Don’t really have a ‘The One’, anything I hunt is a trophy for me. Most times it is a trophy for the freezer. Have a few animals I have never taken that would be nice: elk, red deer, water buffalo. Doesn’t really matter if male or female.

Actually I have two "The One"s. One was got and one got away.

The first "The One" was 25 years ago in Leon County outside of Marquez. 140ish 9 point walks out of the Yaupons at about 250 yards. Even though I was shooting a brutally accurate Remington 700VS .308 with a 4.5-14 Leupold Vari-X III, I did not feel comfortable taking the shot due to a less than perfect shot would drive him back into the thick stuff. I was in a two man blind with a good friend's brother, and he started grunting on a grunt call. I saw the rack poke up over the Yaupons, and the buck, looking for a fight, ran straight towards us. Fearing for my life and the life of my hunting partner, I put a 150 Grain Nosler Ballistic Tip through the white patch on his neck at 75 yards, DRT.

The other "The One" was 20 years ago in beautiful Nolan County southwest of Roscoe. Hunting on a 1600 acre cotton farm one afternoon, I was sitting on a five gallon bucket behind a cedar bush about 100 yards from the back fence. It is about 4:30pm or so and nothing was moving, so I started grunting on a grunt call, and a deer answered me. Just on the other side of the back fence was a heavy racked, tall tined, chocolate colored brute of an 8 point, that perfectly symmetrical 8 point you see mostly in magazine photos. I went prone, armed with the same Remington 700VS .308 as mentioned above. The buck looked at me while I was thinking, "Jump the fence dude, nobody is gonna shoot you". He turned around and casually walked into the mesquites.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

They are all trophies and great memories to me. I think we all progress down our hunting experience path. Early down that path I probably had the one; too many now to choose which is a good problem to have.........

I bought my place in mid 2015. This guy showed up that season. He disappeared during hunting season. He showed back up after the season. I fed him all summer to have him disappear again during the 2016 season. I was obsessed with him and judge every other deer by him. Needless to say I haven't taken many bucks after comparing them to him. I never saw him again after that year. He was the one for me. For the future my goal is to take a 150" + deer off of my place.

That big 8 is still haunting me my friend.

Some great heads!

He was a stud for sure.

That dude's collecting Social Security. Great buck!

How did I miss this one??? I even checked your past posts and didn't find anything...

I was thinking the same thing. I guess he didn't share?

A 6 x 6 elk, sits in the Elks Lodge in Tucumcari, NM that I was able to take back in the last century.....

He hasn’t posted it yet. It’s an unbelievable typical. I’m thinking maybe it’s gonna be on a magazine cover so that’s why he hasn’t posted yet, just a guess on my part......

What's cool (other than him shooting a monster, that is) is that I'm in the SE Panhandle.

My "one" is not mine...

My dad brought my brother and I up to love the outdoors - fishing, hunting, golf, just being outdoors... He was lucky enough to have shot a lot of nice deer through his lifetime, yet the true monster had eluded him. In 2011, my parents house burned down taking all of his best deer/mounts with it. Dad was devastated. Though we were most thankful that no one was hurt, the pain of loosing the "things" that can't be replaced weighed heavy on Dad.

A couple of years later, Mom bought Dad a hunt on the Pitchfork. My brother and I got to experience the hunt of a lifetime right by his side. It simply was a hunt that could not be topped - in every way imaginable. To ice the cake, Dad got his dream buck - hardly repayment for all he did for us, but a good start...

Great pic, congrats to your Dad. The ranch is special. I'm happy to hear James took care of ya'll. He's a great guide and I am proud to call him my friend.

Gold medal Kudu I got 10 years ago in South Africa. Had always wanted one, and getting one this nice was more than I had hoped for.



Another "one" from a few years back on our ranch. This guy was only 4.5 in these pic's. I actually gave all our hunters that year a rebate for not shooting him because we wanted one more year of his genes in our herd. The following spring we got hit by wild fires and lost nearly half the mule deer herd. Never saw him again. I'm sure he would have been 200+ as a 5 year old. Still glad I made the decision to let him walk that year.

My best is still out there, I had one quick shot and that was not enough. But every deer I have taken was a trophy in it's on way. Two real good 8's and two nice 10's on the wall.

I was obsessed for you on this one. I eagerly checked the Photos section every Monday that season hoping for some LDPs. I bet his offspring are still around...

James is a great guy and friend. He has taught [tried to teach] me to be ultra-observant to all things wildlife through the years. His eyesight and awareness level to nature is still mind boggling to me...

Great pics and stories, fellas. Keep it up.