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John's Journal... Entry 70, Day 4

Another Biggest Buck of a Hunter's Life

click to enlargeEDITOR'S NOTE: Dave Streb, national sales manager for Quaker Boy Calls in Orchard Park, New York, bagged the biggest buck of his life at the Quinn Ranch last season on his fourth trip there. All the other trips had taken place in the spring so that Streb could hunt turkeys on this ranch loaded with Rio Grande gobblers. When deer hunting near the river where the turkeys roosted, you might see 50 to 100 turkeys during deer season.

"I come back to the Quinn Ranch every year because this ranch has plenty of deer and turkey," Streb explained. "The part of hunting I most enjoy comes from seeing a lot of deer and turkey, and I know I'll see plenty when I come to the Quinn Ranch. The first afternoon I arrived at the ranch, John Quinn and Jeff Elrod had just seen a big buck from the porch of the ranchhouse. I put on my Mossy Oak camo and Mossy Oak Mirage Wear, and we went after the buck. We tried to rattle him in but couldn't get him away from the seven or eight does with him. On the first morning of the hunt, I got into my stand before daylight. Although I saw a really big buck worth shooting, I didn't have enough light to see exactly how many points he had or how to place my shot accurately. I chose not to shoot. From that point on, I saw a shooter buck every time I took a stand.

click to enlarge"What's frustrating about hunting at the Quinn Ranch is deciding which buck you want to take. I saw many bucks that I would have taken at home in New York. I really couldn't believe that I was hunting at a time after all of John Quinn's other hunters had already taken their deer and still seeing nice bucks. I was the last hunter to take a buck off the ranch during the 2000 deer season. Not only did I get the opportunity to take a trophy buck every morning and every afternoon, I saw bucks that would grow and be trophies next year at the ranch.

"I define a shooter buck as a buck that's going to make you happy. Besides the 120- and 130-point B&C bucks I spotted, I saw plenty of 2 1/2-year-old 8-point bucks that would make any hunter happy. I turned down several 120- and 130-class bucks that would have been the biggest buck that most any hunter ever had taken in his life. I was shooting my .25-06 Seiko rifle with a 4-12X Leupold scope because it would shoot flat, had little recoil and shot bullets fast. I used a 130-grain bullet, which was highly efficient.

click to enlarge"I'd seen the buck earlier in the week that I finally harvested on the last morning of the hunt. I didn't get the chance to take him the first time I saw him. Then on the last morning of my hunt, that buck was in the thick cover where he'd been before. I used my Quaker Boy Pro Grunt Master to grunt the buck to a place where I could take the shot. I spotted the buck at 150 to 175 yards out in the oak brush. I knew my time was running out and that if I didn't take the shot I'd probably go home without a trophy. So, I tried grunting to the deer to pull him in closer.

"As soon as he heard the grunt call, he stopped and looked back to where I was. I saw him duck down into the brush. I thought he might be headed toward me, but I couldn't see him. I readied for the shot, and after a few minutes he stepped out of the brush -- about 60 yards from me. However, when I squeezed the trigger on the deer, he rushed back into the brush. I got out of my stand and went over to where the buck was standing when I took the shot. I didn't see any blood. Although I was confident I'd made a good shot, you always have a question in your mind when you don't see blood.

click to enlarge"I waited on John Quinn to come to my stand before I went after the deer. Many years of hunting had taught me not to push a deer after the shot. I'd also learned that four eyes looking for blood definitely was better than two. Also, I knew that John had hunted this property for 20 years and more than likely knew where the buck might go. We assumed that the buck had run off the hill where I'd taken the shot and then gone to the creek below and that we should find him either on the edge of the creek or in the water. When John and I began to look, John walked one side of the creek, and I walked down the other. John found him and called me to where my buck of a lifetime lay. The 10 point scored 132 2/8-points B&C and was the biggest buck I'd ever taken. Although I saw one or two bucks bigger than this one that might have scored more while I was hunting at the Quinn, and I should have taken them, I certainly wasn't disappointed with the buck at all. He was a great deer, and I had a super hunt. I saw a tremendous number of really nice bucks. I will go back to the Quinn Ranch again."

To learn more about hunting the Quinn Ranch, contact John Quinn at HC 69 Box 440, Brady, Texas, 76825, or call him at (915) 597-2647. You can also visit their webpage at http://www.jquinnranch.com or e-mail them at info@jquinnranch.com.

Tomorrow: An Inexpensive Trophy Hunt

 

 

 

Check back each day this week for more about The Quinn Ranch ...

Day 1 -The Amazing Quinn Ranch
Day 2 -The Backyard Buck You Won't Believe
Day 3 -How the Quinn Ranch Manages Its Deerherd
Day 4 -Another Biggest Buck of a Hunter's Life
Day 5 -An Inexpensive Trophy Hunt

John's Journal