I was going to post this in the "dream buck that got away" topic, but it's too special to me to put on the second page of another thread. (No offense BCT!)

I'm sure some of you remember me posting this deer last year. This picture was in September of last season. He was 13 years old.

(2011 season)


The previous sighting (on ground, from the air, and cameras included) was 3 seasons before that in mid-January when I had him rutting around me within bow range for 15 minutes. He was 10 and was so old that his body had shrunk, giving him the head of an old buck but the body of a 4 year old. I couldn't risk making a mistake, so I didn't shoot.

(2008 Season)


Well last Friday, I saw at the same field where I saw him in 2008/2009 and guess who showed up. I watched him skirt the brush line at 530 yards right before dark. I spent midday Saturday getting sighted in for exactly 530 yards with the rifle. He didn't come back that evening. I sat again Sunday scanning the brush line every 3 minutes hoping to see him sneaking along it again. I watched until I couldn't make out the antlers of some younger bucks at that distance anymore and gave up hope. Right at very last light, I saw a dark figure of a buck walking across from right to left just inside the food plot at roughly 50 yards. I had already packed up, but I grabbed the binos out of my bag and tried to focus on him in the low light. As he crossed directly in front of me, I saw the light reflect off the curve of his G2s, and I knew it was him.

He's been my white whale for the past 5 years and at 14 years old, he's the oldest buck I've ever seen. The blood on his stomach in the night photo is from a tine he took to the guts in a very recent fight. It was still bleeding fresh bright blood down his back legs. I doubt if he would have lived another week. Needless to say, I am beyond excited to have finally connected with this buck after 5 years and only 3 sightings (two of them this past weekend).

great read!!!!!! congrats on a very nice deer!!!!!

incredible

Very cool, That second picture makes him look AWSOME!

Why do you think he is 13?

That is an absolutely awesome deer.

Awesome.

I literally woke up in the middle of the night a month or so ago and just randomly wondered if you got this fella. Amazing that he lived that long without another buck killing him. Sounds like he was saved by the bell...

X2

Congrats on a great old buck

That's a dang nice buck! Looks like he was able to maintain pretty good body condition.

What a deer, and a heck of a story good read

for being that old he sure is fat...great buck, i love the horns....are you sure he is that old, regardless awesoem deer

Thats awsome!

Great buck and a great story! Thanks for sharing.

Great Read & Even Better Buck!

WOW. That's bout all I have to say. I remember the original post about this buck. Figured there was no way he was still alive. Gives me great hope for my double drop that vanished.

Congrats connecting on Whitey!!!

Thanks, y'all. The full story will be in Lone Star Outdoor News this coming Tuesday or Wednesday.

This buck really became recognizable at age 4 (when their neck finally swells and they take on the basic shape and antler configuration that will carry through the rest of their life... normally another 2 or 3 years). One of our guides videoed him in 03/04 at age 5 (feeding in the same field where I eventually caught up with him last weekend), and he went underground after that. No sign of him at age 6. We found his sheds at age 7. A single mid-February game cam pic at age 8 and nothing at age 9, so we all figured he was dead. Up to this point, I hadn't really paid much attention to him since he hadn't been seen since he was 5 and wasn't a 'shooter' at that time.

Then when he showed up at age 10, I thought his face looked very old, but I couldn't risk shooting a potentially 160" 4 yr old 8 point, so I took the footage back to Cade, our manager, and he dug all the way back to age 5 to confirm it was the same buck. That was the beginning of my chase for him.

After that evening that I videoed him, he went unseen for another 2 years, so we thought he could have died, but I kept hope that, because he'd disappeared before, he might have still been out there.

As soon as Cade took the aerial photo at the top of the thread, he called me to tell me that this buck was alive and healthy. I hunted hard last year looking for him, and Cade worked equally as hard building new spots to hunt him and running cameras. Nothing. I got the same call again this year and couldn't believe it.

As hard as it is to believe, that makes him 14. He'd learned to live off of something back in the brush that isn't appetizing to other deer because last year (the top picture), we had a bad drought and most of our deer spoiled on corn and protein feed when downhill while he put on his best rack ever and did so without being seen at any feeder!

So yall videod him in 03/04 at 5 years old then saw him again 5 years later and didnt shoot him because you were scared he was only 4?

Congrats! Nice trophy and Ill stop now, its just hard to process the thought process going into it.

Deer of a lifetime.

So, was he spoiled/tainted from the fighting injury?

Badass, congrats buddy.

what kinda camo is that?

WHAT A TROPHY