FINDING AND TAKING A TROPHY BUCK

No Pain, No Gain

EDITOR'S NOTE: We all have our own opinions about what makes a trophy buck, and each idea has validity. However, I don't feel I need an organization to define a trophy buck. Actually no one but me has any concerns about the size of my buck. I have to decide what makes a buck I take a trophy buck, and you may have different parameters to define a trophy buck.

Last year on my five-day hunt in Arizona, I climbed the steep Winchester Mountains each morning and glassed the rough terrain for hours. Then after long hard stalks and climbs, I only had come close to taking one of these little, elusive mountain Coues deer. After hiking up mountains most of the day, I'd return to camp each night to eat dinner and welcomed the warmth and the comfort of my sleeping bag. Each morning I had to fight a mental battle to climb out of my sleeping bag with sore muscles and attack the mountains again for another chance to bag a Coues buck.

However, on the last afternoon of my hunt, I finally connected with a buck at 417 yards. Although I missed the deer with the first shot, my second shot found its mark. The next morning before daylight, my guide and I began the 2-hour climb up the mountain to recover my trophy. Although this Coues buck only weighed about 110 pounds, and his rack scored less than 100 B&C points, this trophy Coues holds one of the most-honored places in my den and in my memories.

The Monster

On an elk and mule deer hunt near Toston, Montana, with Mike Parsons of Crow Creek Outfitters, he and I hunted the high country for three days in snow and sub-zero temperatures. The first afternoon of my hunt, I spotted 14, 8-point bucks, each with 18 to 19 inches between their main beams. However, earlier that day I'd missed the biggest whitetail I'd ever attempted to take. I couldn't put a tape measure on the buck, so I didn't know exactly how wide of a rack or how many antlers he had. However, I didn't believe this enormous deer's rack would have fit through my car 's door. Then the second day I hunted whitetails, I came across a monster buck.

Really big deer don't walk like other deer do. They waddle like ducks, rocking from side to side, shifting their huge bulk. This buck -- definitely waddled, and he had 8 massive beams -- the biggest-bodied buck I'd ever seen in the wild.

I aimed at the buck, fired my gun and waited for what seemed like days. When I finally recovered my buck, I couldn't believe the huge size of his body and the long tines and thick bases of his rack. Although I'd missed the biggest buck I'd ever seen, on the same hunt, I also harvested the heaviest buck I'd ever taken.

This trophy of a lifetime only scored 138 B&C points but weighed 318 points. I still look at that mounted buck and relive the joy and the excitement I experienced when I walked up on him and saw him on the ground. I remember the pride I felt when, Mike Parsons put his arm around my shoulder and said, "Good job, Bubba. You got yourself a real trophy."

TOMORROW: THE BOW BUCK TROPHIES