benclimbing
FNG
I had the good fortune of taking an interesting buck a few days back, and until now I’d never seen anything like it. Accidentally bumped him mid-day while covering ground on my way in. He stopped, did the standard look-back, and gave me a quick off-hand shot opportunity inside 100 yards. I’m not a fan of the rushed off-hand, my brake is loud as hell, and my hearing pro was still in my chest rig. However, I took a second to bring the rifle up and have a better look through the scope. As the sun lit him up from behind, I realized he was in velvet and I was confused as to what I was seeing. November velvet? I slowly and reluctantly lowered the rifle and he stotted off. Later that evening, just after some other smaller bucks began rutting and pushing does around, he wandered back out into an opening, solo, and began browsing, seemingly oblivious to the rutting behavior nearby. This time, despite the fact that my much-anticipated hunt had only just begun, I decided to “not pass on the first day that which you’d be happy with on the last day”. As I sat uncomfortably crossed-legged on the ground among the sage and cactus, I settled the rifle into the top of my upright pack and took the shot. The hunt was over but I was thrilled. Walking up on this deer was surreal. I’d fully expected to harvest a hard-horned buck this November but that was not the case. He was awesome, and while I didn’t quite know exactly what I was looking at, I was stoked that he’d offered me a second chance. I would later learn that these rare deer have a condition called cryptorchidism and are commonly called crypto bucks or cactus bucks. In addition to having harvested a nice buck on public lands, it also feels good to have participated in some herd management and wildlife conservation by removing an animal which is 100% consumer and 0% contributor. And so, “Crypto”, my 3rd season 2024 buck now joins my small but growing collection of interesting hunting stories. Thanks for reading!
