on the patch the buck ran. But at 70yds dad doesn't miss... so he went back to the truck. Unloaded some gear and went back to look for blood. He didn't find any blood but found the buck laying dead real close by, he went less than 100yds!
Dad noticed right away that the bucks one antler had gotten jarred loose when it died. Not sure if it hit a tree or just hitting the ground hard did it but it was basically just hanging on to the skull. Dad popped it off and noticed it was a deep shed. Had a big chunk of bone at the base of the antler and a bunch of puss came out of the skull. Weird. That side was massive, 7" base and he carried the mass through the rest of the antler. A very cool buck!!
Hole in head
Dad got home and wanted to weight him since his body seemed massive for this time of year. What better way to hang him than by the one antler he still had on his head!? Weighed 250lb live weight. And that other antler is on his head securely. Must have just been an infection or something that caused the other one to be goofy.
Mass on his base and beam was so cool
Next to an 80" 5pt shed
Trail cam pics
We continued to get pictures of this buck pretty regularly on a hidden rye plot. Finally after checking a cam and seeing the buck was on the plot a couple afternoons around Christmas dad decided that'd be a good spot to hunt. Dad saw zero action the entire evening until 5pm he looked over and in the far corner of the plot stood a lone deer. Dad immediately knew it was the 8pt he was there after. The buck was already 70yds broadside. Dad took his time and got the cross hairs on the buck. He squeezed off a shot and classic muzzle loader the smoke screens your view of the impact. Dad did notice the buck bolted, head low and forward, tail flicking, all the classic signs of a 12 ring shot! I was in a movie theater with Nicole and Russ was out of town at a wedding rehearsal but we were all confident of the shot... except for dad. He'd have swore he shot over the buck. Zero sign of a hit at the impact site or on the patch the buck ran. But at 70yds dad doesn't miss... so he went back to the truck. Unloaded some gear and went back to look for blood. He didn't find any blood but found the buck laying dead real close by, he went less than 100yds!
Dad noticed right away that the bucks one antler had gotten jarred loose when it died. Not sure if it hit a tree or just hitting the ground hard did it but it was basically just hanging on to the skull. Dad popped it off and noticed it was a deep shed. Had a big chunk of bone at the base of the antler and a bunch of puss came out of the skull. Weird. That side was massive, 7" base and he carried the mass through the rest of the antler. A very cool buck!!
Hole in head
Dad got home and wanted to weight him since his body seemed massive for this time of year. What better way to hang him than by the one antler he still had on his head!? Weighed 250lb live weight. And that other antler is on his head securely. Must have just been an infection or something that caused the other one to be goofy.
Mass on his base and beam was so cool
Next to an 80" 5pt shed
Trail cam pics
