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A picture can sometimes be worth a thousand words #8082694 12/09/20 07:37 PM
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I know someone on here has been waiting for this post, so I will cut to the chase...oh the chase. We all know the work and effort that goes into starting a jew lease, the feeders, the stands, the blinds, the cameras...sorting through all the pics and finding the good bucks from the weaker ones, the young from the old. Its work. Sometimes that work goes forward to a payoff that no one can fully understand until they do the work, and out in the time and sweat and blood, and then the appreciation is all the greater. This is a story of that process....

Lets back up to august, end of antler growth season. Couple of bucks been show up, one was highlighted in a thread by freerange under the name “score #14”....this is not that deer. This is his buddy. Hung out most of summer together.

Here’s a few pics of the subject deer, One shows both bucks together.

Attached Files 22E6721D-3F87-4C98-9079-A1790CB4C24A.jpeg3F1A9C30-2678-4B52-9D3D-B87197DD7D33.jpeg5E9BFC7B-E11C-46A9-BF7D-4D239ADEFF3E.jpegC7847FEB-D707-4E72-AA92-43277F5D512B.jpeg
Re: A picture can sometimes be worth a thousand words [Re: Texas buckeye] #8082701 12/09/20 07:40 PM
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Very nice!


Distance is not an issue, but the wind can make it interesting!
Re: A picture can sometimes be worth a thousand words [Re: Texas buckeye] #8082735 12/09/20 08:12 PM
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Fast forward to archery season, sitting in the stand we had set up mornign and evening, some all day sits in the heat and bugs, waiting to see this buck walk out....waiting.

Through the month of October there were no opportunities. It wasn't until muzzle loader season when the weather was cooling, and the distances were different, maybe my scent was not good during archery....maybe the noise in the stand 20 yards to the feeder was just too loud and being 150 yards away in another stand would be the difference....maybe. Waiting.

Waiting through a week of muzzleloader, and only one sighting, a shot not taken that would haunt, but rifle season was coming...rut was here, things were bound to change.

But as much as we all know about the hard work that goes into getting a lease set up, also know what happens when the rut kicks in. Bucks vanish, sometimes never to return, chasing turns into excited seconds of seeing a buck and having it run off as quickly after a doe. Three weeks is the extent of the Oklahoma rifle season. Three weeks and if nothing happened then it would be back with the bow for the remainder of the season....could it happen? Would it happen?

But thats not my story at all. Thats a leasemate’s story about this deer. He was hunting hard after this deer and i gave him space. I Didnt go over to that area of the lease all season except one sit at a different stand and then the last weekend of OK rifle season when it was discussed the leasemate gong after this deer was not going to be there until saturday, i figured what the heck, i will sit in that stand....heres my story....

Get to the gate and notice wind is wrong for stand and feeder placement. Thought maybe i need to sit somewhere else. But something told me no, stick with your plan. So i did. Drove in, parked out of sight, and walked in and got settled. Have some doe working the trees to my right, a doe and fawn come out from behind feeder, more deer than i expected to see honestly. It wasn't warm, but certainly not cold. Rut was waning down with some reports of chasing still going on so i half expect to see some bucks working toward the doe at any time. The pictures of a monster deer shot just a short distance away are what haunt me, no expectation of anything tonight, but the hope is alive and well.

Doe alert at the feeder, something is coming from their left. Looking. Cant see anythinf. Glassing all around hoping to see the glint of white antlers, big white antlers. Nothing. Doe are still alert, they run off. Heart is racing, what is it?

A smallish multicolored pig comes trotting out. While not what i had hoped for, it was something to shoot. Should i? I am here to hunt whitetail bucks, not pigs...he can wait until last light if nothing else comes. A friend soon joins him. Doe that were working to right have come and gone. Only a forkhorn with them, def not chasing anything but peacefully eating beside them as if he were part of their clan. Within the magic hour now. Not to the point where everything takes the whitetail form, but closing on sunset. I have heard a few vehicles on the road since i have been sitting, hoping one is another lease mate who could help if needed...but no help is needed, nothing is coming. I continue to wait, glass. Patience.

Re: A picture can sometimes be worth a thousand words [Re: Texas buckeye] #8082751 12/09/20 08:24 PM
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Dont worry, he will finish the story. Hes probably posting a little in between eye surgeries. Or maybe just building suspense-Imagine anyone would do that. Waiting....


At some point in life its time to quit chasing the pot of gold and just enjoy the rainbow. FR
Keep your gratitude higher than your expectations. RWH
Re: A picture can sometimes be worth a thousand words [Re: Texas buckeye] #8082773 12/09/20 08:35 PM
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very nice

Re: A picture can sometimes be worth a thousand words [Re: Texas buckeye] #8082783 12/09/20 08:43 PM
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The pigs were still there, tempting me with each passing minute. The shadows were getting ling, but there still were shadows, and thats important because when the shadows fall our time is short. Wind was still light but took my scent straight to the feeder. Pigs didnt care, and honestly i don't know how far human scent will carry in light wind. I was enjoying the cover scent someone left in the stand, had the sweet smell of antlermax protein...perhaps the oigs were relishing in the corn hoping for something more. Either way, glassing, patience.

Out of my far left upwind and behind me slightly, i see a deer with the telltale white glint...binos up...its big. Its a shooter. In the seconds that pass between these next few sentences we all jnow time slows and the rules of inception apply. The deeper the layer the more time slows. I was already at a 7x slow factor, about to reach 14x....binos in hand, i want to confirm it is a shooter (mature deer, big antlers (that's my criteria), and mature deer, with emphasis on mature deer). I look, lots of points, good beam length, nice body, thick neck, he's a goner. But he is behind some brush still so i have some time. My mind is clear, focused, and surprisingly calm. The effects of time slowing down.

I put my binos down slowly so i don't drop them, them get my gun up and positioned. Look with my scope. Having never seen the target buck i really have no idea if it is him, but either way, this is a good buck and he's going down tonight. Plenty of light left so i have plenty of time. Relax. Breathe. Heart rare sort of under control. He's is slowly walking forward toward feeder, but still through some brush. He will clear right at the road edge, i will be ready.

Re: A picture can sometimes be worth a thousand words [Re: freerange] #8082785 12/09/20 08:43 PM
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Originally Posted by freerange
Dont worry, he will finish the story. Hes probably posting a little in between eye surgeries. Or maybe just building suspense-Imagine anyone would do that. Waiting....


Between patients. Surgeries yesterday and tomorrow. But good guess... bolt

Re: A picture can sometimes be worth a thousand words [Re: Texas buckeye] #8082828 12/09/20 09:18 PM
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I didn't have the need to range him, he was well within my rifle’s zero range....300wsm at my side, facing due north, arm able to be resting on the front of the blind, all the rest of the world oblivious to the buck slowly walking east and my heart starting to gallop in my stomach. I lost track of the pigs, didn’t care. They were getting a pass tonight. Unless they stick around after the impending shot.

Buck is almost clear, crosshairs on the edge where he will come out...where is he? I forgot, time has slowed, inception time makes one second into 7, this was done to home senses, get things arranged, give time for heart and breathing to slow, to calm. Its second 2, i look up and see he is getting close, second three i adjust the parallax to focus at the expected intersection, second four eyes behind scope elbow resting on front shelf of blind. Its so quiet, no more birds chirping, no movement heard, no wind felt. All the world comes down to the 90 yards between the buck and my body.
Second five, his head clears the brush. Don't look at the antlers, this is not the time to he doing that, stay focused on the shot. Second six, his body clears the brush, find the shoulder, his front leg is flexed back, wait for the step forward. He's moving slowly, remember inception time, slow motion. I am not in slow motion, i have the advantage. It isnt fair, but nothing in life is fair. Second seven didn't come.

Re: A picture can sometimes be worth a thousand words [Re: Texas buckeye] #8082866 12/09/20 09:43 PM
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Nice pics

Re: A picture can sometimes be worth a thousand words [Re: Texas buckeye] #8082874 12/09/20 09:51 PM
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One sit, one shot, one buck. It wasn't fair for my leasemate who sat here all fall, trying hard to get ahold of those bucks antlers. He would get to hold them, just not first. That was my job now. What i knew is this buck took zero steps after he was hit, folded up like a sack of potatoes. I paused, watched for a second, thought about racking my bolt and loading another just in case, but it wasn't needed. He was lying where his last step was and not moving.

Got down and went to look, still not sure if it was the target buck or not. But it was. The conclusion of the story is found two evenings later. The leasemare sat all day saturday and sunday in the same stand hoping the other buck would come out. Finally sunday eve from the same direction the buck walked out and he connected on a beauty of a buck highlighted in the thread “score#14”

Anyway, on to the pics. These really show how angle, positioning, etc can make or break how a deer looks.

1. BDD
2. Field dressing using assitance. This set up prompted my thread about game cleaning stations
3. Pic in the walk in cooler getting ready for final pics
4. Pretty deer pic. I never noticed how much skylining antlers makes them pop, kudos to freerange on that pearl
5. Inseparable in life, and inseparable in death....except during the rut. So now that everyone has seen the thread “score#14” by freerange, i am interested to hear what you think the subject buck scores. I can post up the answer later.

Attached Files 6ABB25E5-56CC-4785-90D7-CE09FBD9A5DC.jpegD9EC90A8-D4CA-4500-B938-8A4CD67CF58C.jpeg41EBDEEF-6C5D-4F4D-BCC6-B17194868DAC.jpegF4D39FCE-D30A-4784-937C-B9EFF53053D3.jpegD8D89C9A-B5A2-4599-B968-31B03DD0964D.jpeg
Last edited by Texas buckeye; 12/09/20 09:52 PM.
Re: A picture can sometimes be worth a thousand words [Re: Biscuit] #8082883 12/09/20 09:57 PM
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Waiting..... youre doing good. You have me excited(or had). You may have to recap or something when starting your next installment. Some of us old guys cant get excited and then back off and then turn it on again so easy. My doctor told me it wasnt the years it was the miles. Some day you will understand.
edit... well you slipped in the finale while I typed.

Last edited by freerange; 12/09/20 09:58 PM.

At some point in life its time to quit chasing the pot of gold and just enjoy the rainbow. FR
Keep your gratitude higher than your expectations. RWH
Re: A picture can sometimes be worth a thousand words [Re: Texas buckeye] #8083132 12/10/20 12:55 AM
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Re: A picture can sometimes be worth a thousand words [Re: Texas buckeye] #8083183 12/10/20 01:31 AM
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Very nice! cheers

Re: A picture can sometimes be worth a thousand words [Re: Big8] #8083249 12/10/20 02:11 AM
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I think it got lost in his long story but hes wondering if anyone wants to estimate the bucks score. Im familiar with both the bucks in the last pic he posted. There are lots of pics of both bucks running together. We all thought they scored right at the same but got there differently. This deer had the biggest neck as well as head I had ever seen. Maybe its not how a taxi measures but right under his chin was 24". Halfway down 28" and close to the brisket 31". The neck was very loose skin which I assume was from a combination of being ran down from rut(mid Nov there) and being older. Most heads I have measured are 12" and some maybe 13". This guy was 14" from nose to back of head. His ears were not even 6" though. Besides towards the front he was average body size for the area.


At some point in life its time to quit chasing the pot of gold and just enjoy the rainbow. FR
Keep your gratitude higher than your expectations. RWH
Re: A picture can sometimes be worth a thousand words [Re: Texas buckeye] #8084031 12/10/20 07:28 PM
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yall have one special place would be lying if I said I wasn't jealous congrats, what yall have done this season is remarkable

Re: A picture can sometimes be worth a thousand words [Re: Texas buckeye] #8084045 12/10/20 07:41 PM
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Damn! Buckeye! Damn! Congrats! I feel for your partner.....

Re: A picture can sometimes be worth a thousand words [Re: Texas buckeye] #8084046 12/10/20 07:42 PM
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Congrats, that is a beautiful buck!


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Re: A picture can sometimes be worth a thousand words [Re: freerange] #8084122 12/10/20 08:30 PM
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Originally Posted by freerange
I think it got lost in his long story but hes wondering if anyone wants to estimate the bucks score. Im familiar with both the bucks in the last pic he posted. There are lots of pics of both bucks running together. We all thought they scored right at the same but got there differently. This deer had the biggest neck as well as head I had ever seen. Maybe its not how a taxi measures but right under his chin was 24". Halfway down 28" and close to the brisket 31". The neck was very loose skin which I assume was from a combination of being ran down from rut(mid Nov there) and being older. Most heads I have measured are 12" and some maybe 13". This guy was 14" from nose to back of head. His ears were not even 6" though. Besides towards the front he was average body size for the area.

First of all....what a great buck!
Just beautiful

I'll take a stab even though I short change every dang deer you post on here. lmao

102 down
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161


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Re: A picture can sometimes be worth a thousand words [Re: Texas buckeye] #8090943 12/15/20 11:04 PM
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Gonna resurrect this one given the score #14 has gotten a lottle more attention and this buck was that bucks buddy.

Any further score estimates before i give the numbers away?

Re: A picture can sometimes be worth a thousand words [Re: Texas buckeye] #8091138 12/16/20 01:22 AM
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101-103 down and 64-66 on tines.


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Re: A picture can sometimes be worth a thousand words [Re: Texas buckeye] #8093048 12/17/20 03:58 PM
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Its interesting that most of the other bucks posted from this lease got way underestimated, some by 20” or more. This one, for whatever reason, didn’t get over estimated by anyone other than those on the lease. We thought he wouod be bigger. In the end his score doesn’t matter to me, still my biggest to date.

Final score was 160 5:8

Several of you did very good on this buck

Re: A picture can sometimes be worth a thousand words [Re: Texas buckeye] #8093053 12/17/20 04:03 PM
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Great Buck, congratulations on a job well done. up


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