2019 WA archery whitetail

[Dunning Kruger]

Hunted this buck sept 1-7th & nov 10-dec 15th 2018, had him in range 4 times, bow drawn on him twice, but couldnt get a shot i wanted. Then dec 28th 2018 i was looking for his sheds and he walked right up to me while i hunkered down and pretended to be part of a tree. He came right up to 5 yards or so away checking me out with his antlers still on. He didnt wind me and i didnt so much as blink, and after a very intense encounter he bounded off, only halfway spooked. I went back on jan 1st and found his sheds just 90 yards away. Then i hunted him again nov 10th - nov 23rd 2019. 3 encounters. So my 7th during-season encounter with him, morning of the 23rd, i finally managed to send an arrow his way from 17 yards, and i made it count. I think a total of 56 days hunting this guy over 2 years to make it happen. Hes a little past his prime. His split browtine swapped sides, his g5 shrunk to almost nothin, his g2s and g4s shrunk, and just 3 days before i got him he got in a fight with another old (i think older) buck and got his left g4 busted completely off, which is a bummer, i know that broken tine is going to drive me nuts every time i look at him, but thats how it goes. Just glad i was able to finally get this guy. I put a lot of work scouting and hunting him, and passed up numerous marginal shot opportunities. When it finally happened i was just geeked out as can be. Cant wait to bring his shoulder mount home and hang it up next to his previous years sheds.

 

[mdeerjunkie]

Congrats on the nice buck and his sheds!

 

[LCH]

Awesome deer! Funny how he swapped sides on the split brows.

 

[Dunning Kruger]

Awesome deer! Funny how he swapped sides on the split brows.

The buck ill be going after this year, hes from a different area, been watching him since 2015. He did the same thing. 2018 he had a double right g3, 2019 he had a double left g3. I figure hell be a bare minimum of 9.5 years old in 2020 season, if hes still alive. Ive got to get him this year

 

[----]

Wow! Incredible buck. You didnt get an age on him did you? Curious to see him go down in size in such a wet year.

Congrats!

 

[Dunning Kruger]

Wow! Incredible buck. You didnt get an age on him did you? Curious to see him go down in size in such a wet year.

Congrats!

Didnt send a tooth in for cementum aging. Maybe i will. But my taxidermist said 7.5-8.5 based off tooth wear. The guy is 75 years old and has been a taxidermist longer than ive been alive, and is a college educated biologist. I trust his judgement completely.

 

[brownbear932008]

That is one gorgeous whitetail. Amazing story and great sheds. Congrats

 

[rtraverdavis]

Pretty neat to have all that history with such an incredible deer, then finally get him. Must be quite a feeling. Congratulations!

 

[kwyeewyk]

Awesome, nice hunting! I wish I had more time to go chase whitetails, I grew up in OK county and love all the country from the highlands to Idaho. Never have gotten a whitey buck yet though, only does.

 

[SG25]

Congrats! One hell of a deer!

 

[Pucky Freak]

Very cool! If you want you can build up that busted g4 with some modeling clay and you can’t tell the difference between it and the real thing. I did this with a deadhead last year.

3-antlered deer deadhead restoration

This 3 1/2 year-old buck died of EHD in 2013. When I found it the bone was burned, chalk/cracked, and rodents had done a number on it. The first pic is after I had scraped off all the burnt bone. I thought it would make a fun first try at a restoration project, since it was kind of a unique...

www.hunttalk.com

 

[JohnCushman]

Stud buck! Congrats!

 

[Dakhunter]

congrats that is a dandy. i would rebuild the point.....instead of clay remodel you can cut a point of estimated length off a shed and put an actual point on to replace.....fill in the area you attached it with bondo or clay sand touch up with stain and bam point is almost original and real....its not that hard to do. plus you have sheds to be the example! piece of cake.

 

[Dakhunter]

PS use a piece of 1/8 inch welding rod with flux beat off to attach new point ....drill holes and epoxy glue the welding rod stubs .... then you can bend point to correct angle before filling in "crack" or area welding rod attaches it. you can get "bone" colored expoxy if you look around at NAPA or wherever i think or white will work too just dirty it up to match bucks natural antler color.

 

[Dunning Kruger]

Thanks for the suggestions, but im going to leave him as-is. I just dont think it would feel right to give him a prosthetic leg, so to speak. He got his ass whooped fair and square, and i didnt manage to get him until after the fact. Wish ida gotten him a few days earlier when he was in tact, but i didnt. I just feel lucky i got him at all. After getting his rack busted fighting, he ended up somehow surviving a lion attack just a couple days later, maybe a day before i got him. Bunch of fresh claw cuts not scabbed up yet, and punctures in his throat from the cats teeth. Its a miracle he lived long enough for me to get him. He came very close to being cougar turds.

 

[Dunning Kruger]

A few 2018 pics

 

[Dunning Kruger]

A few 2019 pics

 

[Dakhunter]

ten four............great buck just the way he is.

 

[klwinter921]

That is a great buck and how cool to have his sheds. It amazes me how they can change configuration from one year to the next and sometimes stay very similar. Nice work!!