180class
Well-Known Member
Well, finally, after 3 years of passing up smaller deer in hopes that a good mature buck would walk past me, it finally happend. Let me start off by saying I owe a big thank you to my good friend Tim (doublerack) Him and I have been hitting the timber hard for the past 4 seasons. He's always been there anytime I've needed help. From hanging stands to dragging deer. We've both been trying to capture our hunts on film in those past 4 years, but whenever things finally come together, the camera was never rolling. Oh well. That same situation held true on the morning of November 4th. Tim and I had hunted this particular ridge 3 weeks ago. That night we were able to catch the first glimpse of "The Big 8". We had sat there all night without much action. Finally at last light I spotted a small buck chasing a doe across the ridge about 70 yards from our set up. He ran her off but returned about 5 minutes later with another small buck close behind. The two bucks began to fight about 50 yards out in front of us. We were watching the show when all of a sudden I heard Tim say "big buck". I looked off to the West and seen the Big 8 walking in to check out the commotion. He only stuck around for a few minutes and then walked right back down the funnel in which he came. We tried all we could to get him to come into range, but it was just too early and the big boy wasn't feeling too spunky yet. Now, fast forward to the morning of the 4th. Tim had to work and would not be able to run the camera. That right there should have told me that something was bound to happen. I snuck into the same ridge and re-hung my stand about 50 yards down the funnel where we seen the big boy emerge from a couple weeks back. I knew the deer hadn't been moving till later in the morning, so I had planned on sitting till at least 10:00. At 7:15 I hit the horns together but nothing seemed interested. I still had high hopes because it was one of those mornings where it just felt right. I had a feeling that something was gonna walk down that funnel at any second. Well, an hour had passed and I was enjoying watching a few turkey work off in the distance. At around 8:00 I happened to glance over my right shoulder and there he was. He came in completely down wind of me and I thought for sure he wouldn't stick around long. Somehow he managed to get within 40 yards of me and not make a sound. If he continued on the trail he was on, it would take him right through my shooting lane at 25 yards. He stood there just checking things out for what seemed like forever. Watching him stand there and seeing his breath steam out of his nose in the cold morning air, was somthing I'll never forget. It was a very cool sight. He finally decided everything was safe and proceeded on the trail right toward my stand. When he hit my shooting lane at 25 yards, he froze and I knew he had finally caught my scent. He slowly raised his head and it was almost like he was thinking to himself "Oh Sh_T!" He looked right at me, but by this time I already had the pin settled in and the arrow was on its way. I knew right away that the hit was good. A full pass through right in the boiler room. He bolted off and stopped about 80 yards out. I watched him as he started doing the off balanced sway and then he tipped right over. Of course after he tipped over he decided to roll about 60 yards to the bottom of the valley, but I had so much adreneline pumping, I didn't care how far down he rolled. I had to remain in my stand for about another 30 minutes because I was shaking too bad to climb down. Right away I called Tim and told him the news. He took off work and was there within 40 minutes. We knew this deer had a big body, but had no idea he was this big. He was well over 200lbs on the hoof. Let's just say it wasn't an easy task getting this old boy out of the timber. Here he is. The Big 8.
I think what I like the most about him is his character. He's got big long sweeping main beams, with a common base G2 and G3. Right at the base of his G2/G3 is a big void about the size of a quarter. It's really unique. He had just gotten into a pretty good fight within the last couple days. His right brow tine was busted off and he had multiple lacerations to his face.
I think what I like the most about him is his character. He's got big long sweeping main beams, with a common base G2 and G3. Right at the base of his G2/G3 is a big void about the size of a quarter. It's really unique. He had just gotten into a pretty good fight within the last couple days. His right brow tine was busted off and he had multiple lacerations to his face.
