Got my first racked buck ...

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Rocket
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Got my first racked buck ...

Post by Rocket »

At age 56! Getting pics now, will post soon
When I die I don't wanna go quietly in the night ...
I wanna slide in sideways kickin and screamin!
Life is good, soak it up while you can

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Talltines
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Re: Got my first racked buck ...

Post by Talltines »

Awesome man

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Travis
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Re: Got my first racked buck ...

Post by Travis »

Man, that’s damn awesome!


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PEA_RIDGE
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Re: Got my first racked buck ...

Post by PEA_RIDGE »

CONGRATS BUD, CANT WAIT TO SEE PICS
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Reaper
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Re: Got my first racked buck ...

Post by Reaper »

Congrats!!

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Rocket
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Re: Got my first racked buck ...

Post by Rocket »

More to come tomorrow but here he is ... I scored him with the Realtree app, fairly conservatively but he shows 114"

No I'm not smoking, its a long frame exposure :)

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When I die I don't wanna go quietly in the night ...
I wanna slide in sideways kickin and screamin!
Life is good, soak it up while you can

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Tru-Talker
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Re: Got my first racked buck ...

Post by Tru-Talker »

Congrats Paul!!! That's awesome my friend!!
Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves...

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sdw
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Re: Got my first racked buck ...

Post by sdw »

That’s a damn fine buck! Congrats!

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Talltines
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Re: Got my first racked buck ...

Post by Talltines »

Congratulations man fine one right there.

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daniel white
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Re: Got my first racked buck ...

Post by daniel white »

Yea cmon! Way to go Paul!


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bobwhite
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Re: Got my first racked buck ...

Post by bobwhite »

Fine buck right there!!! Congrats!!
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Rocket
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Re: Got my first racked buck ...

Post by Rocket »

Here's the story:

My First Racked Buck

Paul Leopard, 30 December 2017

I’d been scouting the area for several weeks but got my first glimpse of him yesterday morning. I’d found a good-sized area on our club that looked promising but wasn't being hunted. We have a great group of guys and everyone pretty much knows where everyone else is hunting. As far as I know this place had barely been touched in the two seasons Ive been a member.

Geography:

This place has a steep ridge up to 1600’ above a road at 1000’. The area is split by two steep draws and forms a rounded finger between the two. I’d found an ancient logging road at 1400’ and the ridge shot up fast starting about 100 yards from it. Scouting it I found bedding areas all over the finger and a few rubs but no scrapes. The left side draw was absolutely polluted with fresh tracks … everywhere along it. The other side of that draw was a dense thicket … hmmmm :) ... At the top of that draw was a small saddle, over the top of which was the other side of the mountain. I imagined that deer were going back and forth from either side of the mountain over that saddle and down the draw.

Prep:

I figured any buck in the area would be bedding in that thicket, roughly 150 yards from the big beds I found on the finger. I also figured this place would heat up pretty fast when the rut kicked in so over the past few weeks I hung two climbers up there; one in the middle of the finger and one near the top of the left side draw. I also found an old ladder stand and a lock on high up a tree, both ancient but usable. Two days ago I took my friend Matt up there to get his take on it. He’s killed a pile of deer and I respect experience. Guess what we found along that old road bed? Yep, three fresh scrapes with rubs. It was time to wrap up the prep and get it done …

The Hunt:

Yesterday morning I went up to my climber in the middle of the finger. I didn't see any does but around 10:15 AM to the south of me I caught about a 2 second glimpse of him. There were no clouds in the sky so the sun glare prevented me from following up with a shot. I just couldn't make him out after that as the sun was blinding me. He was larger than the 6 or 7 bucks I’d passed on last year, the largest being around 100”-110”. Our club rules state that the first must be a minimum of 110”, the 2nd must be 125” or greater. Mess it up and face a $500 fine or banishment. I wasn't about to let that happen. I didn't connect last season but I was finally seeing bucks, lots of bucks. I knew the time was close …

I decided to go again this morning and position myself high on the ridge over the left draw; in my 2nd climber. I started climbing the tree around 1PM and settled into my climber for a long wait. I had that feeling, that feeling where you just know that now is the time … that it’s gonna happen. I fully expected that right after sundown he would appear below me coming out of that thicket so I pointed my climber there. It wasn’t a difficult wait as temps were mid 40’s. I spent the afternoon noting the position of squirrels and listening to the birds. Birds everywhere, I counted 18 different bird calls. I even had a pileated woodpecker light on a tree about 10 yards for me. Dang he was a loud one!

Around 4PM the temps started to drop and I started getting a little cold. At 4:30 I’d had enough of sitting so I slid my seat back and stood up, anchoring my back against the tree and constantly glassing the area, particularly that thicket. Here comes 4:40 and way over to my left where my other climber was I hear the squirrels going ape crazy. I positioned myself to shoot in that direction and raised my rifle up. Then I heard him rooting around in the leaves, he must have been about 100 yards off, due north of me coming down that old road. Oh my here I am 40 feet above the road, the wind is coming from the north and he will never in a million years get a scent of me.

At 4:45 I see him, still good light as sundown is 4:44 and the moon is up too. He takes his time, rooting around in the leaves then stopping and looking up dead still and silent. Then he moves a few yards and repeats. He has no clue I’m here. My arm is starting to hurt but I hold tight and ready. At 4:50 he reaches the 60 yard point and I decide it is time. I’m not going to get a heart shot (every prior deer I’ve killed was a heart shot) so I decide to try out the ‘off switch’. I’m 40 ft above him so I put the crosshairs on top of his back between his shoulder blades and pray “God make me accurate and make this quick”. I pulled the trigger and didn’t even hear the shot. He dropped in right in his tracks, never kicked, never quivered, not even the slightest motion … lights out.

Wrapping It Up:

When I got to him I started second guessing my estimate of his rack. He had 8 great tines and a 1” kicker plus two nubs that can hold my wedding band but I didn’t count them. He was a 9 point but I was afraid he was going to score in under 100” and that I’d be faced with a hefty fine. All the way back to the score board, off the property, and to the processor took a good 50 minutes and I was bummed, thinking I was going to be in trouble. When I got to Backwater Outdoors I took a tape to him and pulled up the realtree.com scoring app. I went as conservative as I could, not counting the kicker, rounding down (4 ¾ = 4”, 5 ½” = 5”) and held my breath as I punched the submit button. Badda boom 114” and a conservative 114” at that. I done gotter did today!
When I die I don't wanna go quietly in the night ...
I wanna slide in sideways kickin and screamin!
Life is good, soak it up while you can

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Tru-Talker
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Re: Got my first racked buck ...

Post by Tru-Talker »

That's awesome.... Super
Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves...

Confucius

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Travis
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Re: Got my first racked buck ...

Post by Travis »

Great story buddy. And that pic is cool.


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David Leonard
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Re: Got my first racked buck ...

Post by David Leonard »

Congrats man! I enjoyed the read too!

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WGTaxidermist
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Re: Got my first racked buck ...

Post by WGTaxidermist »

Congrats on a fine buck!! Great story too!

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Rocket
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Re: Got my first racked buck ...

Post by Rocket »

Well crap we've got the max image size on this site set too low for my high res photos. I'll have to resize, upload, then repost ... may take a while


Your images may only be up to 1500 pixels high.
Your images may only be up to 1500 pixels wide.
Your images may only be up to 1500 pixels high.
Your images may only be up to 1500 pixels wide.
Your images may only be up to 1500 pixels high.
Your images may only be up to 1500 pixels wide.
Your images may only be up to 1500 pixels high.
Your images may only be up to 1500 pixels wide.
Your images may only be up to 1500 pixels high.
Your images may only be up to 1500 pixels wide.
Your images may only be up to 1500 pixels high.
Your images may only be up to 1500 pixels wide.
Your images may only be up to 1500 pixels high.
Your images may only be up to 1500 pixels wide.
Your images may only be up to 1500 pixels high.
Your images may only be up to 1500 pixels wide.
Your images may only be up to 1500 pixels high.
Your images may only be up to 1500 pixels wide.
Your images may only be up to 1500 pixels high.
Your images may only be up to 1500 pixels wide.
When I die I don't wanna go quietly in the night ...
I wanna slide in sideways kickin and screamin!
Life is good, soak it up while you can

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Rocket
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Re: Got my first racked buck ...

Post by Rocket »

Here's a link to my IMGUR album (High res photos) ... https://imgur.com/a/tSMNv

And a low res pic from that album ...

Image
When I die I don't wanna go quietly in the night ...
I wanna slide in sideways kickin and screamin!
Life is good, soak it up while you can

User avatar
Rocket
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Re: Got my first racked buck ...

Post by Rocket »

Another pic ... He went to the taxi on Tuesday!

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When I die I don't wanna go quietly in the night ...
I wanna slide in sideways kickin and screamin!
Life is good, soak it up while you can

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