Baldwin City, Kansas Buck

This is a buck that was reportedly taken this year near Baldwin City, Kansas. Reports say that the hunters name is Chad Christy. I have not been able to find anymore details about this awesome Kansas buck.

Another Iowa Monster

This is a picture of a buck that was emailed to me. It was reportedly killed by Chris Wood in Iowa with a shotgun.

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The e-mail accompanying the photo of the Chris Wood buck, reportedly taken in Iowa, states:

Attached is a picture of a buck my buddy Chris Wood from Des Moines shot this Saturday, December 6th with a shotgun during the 1st shotgun season.

He was hunting with a group of guys from Perficut Lawn Care, they were hunting in Taylor county by Bedford, IA. It was Woody's turn to post on this push. He was standing just inside the timber when a group of does came running by. This buck just walked by trailing the does, he was about 60 yards away when Woody shot. He only ran about 40 before piling up.

We scored the deer Sunday night and came up with a green score of 264-0/8", it has 33 scorable points and it has one drop tine. If the score holds close, it will be the 2nd largest buck harvested in Iowa; next to the Albia Buck.

2008 Kansas Success!!!

My first trip to Kansas turned out to be a very successful hunt. Not only did I have great hunting partners and good friends, Shane Howell and Robert Sterett, but I also was able to take a nice Kansas buck. This was actually my second trip, we went up to Jewel County at the end of October in order to do some scouting, hang a few stands and tried to mix in a little hunting. We did not see any good bucks on that first trip, but we did see a lot of does and buck sign. Our real hunting was going to be November 10 through November 16. We were really excited since this trip would fall right in the middle of the rut.

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The first 2 days of the trip were very cold and rainy. We hunted as much as we could stand, but being from Texas where it does not get that cold we could only stand 3 or 4 hours at a time. Those first 2 days we did not see very much activity, probably due to the rain, but we did see some signs of rutting behavior.
On Wednesday the rain finally moved out, that morning I saw my first shooter buck. I was hunting in the same stand that I had hunted the first 2 days of the trip as well as every day of our October trip. The stand was set up over looking a wash between a soy bean field and a wheat field. At about 7:30 a very nice buck came out of the wheat field down into the wash. I never put my field glasses on him, because it was obvious that he was a shooter. He turned and started walking to the east away from my stand. I grunted many times, but could not get him to pay attention to me. He had something else on his mind and after about a minute he was gone. I saw a couple of more does that morning, but no more bucks.

That afternoon I sat in the same location, but did not see much activity. I saw one small buck and several does, but no shooter bucks showed up. Both my friend Robert and Shane saw one really nice buck that they estimated would score in the 160’s. Robert saw him just after he climbed into the stand that we called death trap. He had the buck somewhere between 30 and 40 yards behind him, but was unable to maneuver to get a clear shot. The buck left his area and went into the soy bean field. Shane saw the same buck walk all the way across the soy bean field and into the creek bottom where his stand was set up. Shane grunted, bleated and rattled, but the buck kept steady rolling and never got any closer than 80 yards from him.
After Shane saw the big buck jump the creek behind him and vanish, he turned around to find that a nice 10 point was in the CRP grass in front of him about 40 yards away. Shane figures that the 10 point had come in as a result of all of his calling. Shane decided to take the shot on this buck at 40 yards. Unfortunately he hit the buck high and back and watched him disappear with the arrow sticking out of both sides of the buck. Shane had been having all kinds of trouble with the site on his bow all week, which probably was the cause of the poor shot placement.
About 30 minutes later Robert had a nice 10 point enter his stand location from Shane’s direction. He stood and prepared for the shot. He had the buck at about 20 yards and drew back. That is when the voice inside Robert’s head reminded him of the bigger buck he had seen just 30 minutes ago and he decided not to take the shot. After he had let his draw down, the buck turned and he saw an arrow hanging out of his side. Robert figured that I had shot the buck and hit it poorly. By this time the buck was about 40 yards from him, and he drew his bow again and released the arrow. Unfortunately the arrow sailed right over the bucks back and Robert watched him run away toward the north end of the property we were hunting.
After dark when the 3 of us got together and explained the events that had unfolded, we all decided that the buck was definitely not hit very good due to the distance that he had traveled. We all thought that it would be best to not push the deer and wait until the morning to try to recover it. I know that it was a restless night for Shane, as if I were in that situation I would want to be out in the woods looking for that deer.

The next morning, November 13, I went back to the same stand that I had been hunting. Even though I had only seen one mature buck after many hours in that stand, I knew that if I was patient and persistent, something good would come my way. At about 6:45 I had a small 2 ½ year old 8 point walk right beneath my stand. Even though the buck was small, I got pretty fired up thinking about what more the morning may have to offer.

At 7:00 I heard a buck grunt over my right shoulder. I could tell that he was on the ridge above me. I hit my grunt tube a couple of times and then silently waited. Less than a minute later I hear a couple of deer come crashing down the steep hill to my right and into the wash. It was a doe and a fawn. They made their way in front of me at about 20 yards and continued on a steady pace toward the bean field to the west. A couple of minutes later, I heard another deer come crashing down the steep hill to my right. When he finally appeared from the cedars I immediately recognized him as a shooter. I attached my release to my string loop and tried to calm my nerves. The buck went to the first tree that he came to and began thrashing it with his antlers, trying to get the does attention. He then walked to a tree that was about 30 yards in front of me and treated it the same way as he had the previous tree. By this time the doe and fawn were a good 50 to 60 yards away from me and I realized that the buck was not going to take the same path that they had which would have brought him to within 15 or 20 yards of my stand. I decide that I must make the shot pretty quick or he was going to get away. As I told you in an earlier post I shoot an adjustable single pin sight. I adjusted it from 20 yards to 30 yards and waited for the buck to move from behind the tree and present a shot.

The buck finally looked up at the doe, who by this time had made her way up another steep hill, and he began to walk at brisk pace toward her. I grunted with my hands free grunt tube, but he did not stop. I spit the grunt tube out and made a loud grunt with my mouth and the buck stopped and looked directly at me. Within a split second I lowered my pin behind his shoulder and let the arrow fly. The Easton Full Metal Jacket tipped with a 100 grain Grim Reaper broadhead hit its mark with a loud THWAk ! The buck kicked and then ran away from me hunched over. I grunted at him a couple of more times, and was able to get him to stop about 80 yards from me. He stood there for a few seconds and then slowly walked around a corner and out of my view. I sat down in the stand and again began trying to calm my breathing. I was not sure exactly what I had shot, but I knew that it was a mature Kansas buck.

I was sure that I hit him good and decided to get out of my stand after about 30 minutes. As many of you know, that is the longest 30 minutes you will ever spend, it feels more like 3 hours. I went to the spot where the buck had been standing when I shot. I found some white hair with a tiny bit of blood on it. I searched all over for my arrow, but the grass was so high I never found it. I briefly searched the area for blood, but could not find any. Since I knew where I he went I decided to move forward without a blood trail. I went around the corner where the buck walked out of my site. The trail narrowed along a 6 or 7 foot wide creek. The trail was so narrow that only one deer would have been able to walk it at a time. About 10 yards ahead of me I saw a big pool of blood. I went to the spot and bent down, looking ahead of me for the next sign. I did not see anything. I could not figure out where he went. As I was contemplating my next move I glanced over to my right in the creek, and to my surprise there he was laying right in the middle of it with his head under water. It was by far the biggest bodied deer I had ever shot. I jumped down in the creek and grabbed his massive antlers. To my surprise he was only a seven point, but he was a BIG seven point. I tried to get him out of the creek, but I could not do it by myself, I had to wait a couple of hours for Shane and Robert to get done hunting to give me a hand.


Finally at about 9:00 Shane radioed me and I told him the good news. I went and picked him up, and then we made our way to the creek where the buck was laying. Shane and I managed to get the buck out of the creek and up on the bank. Shane congratulated me on the buck as we both stood and admired the massive seven point frame. We took a couple of pictures while waiting for Robert to show up with the Polaris Ranger to get the deer out of the area.

Looking back on it now, that was one of my most memorable hunting experiences. I was not expecting much, having never been to Kansas. It was very rewarding knowing that I went to an unfamiliar area and managed to take a mature buck. Unfortunately we never found Shane’s buck. We looked for it for hours and covered a lot of ground. We never found any blood, so it was like trying to find a needle in a hay stack. I am convinced that the deer survived the shot and will be fine, perhaps one of us will get another opportunity at him next year.
All three of us had opportunities and saw some good deer. Hopefully we will all draw a tag next year and have the opportunity to go back and do it again. Now that we have more knowledge of the area and the type of hunting, I expect us to have even more success next year.

As always, taking a trophy deer was just icing on the cake. The real experience and enjoyment of the hunt comes from the companionship and time shared with good friends. The memories and experiences of this trip will last a lifetime. I look forward to many more enjoyable trips with these guys in the years to come.

Trail Camera Pictures From Kansas

I thought that I would share a few of the trail camera pictures that Robert, Shane and I got from the small piece of land that we hunted in Kansas. We put these cameras out the weekend of October 25 and retrieved the cameras on November 10. I was suprised that we got this many pictures of good bucks in that short amount of time. Needless to say this got our blood pumping for the upcoming hunt that week. Unfortunately none of us got an opportunity at these bucks, but hopefully they will survive the hunting season and winter and be there for us next year.

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Clay Center hunter shoots 27-point doe

This is a story that I got from the Wichita Eagle. I have heard of people shooting antlered doe, I even have a good friend that shot an 8 point doe many years back, but I have never seen or heard of one this big

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BY MICHAEL PEARCE
The Wichita Eagle
Mike Smith of Clay Center thought he had shot the buck of a lifetime when he walked up on this 27-pointer on Dec. 3. He found out it was an antlered doe.
Courtesy photo
Mike Smith of Clay Center thought he had shot the buck of a lifetime when he walked up on this 27-pointer on Dec. 3. He found out it was an antlered doe.

Everything seemed perfect for Mike Smith.

His scouting, stand location and shot were all on.

The whitetail wore the kind of 27-point, gnarly non-typical rack most hunters only dream about.

But something totally expected was missing.

"When I rolled it over there was nothing male-looking on the deer," said Smith, of Clay Center. "I looked at the back end and it was definitely a doe. That was a real surprise."

Not only was the deer he shot Dec. 3, on the opening of firearms deer season, a rare antlered white-tailed doe, it may be the largest antlered doe ever shot in the world.

The rack was measured at about 179 inches.

Doe deer occasionally have antlers, said Tom Bowman, a retired Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks biologist, avid hunter and official Boone & Crockett scorer.

He's had several in the taxidermy business he's operated in Wakefield for more than 20 years.

The antlers on Smith's doe were covered in velvet. That's a soft covering usually found on the outside of antlers as they're growing. Bucks normally rub the velvet from their antlers in the late summer.

Bowman said doe antlers are frequently covered in velvet. Does seldom shed their antlers, like bucks do annually.

Smith, an avid bowhunter, went into this fall's deer seasons knowing at least two great deer were around his hunting grounds.

One was a very nice buck with typical antlers he'd captured on trail camera photos.

The other turned out to be the big doe.

"A guy I know drives by the place I hunt as he goes to work about every day," Smith said. "He told me a deer had crossed the road with 'two of those hangy-down-thingies' so I knew there was some kind of non-typical around."

Seeing neither buck he wanted during archery season, Smith sat on a stand near an alfalfa field on the Dec. 3 opening of firearms deer season, holding a .25-06 instead of a bow.

Several little bucks entered the field that afternoon. At dusk he spotted another buck back in the timber.

"I immediately saw it had double drop tines. When I looked with binocs I could see it was still in velvet," Smith said. "I couldn't get a shot at it back in the woods. It sure seemed to take its time coming through a little wooded draw before I could get a shot."

He figured the strange antler configuration and velvet was because a buck had gotten injured while the antlers was growing, which sometimes happens with whitetails.

The 100 yard shot was easy and on-the-money. Smith didn't notice his "buck of a lifetime" was a doe until after he tried to load the deer into his truck.

Bowman was surprised when Smith arrived to get an unofficial score. It tallied about 179 gross inches of antler and should net-score around 164 non-typical inches.

"It was basically just a conglomeration of points. The longest point was maybe about six inches," Bowman said. "It had an ugly, ugly rack."

Unfortunately for Smith he can't find any record-keeping system specifically for antlered does.

An online search found a highly touted "world record doe" from Iowa that grossed about 155 inches.

Smith plans on getting a life-sized mount of the deer with the velvet still on the antlers.

He's hoping the deer gets a lot of attention and is willing to talk with most media for free.

"I'm not trying to get rich. That's not why I hunt," he said. "I really appreciate it as being a very rare animal and I want people to see it. I think a lot of people will really enjoy seeing it and learning about an antlered doe."

Mississippi Giant

Here is a giant buck killed with archery equipment by Michale Burkley of Natchez Mississippi. I am interested in this buck because I used to live in Mississippi while attending Ole Miss.

It is said that if it were not for the non typical trash this buck would have been the new archery state record typical in Mississippi. The 15 point has a non typical net score of 188. Pretty impressive buck from the Magnolia State none the less.

Texas' King Daddy bow buck

Legendary King Ranch gives up crown jewel of Texas' 2008 early archery season

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Legendary King Ranch gives up crown jewel of Texas' 2008 early archery season

By Lynn Burkhead
ESPNOutdoors.com

Deer hunting is king in Texas and nowhere is that more evident than at the sprawling King Ranch located in the state's southernmost coastal counties north of Brownsville.

Begun in the early 1850s when Richard King and Gideon K. Lewis set up a cattle operation in South Texas on Santa Gertrudis Creek, the 825,000-acre spread is nearly as large as the entire state of Rhode Island.

Found in portions of Nueces, Kenedy, Kleberg, and Willacy counties, this vast ranch is home to some amazing South Texas deer hunting each year, perhaps the best low fence whitetail hunting the Lone Star State has to offer.

That fact was reinforced in a big way on Sept. 27, opening day of the 2008 early archery season in Texas, when New Mexico bowhunter Terry Hall arrowed one of the largest typical whitetail bucks ever killed in the Lone Star State.

With the huge 6 X 7 typical buck's antlers still wrapped in velvet, no less.

The Hall buck sports an initial green gross score of 196 0/8 inches as reported by the Texas Big Game Awards program director David Brimager.

That's really big, even by Texas' lofty whitetail standards.

What's more, with the buck's final net score expected to be in the mid 180s (once the official 60-day drying period required by the Pope & Young Club and the Boone & Crockett Club has been completed), the Hall buck stands poised to shake up the Lone Star State's record books.

If Hall chooses to strip the amazing buck of its velvet (required for the deer to become an all-time record book entry), the whitetail could potentially become the Pope & Young Club's new state record typical bow buck in Texas, in addition to potentially becoming one of the Top 10 bucks ever taken by a hunter in the Lone Star State.

And should the velvet remain attached, the Hall buck currently stands as one of the largest velvet antlered typical whitetails ever killed by a hunter.

Butch Thompson, the longtime wildlife biology manager of the King Ranch's hunting operations, says that this deer is indeed something special.

Even in Texas and even on the King Ranch.

"Yeah, you don't grow deer like that very often," Thompson said. "We've had a couple of other similar deer through the years that I've been here, including one taken back in late 1970s that scored about 190.

"This deer will (net) score about 185 inches by the time he dries," he added. "So he's the second largest typical ever taken on the ranch, at least in our recorded history.

"You get a deer like that about once every 30 years."

How does a deer like the Hall buck grow to such legendary proportions?

"Well, here at the King Ranch, we've been managing wildlife longer than most places have even existed," said Thompson, now in his 35th year with the Ranch.

And along the way, the Ranch has championed the primary components of quality deer management, or trophy buck development, if you will.

"We've got superior genetics and excellent habitat (to start with)," Thompson said, noting that the King Ranch has a great selection of protein filled, highly digestible forbs that help the Ranch's bucks develop legendary headbones.

Then there is simply the passage of time, something required for good bucks to become truly great bucks.

"We let them reach their potential as far as age goes," Thompson said. "We try not to take our trophy deer until they are at least six years old.

True to form, the massive whitetail buck Hall arrowed was in all of his antlered prime.

"This buck was 6 ½ years old," Thompson said. "We had actually been watching the deer for about three years. We passed him up last year."

Passed him up?

Yes, that's the price to be paid for a true blue Texas Muy Grande to become a monster that will rewrite the record books.

"He was probably a book deer last year, but we chose to let him walk another year," Thompson said.

That proved to be a good decision, especially for Hall, a veteran of deer hunting on the ranch.

"He's been hunting with us for quite a while, but this is a once in a lifetime deal (for anybody)," Thompson said.

"Terry Hall appreciates that deer probably as much as anyone that could have killed it would," he added. "He's a very ethical hunter and a good customer of ours and he was very thrilled to get that deer."

Thompson said Hall wasn't the only one thrilled by the big deer's tagging as word quickly spread around the vast acreage that something special had occurred.

"Everybody was thrilled to death," Thompson said. "We took a huge a huge non-typical deer in 1998 and we all had the same feeling then.

"Every once and a while everything comes together at the right time as you get the right doe, the right buck, and the right weather coming together.

"We are thrilled to death to grow a buck like that."

Even deep in the heart of deer hunting Texas, a vast and storied state whose big buck capitol is none other than the fabled King Ranch.


Texas top 15 Boone and Crockett typical bucks

HUNTER NET SCORE COUNTY YEAR
1. Tom McCulloch 196 4/8 Maverick 1963
2. Milton P. George 196 1/8 McMullen 1906
3. Basil Dailey 192 2/8 Frio 1903
4. Steven W. O’Carroll 190 2/8 Shackleford 1991
5. C.P. Howard 190 Dimmit 1950
6. Donald Rutledge 187 7/8 Zavala 1946
7. Pick-Up Entry 187 5/8 Starr 1945
8. Phillip T. Stringer 187 4/8 Zapata 1992
9. Herman C. Schliesing 186 2/8 LaSalle 1967
10. Pick-Up Entry 186 1/8 Zavala 1965
11. Jesus Lopez 185 4/8 Zapata 1969
12. Henderson Coquat 185 1/8 Webb 1949
13. Loyd Nail 185 Frio 1941
14. Harry Richardson, Jr. 184 6/8 Starr 1973
15. Pick-Up Entry 184 4/8 Bandera 1949

Source: “Boone and Crockett Club Records of North American Big Game, 11th edition”


Texas top five Pope and Young typical bucks

HUNTER NET SCORE COUNTY YEAR
1. Glenn Thurman 181 4/8 LaSalle 2004
2. Ryan Friedkin 180 Maverick 2006
3. Jim Lillis 175 2/8 Grayson 2007
4. Dan Friedkin, Jr. 174 4/8 Dimmit 2004
5. John T. Wright 173 7/8 Wilbarger 1998

Source: Pope and Young Club