So this nice Main Frame 10 had been on camera all season.....at night. I have been checking on him and his patterns all year. He and two other shooters were Night Stalkers and I was getting frustrated. Then the weekend before Thanksgiving the cold front moved through and I knew the rut was gonna make one of them stupid with the Love Bug. This deer presented himself the night before.....for about 2 seconds, just long enough for me to get the gun out the window and grunt and bleat as he trailed off into the distance chasing a doe scent, with his nose firmly to the ground, zig zagging through the mesquites!

I could not sleep, I knew he would be back to bed down or courting the ladies and I got in the stand an hour earlier. I scent showered, sprayed my clothes and used a drag rag with fresh code blue going into the stand as well. All in hopes of getting him to hang up for just a few seconds. The frost on the ground was perfect, little to no wind, I was sitting in the blind we call the Command Center and I saw NOTHING the entire morning. Zero, Zip Zilch. Saw 8 deer the sit the evening before. I began to wonder?

A cow walked down the Fence line and under the stand. I took a pic and sent it to the wife....asked her if she thought it would fit in the freezer? LOL, with an EMOJI showing a Wink and a tongue sticking out! (Movie ref) She laughed and texted back that she was praying for a good deer to walk out. About 10 minutes later, I see movement to my right and there is Capt. Hook. Nose buried in the dirt on my drag scent, criss crossing the scent up and down the road. All at 148 yards.

I got my Rem 700 up and out the window quitely, convinced myself to calm down and centered the reticle on the front of his chest. The 308 barked, Capt Hook Pony kicked, ran about fifteen yards and plowed dirt. The doe he was following or with, came out shortly after standing there looking at him.

I know this deer would have been bigger next year but I do not shoot a buck every year and I only hunt 300 acres. I also have hunters around me and I chose to shoot this deer,.... keep the age comments to a minimum. I know how old he is and he will be hanging on my office wall at home. As for his name....he has a button hooked brow tine and a broken foot, thus giving him a hook and a peg leg......IE Capt Hook!
Hope everyone has a great Christmas and a Blessed time with family this year. The Lord has certainly blessed me....in more ways than one.





[img][/img]

Awesome buck.

Congrats Clean

Good story and a nice buck. Will look awesome on your wall.

2x..... Well done sir

Man thats a nice 10 or 11 point buck and a neat story.. congrats
Was the buck limping or could you tell by his walk that something was wrong with his leg before you shot it?

Awesome Buck and a Great story. Thank you for sharing.

Great story, great deer. That's what it's all about.

If you hadn't said anything about his age (or lack of it) it would never have occurred to me to think about it. It kind of bugs me that people can't post photos of their deer here without being apologetic.

Anyway, that said, I enjoyed your story and the outcome.

Man that thing on his foot is nasty-looking! What is it?

Nice deer. Congrats!

Outstanding buck

Congrats

Nice buck!

No limp, not a weird Gate, I just saw it on camera a couple times and thought it might be an abscess or something. That is exposed bone on that foot. Amazing how resilient they are.

Very nice Clean, congratulations.

Congrats!

Good buck! Congrats Clean

He's a great buck! Congrats.

Outstanding Clean!

Great story and great buck!

Very nice buck! I would've shot him in a heartbeat.

Congrats

Agreed, I try and harvest older but I hunt 160 acres, and if something walks by that doesn't make me question it, then I feel that I am making the right decision. If you see something you want to shoot, shoot it. Its your property, no apologies needed in my book.

I would have torched that buck. No hesitation.

Beautiful buck