Big Eight

elnor

By elnor
in Deer Hunting

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elnor 8-Pointer

elnor

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As the 2008 muzzleloader deer season approached, I was anxious. I'd seen a huge deer known as "The Horse" opening day of 2007, but failed to get a shot off after two attempts (first with no primer, then with primer ignition but no main powder charge boom). My mother had see the Horse that week, too, but he was too far away for a shot. No one else saw him and no trail camera pictures surfaced of him. Given that this year is our second year in the Oklahoma Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP), I was hoping to at least see some other nice bucks if not Mr. Horse himself. And family members had seen a pair of nice eight points during August DMAP deer survey counts, so I thought there was a very real chance someone might get an opportunity at a big buck.

Opening day dawned with me hitting the woods around the north side of the well site. (That's where I'd seen the Horse along with a different shooter buck and two smaller bucks opening day of the 2007 primitive firearms season.) I paused under a tree in the shade to scan the clearing; just then, I saw a deer peering my way from west of the well road.

The fawn watched me intently for a few moments, then went back to feeding. One doe, then another, worked across from south to north, with the fawn. I made my way to the right around some tall bushy cover (note that there is a *alot* of vegetation this fall after we had such a very wet spring and early summer). I hoped to ambush one of the does as they slowly made their way north across the road and into the woods towards the next ridge. As I flanked around to near a big cedar tree, I noticed the does and fawn had started browsing back to the south, with one of the does in the edge of the woods.

And then I saw him: For just a second, I saw massive antlers on a big bodied buck working southeast in the timber towards the does. He seemed to be trailing them. My first thought was that he was a mature shooter buck; before I could confirm it with binoculars, he stopped with his neck, head, and antlers behind a tree. His body looked to be that of a 3 1/2 year old buck, fair game in our management scheme. But I wanted to make sure, and without seeing his brisket and neck area, I didn't feel comfortable shooting. Unfortunately within a few seconds the does moved over the little rise, and he went with them without ever getting clear of the cover. I was left wondering about the shot that might have been, anxious for the next day.

Fast forward to the following evening, Sunday October 26th, day 2 of the 2008 muzzleloader season. I decided to sit on the north side of the clearing. I also intended to try alternating trailing grunt series with rattle bag sessions. I thought that if that buck was trailing the does, he might be agitated and pent up enough to come in and check out the commotion.

It was windy that evening as a significant cold front approached from the north. Wind bad, cold front very good for possible buck activity. I got situated on the edge of the clearing, sitting under an oak behind a low turkey hunting-style blind with my rattle bag and grunt call at hand. I started with a series of twenty or so trailing grunts, moving my head slowly from one side to the other to simulate a buck chasing a doe. Nothing. Twenty minutes later, I rattled my best for a minute or two, hoping the rattling could somehow cut through the wind and reach the ears of the buck from the day before. Again nothing. Wait a while, then grunt; same result. Wait, rattle, nothing. As 6PM came and went, I was hoping for some magic from the final hour of the day.

My next grunt series ended about 6:10PM. Shortly thereafter I heard a real ruckus headed my way over my left shoulder. I raised my gun to prepare just as a buck burst into the clearing to my left, quartering across towards my right. First impressions: He's trotting, his tongue is out, he must be looking for the buck and doe chase, and his antlers have some *mass*! As he crossed in front of me and cleared some low brush, my gun was tracking him. I tried a bleat with my mouth, but his trot continued uninterrupted. I panned with him. At twenty-six yards (ranged later), I shot.

He sank a bit. But kept on rolling, veering only slightly left and around a cedar bush about forty yards from me. Then he was out of sight, and the wind was loud enough I couldn't hear him anymore.

Had that just happened? Did I just shoot at a big eight pointer, at pretty close range, with my new T/C Triumph muzzleloader (bought only one week earlier to fix the problems I'd have with misfires the previous two years)? I sure was glad I'd spent time practicing with the Triumph the last couple of days!

I waited a minute or two, reloading as I sat there hoping I'd connected. I wasn't sure since his trajectory had changed little at my shot. After a few more minutes, maybe ten, I got up and walked to where I thought he was when I shot. I searched and searched some more, but couldn't find any blood or other sign of a hit. I deflated from the high of having seen him and gotten a shot to the low of thinking I might have missed at such close range. I decided to walk the direction he'd continued, hoping to pick up a blood trail and follow him, assuming I'd hit him at all. I walked forty or fifty yards, around to the left the way he'd curved, into the thin finger of woods separating the clearing I had been sitting on from the next big clearing to the south.

And then I saw him, dead, just short of the clearing. And he *was* truly a Big Eight!

He had very good mass at the bases (4 3/8 inches left and 3 7/8 right), and he held it out to the end of his beams. He only had eight points, but they were long and thick, too. That plus his mass led me to name him the "Big Eight". I believe he is the same buck I'd seen the morning before, and he's the very first buck (or deer at all, actually), that I have called in. He's my biggest antlered buck to date (rough green gross score around 120), only four ponds dressed weight short of my previous heaviest, too. I can't wait to get the mount back!

20081026_bigEight.sideView.jpg

Big Eight taught me that, yes, grunting and rattling really can work, and work well! I've also noted in ye olde memory bank that heavy rain years can lead to heavy antler years; I'll plan time off accordingly in the future.

More pictures are available from the deer contest entry here. Ring up 13 more points for Team #5 -- Team Whackmasters.

Edited by elnor
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elnor 8-Pointer

elnor

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I'll score him again more carefully once I get him back from the taxidermist just to be sure, but the general problem is he has lots of little asymmetries that add up. For instance his G2s are 6 7/8 right & 8 5/8 left, while his G3s are 8 5/8 right & 6 4/8 left. Similarly his right main beam is 20 6/8 while his left is 17 5/8.

He gets dinged in the B&C scoring system for those, but he's still beautiful to me! :)

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