Amos Keeto
WKR
- Joined
- Dec 13, 2023
- Messages
- 464
....without pulling a trigger! LOL!
Too many of us only consider success as a kill or maybe nothing less than a wall hanger buck, maybe even a B&C!
I haven't been able to actually get out and hunt since 2019, but as we all know, sometimes, life gets in the way!
I won't get into all the why's and wherefore's, but it has been a challenge!
I've had a few fleeting opportunities, but mostly just a chance to be outdoors with some peace and quiet.
No meat, no trophies! LOL!
So....2024 rolls around. The place I had been hunting about 15 years has been yanked out from under me.
The one day I got to hunt was a bummer.
Oh well, one more season gone.
On the way home one day, the wife and me spot a doe in a small wheat pasture. Behind her stood a crazy looking buck!
A very tall, very narrow and oddly white rack makes him look almost like a unicorn. Only a fleeting glimpse tells me he has an odd, but very "takeable" buck!
My neighbor, Clint, has a wheat field just across the road.
When we get home. I give Clint a call and tell him about the buck and describe him!
That was "Buck #1"!
Clint calls me the next morning about 10am. "I saw him!"
It was still too dark to shoot safely and the buck crossed back into no-man's-land. He finally reappeared in a wheat field about 200 yards away. His shot was true, but it wasn't the buck he expected. Still a very nice buck, just not "The One"!
Well, most of us "free range" hunters seldom get to see more than one, maybe two, really "nice" bucks.
The next to last day of "Deer Gun" season, Clinton gives me a call.
"Wanna go huntin'!", he asked!
"Absolutely!", I proclaim!
We're on stand by 3pm. About 3:30pm, a few does begin to filter out of the thickets across the fence into Clint's wheat field.
I've counted 14 does and yearlings when I spot a set of pretty fair antlers across the fence. I'm trying to get a view of those antlers when a second set of antlers appears! "WOW!"
Clint says, "There's a pretty nice buck." as the so-so buck crosses into the wheat field.
"But there's a bigger one!", I whisper.
"I don't see him.", Clint whispers back.
When the bigger buck comes onto view, I hear Clint gasp!
"He's huge!"
This buck ain't no B&C specimen, but he's not far from it!
He appears to be a typical, maybe 10 point.
My 8× binoculars don't give me a really good picture at 200 yards, but the racknis wider than his body. His G2's are probably 8 to 10 inches and rack height isn't exceptional, but appropriate to the mass of the rack!
A VERY nice, VERY shootable buck!
That was "Buck #2"!
We went back the next day, but saw nothing!
Last day of "Bonus Antlerless" season.
Clint calls with an invite.
"YES SIR! I'll be there!"
Does begins to filter out of the brush into the wheat field. There is a smattering of spikes and fork horns with the 15 or so deer in the field.
Very interesting sight, until the does begin to look about nervously. All the deer flag and evaporate from the field as a coyote crosses the field and disappears across the fence.
Oh well!
"They'll be back." Clint says and sits back.
About 45 minutes later, a deer approaches the fence.
Pretty nice buck!
The next 5 deer that come into the field are ALL BUCKS!
One of them has a rack about the size if "Buck #2", but this guy has a drop tine and is probably an 11 or 12 point buck!
Again, probably not a "Booner", but a buck any hunter would be proud to tag!
That's "Buck #3"!
We've had several chances to take our "Bonus Antlerless" doe, but we're enjoying the "Drop Tine" and don't want to scare him off!
There are probably twenty deer in Clint's wheat. Over half of them bucks! From nubbin bucks to spikes to fork horns to 6's and 8's plus the huge "Drop Tine"!
We're enjoying the show when a spike and a so-so 6 cross the pasture not 40 yards from us.
The sun has set and there is a GORGEOUS gold and blue sunset behind us.
The two bucks go into another wheat field and a third buck is crossing the pasture.
Clint punches me on the shoulder and asks, "What just jumped the fence?", pointing to the upper wheat field!
"OMG!", I exclaim!
THIS guy is standing at the fence, silhouetted black against a golden sunset!
THIS one is wider, taller and heavier than Buck #2!
It might also look that way because this dude is right up in our faces!
It's a good thing it was too dark to see much detail!
Had I been able to see his rack clearly, I may have had a heart attack! But he quickly faded into the quickly advancing dark!
That's "Buck #4"!
Bucks that size aren't rare! They're out there!
....but to spot four, free range, "wall hanger" bucks within a small area?
AWESOME!
Never pulled a trigger!
A season I'll never forget!
Too many of us only consider success as a kill or maybe nothing less than a wall hanger buck, maybe even a B&C!
I haven't been able to actually get out and hunt since 2019, but as we all know, sometimes, life gets in the way!
I won't get into all the why's and wherefore's, but it has been a challenge!
I've had a few fleeting opportunities, but mostly just a chance to be outdoors with some peace and quiet.
No meat, no trophies! LOL!
So....2024 rolls around. The place I had been hunting about 15 years has been yanked out from under me.
The one day I got to hunt was a bummer.
Oh well, one more season gone.
On the way home one day, the wife and me spot a doe in a small wheat pasture. Behind her stood a crazy looking buck!
A very tall, very narrow and oddly white rack makes him look almost like a unicorn. Only a fleeting glimpse tells me he has an odd, but very "takeable" buck!
My neighbor, Clint, has a wheat field just across the road.
When we get home. I give Clint a call and tell him about the buck and describe him!
That was "Buck #1"!
Clint calls me the next morning about 10am. "I saw him!"
It was still too dark to shoot safely and the buck crossed back into no-man's-land. He finally reappeared in a wheat field about 200 yards away. His shot was true, but it wasn't the buck he expected. Still a very nice buck, just not "The One"!
Well, most of us "free range" hunters seldom get to see more than one, maybe two, really "nice" bucks.
The next to last day of "Deer Gun" season, Clinton gives me a call.
"Wanna go huntin'!", he asked!
"Absolutely!", I proclaim!
We're on stand by 3pm. About 3:30pm, a few does begin to filter out of the thickets across the fence into Clint's wheat field.
I've counted 14 does and yearlings when I spot a set of pretty fair antlers across the fence. I'm trying to get a view of those antlers when a second set of antlers appears! "WOW!"
Clint says, "There's a pretty nice buck." as the so-so buck crosses into the wheat field.
"But there's a bigger one!", I whisper.
"I don't see him.", Clint whispers back.
When the bigger buck comes onto view, I hear Clint gasp!
"He's huge!"
This buck ain't no B&C specimen, but he's not far from it!
He appears to be a typical, maybe 10 point.
My 8× binoculars don't give me a really good picture at 200 yards, but the racknis wider than his body. His G2's are probably 8 to 10 inches and rack height isn't exceptional, but appropriate to the mass of the rack!
A VERY nice, VERY shootable buck!
That was "Buck #2"!
We went back the next day, but saw nothing!
Last day of "Bonus Antlerless" season.
Clint calls with an invite.
"YES SIR! I'll be there!"
Does begins to filter out of the brush into the wheat field. There is a smattering of spikes and fork horns with the 15 or so deer in the field.
Very interesting sight, until the does begin to look about nervously. All the deer flag and evaporate from the field as a coyote crosses the field and disappears across the fence.
Oh well!
"They'll be back." Clint says and sits back.
About 45 minutes later, a deer approaches the fence.
Pretty nice buck!
The next 5 deer that come into the field are ALL BUCKS!
One of them has a rack about the size if "Buck #2", but this guy has a drop tine and is probably an 11 or 12 point buck!
Again, probably not a "Booner", but a buck any hunter would be proud to tag!
That's "Buck #3"!
We've had several chances to take our "Bonus Antlerless" doe, but we're enjoying the "Drop Tine" and don't want to scare him off!
There are probably twenty deer in Clint's wheat. Over half of them bucks! From nubbin bucks to spikes to fork horns to 6's and 8's plus the huge "Drop Tine"!
We're enjoying the show when a spike and a so-so 6 cross the pasture not 40 yards from us.
The sun has set and there is a GORGEOUS gold and blue sunset behind us.
The two bucks go into another wheat field and a third buck is crossing the pasture.
Clint punches me on the shoulder and asks, "What just jumped the fence?", pointing to the upper wheat field!
"OMG!", I exclaim!
THIS guy is standing at the fence, silhouetted black against a golden sunset!
THIS one is wider, taller and heavier than Buck #2!
It might also look that way because this dude is right up in our faces!
It's a good thing it was too dark to see much detail!
Had I been able to see his rack clearly, I may have had a heart attack! But he quickly faded into the quickly advancing dark!
That's "Buck #4"!
Bucks that size aren't rare! They're out there!
....but to spot four, free range, "wall hanger" bucks within a small area?
AWESOME!
Never pulled a trigger!
A season I'll never forget!
