HUNTING AT THE FORD RANCH

A Buck For Michelle Kirby

Editor's Note: Outdoorsmen across the nation know the reputation of the Ford Ranch in Melvin, Texas, as the home of trophy-sized white-tailed bucks. Most hunters see the biggest deer of their lives there and often don't shoot these huge deer because by Ford Ranch standards, the racks aren't that nice. Michelle Kirby or Orchard Park, New York, the wife of Chris Kirby, the president of Quaker Boy Game Calls, and longtime avid hunter, took a buck that scored 127 points on the Boone and Crockett at the Ford Ranch.

The Ford Ranch guides had put Michelle and Chris Kirby in an area where they'd seen several bucks. Michelle Kirby really wanted to take a nice buck. The guide rattled on the edge of a small oak thicket where he knew bucks would go to bed-down in the middle of the day. The guide had told the Kirbys earlier that he generally attempted to get in close to a bedding area so if a buck was in the thicket, he would burst out of the cover into the open where the hunters could get a shot. The guide preferred to set up and rattle with an opening downwind of him. Then the buck would pass through that opening when he came out of thick cover to try to get downwind and pick up the smell of the other bucks fighting, which was what the buck assumed was happening when he heard the rattling.

According to Chris Kirby, "When we sat down to rattle, we had four bucks come running in that would score about 90-points each on the Boone & Crockett scale. These little bucks grunted and put on a show. One of the little bucks stopped 10 yards from Michelle, so she had plenty to look at and plenty to distract her as a much-bigger buck came around the brush, right behind the last small buck, running wide open. The big buck stopped about 20 yards from Michelle. As the big buck came tearing around a bush in front of Michelle, he spotted us at about the same time we saw him. Michelle had her gun rested on her knee in the ready position and only had to spin a little bit to her left to get the shot. She got off the shot so quickly that the buck didn't have a chance to identify what and where we were and make the decision to leave before Michelle fired. The buck's adrenaline was so high that he never knew he'd been shot when Michelle pulled the trigger. He bounded away with his tail held high in the air and ran about 60 yards before he stopped. In the meantime, I'd had an opportunity to get my binoculars up and look at him really good. I could see the entry wound and a big patch of red blood on the deer when he stopped. Finally the big buck fell over. Michelle was so excited when the deer fell over that she jumped up and screamed with excitement, 'I got him!' I'd never been on a more-exciting hunt."

As Michelle Kirby remembers, "First thing in the morning of my hunt, Chris and I were sitting in a shooting house before first light. We saw a nice buck, but we couldn't tell how big he was because of the darkness. We then spotted several 8-point bucks with 14- to 15-inch-wide antlers with 3- to 4-inch tines. Next a few does came in and then three or four 4- to 6-inch bucks. About 9:00 a.m., our guide, Steve Broderick, came to our stand and said he had three or four places he wanted to go rattle and for us to go with him. So we did. The first time we rattled, two little bucks came in to within 20 yards of us. Then a third buck came in to where I was set up. After standing around for awhile, they all broke to run. When the small bucks were 80- or 90-yards away from us, they stopped. Once Chris called to them on his Quaker Boy grunt call, and two of the little bucks started moving back toward us. But these little bucks smelled us and ran off. We assumed the hunt was over.

"However, Steve told us to stay put because he thought he'd heard another buck. After Steve rattled the antlers again, suddenly we heard a commotion. I heard Chris say, 'There he is.' The buck was about 12 yards from me. I didn't know what to think when I saw the buck, but I could hear Chris whispering loudly, 'Shoot the buck! Shoot the buck!' I got my gun up. The deer started running off. Then Chris grunted to him. The buck stopped and turned broadside, and I took the shot. Chris started asking, 'Did you hit him? Did you hit him?' I told Chris I didn't know, because as soon as I shot I bolted my rifle and put in another shell. But my gun jammed. Chris helped me get the empty shell out and a fresh round into the chamber. Then Chris told me to shoot the buck again. When I got my gun up, prepared to take another shot and looked in the scope, I could see that the buck was hit. Then the deer's knees buckled. This hunt was the most-exciting one I'd ever been on in my life. I wasn't expecting a big buck to run right in on top of us. Then when the buck showed up, I really had to get myself together. I'd never seen a buck do this before. I had to get off the shot so quick I couldn't tell for sure how big the buck was until I walked up on him. I was really psyched-out at the size of his antlers. I'd only taken two bucks before - one with a shotgun and one with a bow. This buck was the first one I'd ever taken with a rifle, and I was so proud of him. The buck scored 127 points on the B&C scale."

To learn more about the Ford Ranch and its hunting services, call Forrest Armke, the ranch manager, at (325) 286-4572; e-mail him at fordranch@hotmail.com or, visit www.fordranchhunting.net. I don't believe I'd ever hunted in warmer weather for deer than this hunt at the Ford Ranch the beginning of November, 2003. Luckily for me, I'd rolled-up a lightweight suit of Mossy Oak Apparel's TrekLite and packed it along with wintertime clothing. I thought, "Well, this TrekLite doesn't take up any room at all, and who knows, I may need it." I lived in that TrekLite suit the entire four days I was at the Ford Ranch and stayed cool and comfortable in my tree stand in the high-80-degree weather. You can go to www.mossyoakapparel.com to learn more.