king' s outdoor world - Index

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

however, we had not found anything
that hit that 220-inch mark.
At last October rolled
around and we were fi nally hunting.
Our fi rst week of hunting was done
with muzzleloaders - “traditional”
muzzleloaders. Both Dallas and I
would be carrying guns during this
season because he had also obtained
a tag. The fi rst couple days we saw
many good bucks, but none of them
really got our full attention. On
October 10th, we fi nally saw a good
buck. We both agreed that this buck
would go over the 200-inch mark.
After a fl awless stalk, we found
ourselves in shooting range. We
were inside of forty yards and we
were both pretty confi dent at that
range. It was then that my brother
told me that he thought that the buck
was probably better than we had fi rst
thought. I told him that it wasn’t the
buck that I was looking for and that
if he didn’t want it, it was time to
leave. After a brief argument under
our breath, he decided that he would
give it a go. After a few more steps
to get into the perfect position, the
wait was on. The buck was bedded
facing directly away from us with
the wind blowing right in his face.
After what seemed like an hour,
but in reality was probably only ten
minutes, we decided that it was time
to make the old boy stand up. One
good coyote yip is all it took to get
his attention and that is when the
excitement started. The buck turned
and stood up in one fl uid motion.
Dallas was ready and he squeezed
off his muzzleloader. The cap went
off and the buck jumped, took half
a step, and then the gun went off.
The buck dropped like a rock. After
a quick reload, we both ran up to
where the buck had fallen. One
more shot fi nished off the monster
muley. The buck ended up scoring
204-inch B&C. Unfortunately, in
his fall he broke off a tine that would
have put him around 209-inch gross.
What a buck!
Now it was time to fi nd
the “Wow” buck. We spent many
With a super tag in his pocket, the author (left) found a super
buck that is 34 1/2-inches wide and gross scores 219 B&C
days hunting the different units that we
had scouted so hard during the summer
months. We saw many great bucks and
at least three bucks that would have
gone over the magical 200-inch mark.
However, every one of these bucks fell
short of the 220-inch mark.
Due to business obligations, I
was scheduled to be out of town the last
week of one of the premier units that
we were hunting. My brother was a bit
irritated to say the least. I told him that
if a monster showed up, to get a hold of
me. I didn’t mention that the trip that I
was leaving on was a deer hunting trip
on Catalina Island.
On November 2nd, I was in my
second full day on the island when my
cell phone started receiving messages. I
had one from my dad and fi ve from my
brother. Every message was telling me
that I needed to get back home because
a monster had shown up. It turned out
that a good friend of ours has a ranch
that is located in the middle of some of
the best late-season mule deer country
there is. Earlier in the season, we had
run into Lou Anderson and I told him
that I had been fortunate enough to draw
the super tag. He said that if anything
showed up around his place he would be
sure to get a hold of me. Well, that
time was now.
So, after some explaining
to my boss and customers that it was
a life or death situation, it was time
to fi gure out how to get off the island
and back to Idaho.
With some quick goodbyes,
I was off to catch the last boat back
to Long Beach and from there I
caught a one hour cab ride to LA.
Unfortunately, I had missed all
of the fl ights out of LA to Boise
that night. So, I found a hotel and
made arrangements to fl y out the
next morning. I made preparations
to have one of my friends, Ryan
Leggett, pick me up at the airport the
next morning.
Saturday morning, I got
on the airplane and arrived in Boise
without a hitch. Then it was off to
meet my brother, as well as Chuck
and Jesse Shenk - these two folks
were soon to become my new
friends. We arrived at the ranch
and immediately started hunting
and glassing. We looked over every
piece of landscape possible. Let me
remind you, I had yet to see a good
picture of this buck, or the buck at
February/March 57