We have a stand on a ranch I hunt in Wharton County that we call "The Hotel" because my uncle built the stand and thinks it is a work of art. The stand sits between a heavily traveled creek and a large pond we duck hunt quite a bit. We have a tripod set up about 50 yards off the feeder so we can rifle hunt and bowhunt the same area. Every year this stand has consistantly produced some of the largest deer off the ranch and sometimes multiple large bucks in a season.
Opening morning of rifle season (bowhunting) I spotted a real nice 8 pointer as he crusied by the feeder and only got a glimpse of him through some tree branches. He visited his scrape right behind the feeder for a minute or two and then crusied on looking for does. I distinctly remember his main beams curling in at almost a 90 degree angle right after his G3 point and his mass carried all the way through the rack. I filed the image away in my mind and began to hunt the area in search of this buck and pulled trail cam cards weekly to see if he had visited in my absence.
On November 13th I pulled the memory card and found this picture of the "big 8"
I hunted the stand and was able to connect on the buck the next day (11/14). So I headed down this weekend to try and cut down on the pig population a bit and my uncle left me a note that said he had pulled the memory card for the week and there was a real nice picture of the buck I killed on the card (I erased the card the last time so I was intrigued). I downloaded the pictures and my jaw hit the desk when this guy popped up:
Apparently we had 2 "big 8's" running around the hotel. When I was hunting the buck I guess I got in a rush and assumed it was the buck. They have very similar racks but the hard curve on the main beam gives it away.
I am thrilled with the buck I shot but just had to share the story of getting "beat" by mature buck. Needless to say this buck is on the hit list for the remainder of the season and my uncle and I have a running bet on which one is bigger. Mine was unofficially 123 3/8.
Opening morning of rifle season (bowhunting) I spotted a real nice 8 pointer as he crusied by the feeder and only got a glimpse of him through some tree branches. He visited his scrape right behind the feeder for a minute or two and then crusied on looking for does. I distinctly remember his main beams curling in at almost a 90 degree angle right after his G3 point and his mass carried all the way through the rack. I filed the image away in my mind and began to hunt the area in search of this buck and pulled trail cam cards weekly to see if he had visited in my absence.
On November 13th I pulled the memory card and found this picture of the "big 8"
I hunted the stand and was able to connect on the buck the next day (11/14). So I headed down this weekend to try and cut down on the pig population a bit and my uncle left me a note that said he had pulled the memory card for the week and there was a real nice picture of the buck I killed on the card (I erased the card the last time so I was intrigued). I downloaded the pictures and my jaw hit the desk when this guy popped up:
Apparently we had 2 "big 8's" running around the hotel. When I was hunting the buck I guess I got in a rush and assumed it was the buck. They have very similar racks but the hard curve on the main beam gives it away.
I am thrilled with the buck I shot but just had to share the story of getting "beat" by mature buck. Needless to say this buck is on the hit list for the remainder of the season and my uncle and I have a running bet on which one is bigger. Mine was unofficially 123 3/8.
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