RedAllison
Well-Known Member
This afternoon was WELL worth it for me today. Didn't see anything yesterday morn in the fog. Had a great morn at church, then lunch with my wife and our daughter (our 16yr old son slept in and our 11yr old son stayed at a buds lastnight). Then I dashed home, changed, loaded my equipment into the car and was in the stand by 2:30. Todays warm southerly made me sit over a particular plot intersected by my lake levee over looking my beloved Hatchie River.
At 4:30 I caught movement thru the brush on the levee. The first thing I saw coming was a TALL rack! I eased my Savage muzzle loader into position, "just in case"! As the buck stepped clear of the brush about 60yds away I thought, "MAN what a tall rack and GOOD LORD look at the body on this beast!!!" :gasp
I eased my binocs up to take a quick inventory... A BIIIG 6! I have been wanting a monster 6 for a LOOONG time (I let an honest 130"+ 6 walk in MO a few years back and I've been kicking myself ever since!) My first thought was, "BOY this would make a GREAT buck for my sons to get." But the more I studied this old chap the older and BIGGER he got! He walked behind a bushy tree on the edge of the plot and I knew when he emerged from behind it he would be appx 35 yds from me and the moment of truth would be HERE! As he turned his head toward me I got a good look at his spread and killer browtines. Suddenly I realized this buck was MUCH larger than I realized and was a true old timer. realistically a GOOD chance stood that our paths may never cross again!
So I thought, "Well my sons, daddyo is makin an executive decision here and now!" :big grin The buck stopped to nibble and my Savage ROARED across the bottom. It knocked the big boy down but instantly he jumped back up and began making his way for the river appx 60yds away! All I could do was pray he DIDN'T make the bank as I knew he couldn't have enough gas to swim the river and I would lose this magnificent creature to the gentle, muddy currents of the Hatchie!
I saw him stop but 6 ft from the bluff that had he jumped off of, he'd have crashed 12 ft below into the silent waters probably never again to be seen.
His legs got wobbly, he staggered twice and then DOWN for good right there on the bank. (the pics of him lying "curled" were as he laid when I walked up to him. And in the last one you can see the Hatchie River in the background.)
At the processors he taped 21" inside and live weighed 220#s. Not my largest by rack but most certainly my largest by weight in over 25 yrs of chasin these things. My quest for a 6 of quite rare size and proportions is FINALLY realized. I thank my creator and this old sad daddy, swampmonster himself!
:big buck
RA
At 4:30 I caught movement thru the brush on the levee. The first thing I saw coming was a TALL rack! I eased my Savage muzzle loader into position, "just in case"! As the buck stepped clear of the brush about 60yds away I thought, "MAN what a tall rack and GOOD LORD look at the body on this beast!!!" :gasp
I eased my binocs up to take a quick inventory... A BIIIG 6! I have been wanting a monster 6 for a LOOONG time (I let an honest 130"+ 6 walk in MO a few years back and I've been kicking myself ever since!) My first thought was, "BOY this would make a GREAT buck for my sons to get." But the more I studied this old chap the older and BIGGER he got! He walked behind a bushy tree on the edge of the plot and I knew when he emerged from behind it he would be appx 35 yds from me and the moment of truth would be HERE! As he turned his head toward me I got a good look at his spread and killer browtines. Suddenly I realized this buck was MUCH larger than I realized and was a true old timer. realistically a GOOD chance stood that our paths may never cross again!
So I thought, "Well my sons, daddyo is makin an executive decision here and now!" :big grin The buck stopped to nibble and my Savage ROARED across the bottom. It knocked the big boy down but instantly he jumped back up and began making his way for the river appx 60yds away! All I could do was pray he DIDN'T make the bank as I knew he couldn't have enough gas to swim the river and I would lose this magnificent creature to the gentle, muddy currents of the Hatchie!
I saw him stop but 6 ft from the bluff that had he jumped off of, he'd have crashed 12 ft below into the silent waters probably never again to be seen.
His legs got wobbly, he staggered twice and then DOWN for good right there on the bank. (the pics of him lying "curled" were as he laid when I walked up to him. And in the last one you can see the Hatchie River in the background.)
At the processors he taped 21" inside and live weighed 220#s. Not my largest by rack but most certainly my largest by weight in over 25 yrs of chasin these things. My quest for a 6 of quite rare size and proportions is FINALLY realized. I thank my creator and this old sad daddy, swampmonster himself!
:big buck
RA
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