All I’ve ever been

Sorry for the delay Free, work has gotten in the way. This deer was spotted last year early in the season (don't pay attention to the date on the pic) and wasn't seen again on camera or in person for the remainder of the year. His brows weren't as long last year but he had a bunch of kickers then that he didn't have this year. I guess the brows took those away.

Fast forward to this year. The deer had been spotted in a pasture on the NW side of the ranch by a hunter who had already shot his big deer for the year. I was not there that week so a couple of the other hunters spent the next three days straight looking for him. He was never spotted by either one of them. The rut was going on and everybody assumed he was locked up with a doe. I came down a couple of weeks later and was actually looking for a different deer, a 10 that would go in the low 60's. I was having no luck locating him and was texting one of the other hunters to see if he had spotted the 10 point or had him on any of the cameras. He said that he hadn't but told me about this deer that had been hunted hard a few weeks ago. i now had a different game plan in place.

I started the next morning by corning a road on a hill in that area and parked at the bottom of the hill to observe. i spotted him right at first light but I had laid the corn in the wrong spot for a quality shot to be made (he was about 500 yards from where I was parked and in very thick brush).That afternoon I returned to the same hill and changed the spot where I stated the corn to take all the negative factors out of play. it worked! He came out in the same spot as that morning and slowly worked his way down the hill. At 200 yards, I was set up to make the shot and was lined up three different times when other deer would walk either in front or behind him. About that time, he caught a whiff of a doe and off they went, I thought out of my life for good. I stayed until after dark and he never returned. I thought all was lost.

The next morning, I woke up earlier so I could get out there, get corn laid out heavier in the area I needed him to be for a good shot and parked my truck next to some cattle pens for added concealment. I was worried that he had hooked up with the doe from the night before and would be a no show. The sun starts to come up, there are deer everywhere! Several nice bucks but not the target buck. I watched deer for 30 minutes or so and he was no where to be found! About that time I catch movement out of the right side of the truck and there stands the buck 20 yards from me! He acted like he never saw me and proceeded to the exact spot I wanted him to go. Took him @ 155 yards with my 6.5 Creedmoor, DRT!

He had 33 inches of mass but only scored 152 1/8 due to the short tines. Definitely not complaining! i think now you can see where the "Lucky again" title came from.

Great buck!

Im glad you gave us some story. When someone posts a good buck i will often ask for more info. I think most guys would like to say more but may not just cause being modest or not wanting to look like they are beating their chest. Everything in the world gets posted about on this forum but it is a "hunting" forum and deer are the number one game animal by far in Texas so when a good one gets posted its worthy of more airtime than just a "i killed one" and we all short reply with "congrats". I grew up reading personal hunting stories in Field and Stream and Outdoor Life(no internet guys) and enjoy reading a deer hunting story and surely others do too.
Not judging at all cause I have hunted from a truck before myself, but why did you sit in the truck to hunt the corned road??

Didn't want to put up a pop up blind or anything out of the "norm" for that area. This ranch is a working cattle, oil and windmill ranch so most of the deer don't give a second look at truck traffic. The ultimate in portable blinds! I did sneak out of the truck to get into a good shooting position if that makes people feel better. I know you are not judging but I'm sure some will. I too enjoy the stories with the pictures and hopefully I can get them posted together next year if I get the opportunity.

Congrats!

Nice. Bill showed me a pic of him last week.
And he was one the coolest out there!

That sir is a great buck, I am surprised that this late in the season he was not all broken up. Congratulations.

"Lucky" is the nickname Bill gave me!

Congratulations Sir

Well done!

Man, what an awesome buck. Thanks for the story and pics. That’s what keeps us getting up early and staying late.

Thanks for all the kind words! Hope everybody has a wonderful and safe holiday weekend(s)!

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great read. great buck!