Finally caught up to the primary buck I had been chasing since 2019. Only issue is it is about 14 months too late.



This was the first mature buck we had pictures of when we bought the north side of the ranch and was the oldest deer on the ranch each year he was alive. When he first popped up in 2019, he was clearly mature and a buck that we could easily see being 5.5+ likely higher. We ended up finding sheds of him that spring that were at least 2-3 years old and were clearly antlers off a mature deer, so we conservatively called him 6.5. We noticed his pattern of disappearing hard (no pics whatsoever) in early October but showing up and becoming daylight regular come December. This was the only pic between 10/02 and 12/03 this year. No in person sightings in 2019.



In 2020, he had a simialr sized rack, a little narrower perhaps. I played cat and mouse with him most of December and he always was a step in front of me. My dad saw him driving on the east side of his known range in late winter, but otherwise no in person sightings. We were even more dialed in on his December range so felt super confident heading into the 2021 season.



Excited for 2021, I checked photos regularly and sure enough he showed up again, now at an estimated age of 8.5+. His frame had again regressed but he was the most massive he had been. Like usual, he was a regular summer nights. This year however he disappeared in mid September, before shedding. A little earlier than usual, but we were still hopeful. Unfortunately that was the last we were going to see him on camera, he never showed back up in December. In his final pic he was healthy and in still in velvet on 09/13.



This past weekend, I was chasing some hogs down in the creek and, walking back to the car, came across some deer bones. 30yds ahead a saw some heavy antlers. Based on how sharp the knurling on his antlers is, he probably died almost immediately after shedding, probably within a week of our last picture back in September of 2021. Those bumps sharp enough to cut your hand while you're holding it. Maybe old age got the best of him, maybe he caught a disease living so close to the creek, but I'm glad I was able to find him before he turned to dust. This will be a fun restoration project that will mean a lot to me.

I'll let y'all guess his final score. Here are pics right and left sides.

135ish...

127"-129"

135

130ish, maybe a touch under

118 "

Mid 120s.

Good mass but I'm guessing 125,

A few of y’all are spot on. Best mass we’ve seen on the ranch, 6” bases is pretty wild for us.

The base measurement is way bigger than it looks to me. Thanks for posting, I like stuff like this.