king' s outdoor world - Index

king' s outdoor world - Best of 2007 Feb-March 2008 - Index

In 1998, I was looking at a buck that I had
shot previously. I couldn’t help but wonder
why a 219-inch main frame buck couldn’t
make the record book. My buck had been
rough scored at 236 B&C. A friend of mine
told me that Boone and Crockett had lowered
the minimum score to 230 B&C points, down
from the all-time minimum of 240. Now all I
had to do was fi nd an offi cial measurer. I soon
found my solution. There was going to be a
hunting show in Bakersfi eld, California with
an offi cial measurer scoring trophies. On
April 20th, I went to the hunting show with
my two friends Danny Langston and Larry
Knight to show my buck. It was a good show,
but what made it special for me was when they
scored my buck at 240 4/8 B&C. The score
put him in the all-time record book!
It all started back in 1976, when two
friends and I drew for the Southern Ute
Indian Reservation. I had drawn this hunt
three times previously. The year before, I
had found some very large tracks in a deep
canyon, but couldn’t fi nd the maker of them.
So, upon arrival, that canyon was where I
wanted to start.
We arrived at the reservation on the
11th of December, 1976, which was the second
week of a two-week season. We were to meet
up with two of our friends that were hunting
the entire season. When we arrived at camp,
our friends were packing up to leave. They
had shot their bucks, both of which were 29inch,
170 to 180-class bucks. They told us that
they had seen a lot of good bucks. We quickly
dropped the trailer and went hunting.
Our group drove to the top of Sandoval
canyon, and then went up and over the ridge
to a large, downed, cedar tree I had used the
year before as cover. We started to glass with our spotting scopes. We glassed the closest draws
fi rst, and then worked our way out from there. I spotted about fi fteen to twenty does about 1300
yards below us and, at that time of year, knew that there should be bucks in the area. After glassing
a little longer, I spotted two bucks about 200 yards above the does. I could see good antlers on both
of them.
My friend Harold and I slipped back over the ridge and ran to a draw that would put us to
the right of the buck. We looked over the ridge and saw that we needed to get closer. We dropped
back down and ran approximately 200 yards and came to a saddle without as much as a blade of
grass on it. I leaned against a juniper bush and fi red. The buck went down, but got back up and ran
into a stand of scrub oak and did not come out. I ran towards the oak, stopped to catch my breath,
and then started running to the oak again. At about 60 yards, the buck jumped up and ran down
the hill. That’s when I saw how big he really was and the only thing I thought was, “Don’t let him
get away!” The buck tried to run uphill, but couldn’t. At about 100 yards, he turned broadside to
go downhill. That’s when I said to myself, “That’s far enough my friend!” I fi red my second shot
and it was over. As I walked up to him I couldn’t believe the size of his antlers, 34-inches wide (33
after drying), 9x8 with an amazing 219 -inch typical mainframe. After six months of planning, my
hunt was over in fi ve hours with a “buck of a lifetime.”
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