Jinx Breaker - The Big 9

[MooseontheLoose]

I’m not sure what made me look up at that exact moment. I was tired and had put my head down for a little bit because it was still early in the hunt. The late nights of carousing with the boys, whiskey drinking, and solving all of the worlds problems had caught up to me. But something made me look up…… And there he was.

I hadn’t expected him to move this early. I figured a big, old, mature deer like that would show himself in the last few minutes of light, if he would even come out at all. We were nearing the end of a super successful season, well, for everyone else, but I’ll get to that later. The deer had seen lots of their friends head to the big protein feeder in the sky at this point in the year. They were becoming very cautious around those funny looking bushes with the people inside. To say I was shocked to see him this early would be a gross understatement.

But there he was, plain as day. At 5 on the dot he stood at the edge of the sendero, slowly scanning, cautious of his surroundings, checking everything, the way the old boys do. Satisfied with his evaluations, he stepped out onto the road, and began feeding. My mind began racing, “Has this big deer lost his mind? Why is he out here so early? Only the spikes are out right now!” The huge and cruel monkey that had been hanging on my back all season must have been the one that slapped me to wake up. As quickly has he had appeared, he fed off, in the complete OPPOSITE direction of my blind.

“Welp, that figures.” I said out loud. I didn’t care if any deer heard me. I was done. It just wasn’t my season. I figured the deer would walk way down the road, and with an hour and 40 minutes of light left, he would work his way in front of my little brother and Cody would shoot him. Cody was situated essentially on the same sendero, just a good ways away, and we had seen this deer at both spots in recent weeks. I would be happy for him if he shot the deer. Ecstatic actually, because it would be his first buck with a bow, and it would make a beautiful mount for him.

My mind began to wonder. Yea, I would be happy for Cody. Shoot I was happy for all of my friends this season. It seemed like everyone was killing good deer, and lots of them. “You sure can’t beat being with your closest friends and family in deer camp, and seeing everyone be successful,” I thought. I was happy for everyone, thinking to myself it wasn’t about the kills, it was about the hunt, and being outside, spending time with your friends and….

Wait….enough of that warm sissy crap. My mind snapped back to focus. No time for that. I wanted to kill a deer…THIS DEER…..and BAD. As I began to reflect back on this season, roller coaster did not even come close to the ridiculous amount of things that happened to me. I sat there, in the Nutshell Blind, and reflected back on every encounter and screw-up I had had this year……

Our season had started fun enough. We found a boatload of gar fish in the increasingly dry South Tank, and decided what better way to spend a weekend then wading through waist deep mud and water shooting at gar? If there’s a way to have more fun…. I don’t know about it.




I started bow season hunting a spot called Mom’s Blind. There was a really pretty 5 year old 8 that showed up there occasionally, and I would have gladly killed him if given the chance. I never saw him though, but did manage to stick an arrow into a javelina. I thought he might have measured Boone and Crockett but when I walked up to him I discovered he had ground shrinkage. Should have given him another year.

[ame="http://vimeo.com/36811788"]Mom's Blind Javi on Vimeo[/ame]




About the second weekend in October I headed down on a Thursday, because my work schedule allowed me to do so. Friday morning I went to the blind called the End of the Road to see what I could see. There was always a large amount of deer in the area, including a few culls that were on the hit list. After waiting around until the end of the morning, seeing probably 20 deer, a big doe fed to slightly quartering away at 13 yards. “Well," I thought, “If your gonna give it up that way”…..I drew back, settled in, and touched off. Torched her.

[ame="http://vimeo.com/36808591"]End of the Road Doe on Vimeo[/ame]


It took a little while to find her, because she ran across a dirt field and there were deer running everywhere, but my arrow was soaked in blood and we soon found her, 70 yards away. The Jak-Hammer opened her up big time.

Jak-Hammer Entrance


You can see the exit in the LDP


Then there was a buck named Old Man Rivers. He was one of the original 2 deer that Noah put on his ark. His rack was nothing to mention, but a buck that had probably survived being eaten by a tyrannosaurus would be fun to chase. He was also a deer that we had hundreds of pictures of, but nobody had ever seen him in person. I like a challenge, so I was game to chase him.

Old Man Rivers ran with a buck we called the Big 9. We would get their pictures together all summer, they would disband in the fall, and then meet up again after the season. This season their favorite protein feeder appeared to be the South Tank. This particular spot consists of a couple of acres of thick brush right next to a large tank. All of this is surrounded by a vast expanse of sacahuista. The deer usually bed in the thick brush, or at different spots in the sacahuista, and then explode around the tank in the evenings. The protein feeder was close to the tank, and the pop-up blind was located at the middle of the brushy area. It’s an awesome set up. I sat there a couple of times early in October, and only saw a few deer right as last light each time.

Old Man Rivers and Big 9

[MooseontheLoose]

However, we continued to get Old Man Rivers and the Big 9s picture nearly every evening right at dusk. It was apparent though, that they were either crossing to the protein feeder behind me and not coming in, or were coming from out in the sacahuista. After 2 hunts of not seeing much, I talked it over with Justin, and I decided to move the blind. I moved it to the opposite side of an old fencerow, right at the edge of the sacahuista, with a perfect shot at the protein feeder. He would stroll in, just like he did every night, and I would kill him. That’s what I had written in the script.

My second hunt in the newly located blind was a morning sit, and just as I was getting settled in, I could hear 2 deer eating the road corn. As it grew lighter and they fed into view, I saw that the first buck was the Big 9. After seeing him, I knew exactly which deer the second one was, so I quickly got ready. He fed into view, but heard me draw the first time. He stared straight at the blind for what seemed like forever. Finally, some other deer distracted him, and he kept feeding along, heading straight for the protein feeder.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m not opposed to shooting a deer that’s eyeball deep in protein, especially one as elusive as this one. He stuck his face in the feeder and started eating, so I moved the camera into position and got ready. Then, I leaned over to the side of the blind and drew, so that no deer could see any movement in the window. I slowly swung in front of the window, picked a spot, and touched off….

You can see what happened next….

[ame="http://vimeo.com/36985502"]Old Man Rivers on Vimeo[/ame]

I knew what had happened before I even watched the video, so I was already, for lack of better terms “mad.” When I played the video back though, I grew even more frustrated. When I drew and swung in front of the window, I had knocked the camera off of a good frame on the deer and almost out of focus. When I shot, my bow hit my tripod. I had backstrapped Old Man Rivers. The shot was bad, the video was bad, and I was not happy. Not a fun day. I searched for a while, but knew it wasn’t a fatal hit, so I let him be.

I decided after that to go back there the next morning, on the rare chance that he would come back and to see what would happen. I didn’t see the bucks I was looking for, but a big doe decided to turn sideways at about 10 yards. I couldn’t help myself. Time to see what these GrizzTrick 2s were made out of. I drew and touched off. Drilled her.

[ame="http://vimeo.com/36811190"]South Tank Doe #1 on Vimeo[/ame]

We found her exactly like this. She only went about 60 yards.





It was around this time that I went and hunted another ranch for the hunt that will probably haunt me for the rest of my life.

My little brother hurt his hand big time playing football early in the season, so he had to have surgery and was in a cast at this point. His release did not fit over his cast, so he had asked that day if he could borrow mine. “Sure,” I said. Little did I realize this would be a HUGE mistake. That afternoon, we headed out to the blinds. I chose a quadpod close to a tank, and Justin and Cody were going to dirt field (food plot) a couple hundred yards away.

When they dropped me off, I realized I didn’t have a release. I let Cody use mine, and his was back at camp in his bow case. Instead of risking the 30 minute round trip to go get it, I opted to sit in the box blind and just video. It was hot and it was early season anyways. I figured nothing would be moving. Right? WRONG!

There were a lot of deer moving that evening, and I saw 7 or 8 deer out early. Then, right at dusk, the biggest wild deer I have ever seen alive on the hoof sauntered out of the brush, and fed 10 yards from the quadpod! I was sick. Dark, heavy chocolate horns sprouted out of his huge head. 12 loooooong tines shot upward to the sky, sitting on top of what looked like an easy 220 lb. deer. He was a toad. I looked at him through the rifle scope long and hard, and just shook my head in disbelief. Was this really happening?

Then, I tried shooting some video, but he was too far away from the rifle blind for the video to come out. It’s really grainy and you can’t see it on the TV. I thought long and hard about just ending it with the rifle right there. It would be my biggest deer by over 20 inches and I had plenty of light to shoot. I couldn’t make myself do it though. It was still super early in the season and he was eating at 10 yards, right in front of the quadpod. I would be back for him. I had a gut feeling.

Unfortunately, (or maybe not) GJ sat in that quadpod 2 weeks later and the big deer came out again, only this time he had broken off 3 tines, so he passed him. Hopefully he lived through the season and we can chase him next year! On top of all that, my brother MISSED a doe that night. It was bad enough to poach my release…..but then to MISS?!

Fast forward a couple of weeks into November. I decided to set up shop at a blind called the River Food Plot. This blind is located on the low-fence side of the ranch, and about this time of year, all kinds of new deer cross through the area. There was a group of bucks that were very consistent on “our side,” with several of the bucks being on the hit list, including one buck I kind of liked, who we called Crooked Brow. The layout of the area is such that the low fence runs across the east side of the field, the pop-up is located on the west side of the field on the brush line, there is a corn feeder at the north end of the field, and a protein feeder at the south end of the field. The pop-up is situated on the brush line of the field, in between the corn and protein feeders.

Crooked Brow


I made it down on a Thursday once again, and spent the Thursday afternoon hunt, both hunts Friday, and Saturday morning hunt playing cat and mouse with the bucks. They would come out early enough, and walk from the corn to the protein, back and forth, sometimes stepping over my hand corn! I watched in frustration for 4 hunts in a row that these deer out-smarted me. At this point, Justin and I decided we were going to play a little trick on the deer. When he dropped me off that evening, we un-plugged their beloved feeder.

At the same time they did every day, deer just exploded from everywhere. Some ate protein, but most of them went and stood under the corn feeder. They couldn’t figure out why there was no corn on the ground. Confused, they walked straight to the protein feeder, and fed for a while. Thinking that surely there would be corn now, the deer walked back across the field to the corn feeder. It was all I could do to keep from laughing out loud looking at all of the confused deer. My plan was working.

FINALLY, they started coming into my hand corn. A little leery at first, but Crooked Brow, which was the buck that I wanted most out of the group, was the boldest and soon fed into my shooting lane. I had taken the camera arm off my tripod, to avoid what happened in October, and made sure that everything was in the clear for this one. I remember being very calm for that shot. I was excited, but calm, if that makes any sense. Quietly, I drew my bow as he stepped into frame. I waited a second until the front leg went up, and then I touched the release. The shot felt good, but I wasn’t exactly sure where I had hit him because of the low light conditions, and the fact that my nock didn’t light up.

Pay careful attention a few seconds after the shot at the deer running left to right.

[ame="http://vimeo.com/36806298"]Crooked Brow on Vimeo[/ame]

I got out of the blind and went to get my arrow. When I found it, I was so mad I could have punched a baby. ONE spot of blood on ONE fletching. I smelled the arrow. It didn’t smell like anything. Initially, I thought I had bounced it off of his brisket, but upon examining the tape on the big screen back at the house, I realized I had hit high on ANOTHER ONE. I was glad that the shots were not fatal and that the deer would at least live, but I was livid that that happened again, especially since I felt so calm when I shot. If you watch the whole clip you can see him running at about 4,000 miles an hour across the back screen. Anyone that hunts south of Cotulla be on the lookout for him. He might still be running across a sendero near you.

[MooseontheLoose]

The next morning I was 9 kinds of irritated, so I went back to the South Tank. There was always deer there, I had confidence in the spot, and I knew it would be an exciting hunt. Unfortunately, I would only see one doe the whole hunt. Fortunately (for me), she got to bear the brunt of my frustration. I launched a GrizzTrick her way. It torched her and she only ran about 60 yards. I think my arrow went farther after it went through her than she ran.

[ame="http://vimeo.com/36827117"]South Tank Doe #2 on Vimeo[/ame]

Here’s where my arrow HIT her.



After some of this…..


And a little of that…..



Rockin’ the Mojo with the No Shave November Beard.


Now came the lowest point of my season thus far. Soon, it was Thanksgiving, and aside from 2 hunts in early December, I went the whole month (of December) without being able to make it down to the ranch. I know how fortunate I am to be able to do that, because some may only get to spend a few, if any, hunts afield each season, and I had probably spent close to 50 hunts this season already. BUT……. James and Justin were at the ranch, texting me about the rut being on full steam, deer everywhere, rattling them in, blah blah blah. They killed 3 bucks in 3 hunts…… Everything you don’t want to hear when you’re stuck in town.

On top of all that nonsense, I couldn’t figure out what my deal was. On the does, I was perfect. Perfect shots, short trails, the whole 9 yards. Sure I was a little excited on the bucks, but enough to have TWO mistakes and lose TWO deer? I know the deer lived, because we got pictures of them later, but they should have been MINE. I’ve always prided myself on being able to make the shot when it counted, having ice water running through my veins. I’ve spent a fair amount of time in South Texas and have seen some decent deer. I can usually control myself very well, but not this season. That monkey was locked onto my back, and he was starting to get heavier.

Old Man Rivers Battle Scars


Early January I headed back down to Cotulla, to see what kind of buck I could scare this time. I decided to hunt at the East Texas spot. This is a feeder right on the Nueces River, and it’s a spot that anything goes (East Texas mentality). All management, age, size, genetics, birthday, color, blood type, EVERYTHING goes out the window. If a 220 inch 3 year old steps out, he’s fair game to shoot. Because of its location on the river, a variety of exotics cross through also. Axis, hogs, red deer, etc. have all gotten their picture taken on the trail camera. The only animals we don’t shoot at this spot are the gobblers. We try and save them for the spring season.

Knowing what time of year it was, and how good the odds were that I could see a good deer, I decided to dedicate my whole weekend to hunting this spot, because at any time a real giant could pass through. We had gotten pictures of some really good deer that crossed through there during the summer. That Friday morning I parked really far away, and snuck in as quietly as I could, I went into ninja mode and slowly crept up to the blind. When I got about 40 yards from the feeder, all hell broke loose.

Apparently 21 toms had decided to roost in a big tree, right above the feeder. They didn’t take too kindly to me and my flashlight and spooked. You’ve never heard so much gobbling and wings and racket in your life. “Welp, so much for sneaking in,” I said out loud. My optimism sank, but I got in the blind anyways and waited for daylight.

At this point, you may be wondering how I knew there was exactly 21 toms in the trees. Well, they paraded in after the feeder went off, and I spent the morning coming up with creative ways to scare them away. They would just come right back, terrorizing me, half pointer, and third pointer. My two nubbin’ buck friends that joined me that morning.

Because it had been so cold that morning I hunted later than usual, and planned to get out about 9:45. At about 9:40 with only turkeys around me, I started getting my stuff together, took the camera down, arrow back in quiver, quiver on bow, and got ready to leave. “2 more minutes,” I thought to myself, and put my head down, dreaming of the sausage and biscuits I was about to dominate.

That stupid monkey slapped me on the head again. I looked up, expecting to see half-pointer, and there was a 150 class 10 standing 14 yards away, eating corn. I had no idea where he came from and didn’t even hear him walk in. He was just there. “Holy umm……Cow!” I pulled an arrow out of my quiver, nocked it, flipped up the RipCord and looked up again. I just happened to glance under the feeder, and there was an equally big deer that had a double main beam!

I have no recollection of the shot. I just went into super rookie “I gotta shoot before it runs away” mode. I drew, anchored, picked a spot, exhaled, and touched off quicker than I ever have in my life. The camera wasn’t set up, and I have no video of the shot. NOTHING. I just knew that after the shot, I had no deer. I heard him crashing and running for a long ways. At the shot, I dropped my bow arm, anxious to see where the arrow would hit, and the arrow ducked right below the deer. I started feeling like this stupid monkey was in cahoots with the devil.

Walking back to the truck I started cussing myself. Those deer weren’t going ANYWHERE. There was plenty of corn left on the ground and I had all day to wait. There was no reason why I couldn’t have put my camera stuff back together, took my time, and made a good shot. Complete freshman rookie mistake, and it cost me one of the coolest deer I’ve ever had a chance at.

The neighbors provided a few shots of Double Beam





I hunted that spot the rest of the weekend and never saw either of the two deer again. Saturday night, Justin told me that if I wanted to, to go ahead and shoot a turkey on Sunday morning. He knew I was in a bad rut and thought maybe a thunderchicken would help. Plus I had been fighting them for 2 days. It was going to be (or SHOULD HAVE BEEN) a slam dunk. So I snuck in the blind early Sunday morning, waiting to be bombarded by birds like I had been every hunt thus far.

My view every hunt…..
[ame="http://vimeo.com/36970691"]LaSalle County Turkeys on Vimeo[/ame]


Wouldn’t you know it, I saw all the turkeys, but not a single one of them came in that morning. They all stood about 40-60 yards out, just milling around and not really doing much of anything. They never would come in. They had come in on me 4 hunts in a row, where I couldn’t hardly chase them off, and on the morning I was trying to kill one, they never came close. I knew the monkey was laughing at me now. There’s not much else you can do at that point. It just wasn’t my season. “Time to head for the saltwater and try to rip some lips,” I thought, as I sat there annoyed.

[MooseontheLoose]

And then here I was, after watching another opportunity walk away, frustrated as ever after remembering all of that. Actually seeing the Big 9 and having him walk away was a huge tease. I would have rather not even seen him at all….

We decided to kill the Big 9 that afternoon. I had several encounters with him all season, and could have shot him (or AT him) multiple times both this season and last, but we kept going back and forth on giving him another year. He was 6 this year, but at 5, he was truly a giant. We had super high hopes for his future. However, 2 years of no rainfall had clearly showed in his rack this year. He had taken a nose dive, big time. He had fared better than two of the other studs we were watching, All Star and Hercules. Bother of those deer had disappeared completely. And Ghost, well, he took a nose dive too, from right at 180 to right at 160, but that’s Justin’s story to tell.

2010-2011 Big 9 with Old Man Rivers











I had several encounters with the Big 9 last year, while I was hunting the “Other Hangover 9.” He nearly ruined my shot at that deer, and I saw him multiple times on that hunt, so I had a little bit of history with him. When I decided to hunt him that night, it was for history.

It was for revenge.

It was to beat that stupid jinx and the monkey he rode in on.

So there I sat in the Nutshell blind, with a broken up 10 and a little dink 8 in front of me. I would probably have shot the 10 if I had not seen the Big 9 early in the hunt. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it though. I sat, and waited, and wondered if Cody had killed him yet.

I tried being positive but it was awfully hard as bad as things had gone for me this season. I just kept telling myself “It’s just not his day to die….just like it wasn’t Old Man Rivers’, or Crooked Brow, or Double Beams.” I started thinking of fishing, about yellow mouths and spotted tails, and how I needed to start getting gear in order for the upcoming summer. As bad as this sounds, bowhunting was the last thing on my mind right then.

And then…… there he was. Again. He was slowly making his way towards me from way down the road. All of the sudden, something spooked him and he trotted about 30 yards closer. Now he was in range and I was ready.

Camera was out of the way, nock was on, and I was ready to rock and roll. I put out so much hand corn, though, that he ate facing me for what seemed like forever. This is a spot that usually holds a ton of deer, so I fed it heavy so that there would still be some when I thought the big deer would be moving, right before dark.

For some reason that evening though, I only saw a handful of deer. There was so much corn that he didn’t have to move to eat any of it. Minutes passed by like hours. Finally, he heard another deer running around in the brush behind him and threw up his head. He turned to see what all the commotion was about. When he calmed down, he turned and gave me just enough of an angle.

Although he was slightly quartering to, I decided it was now or never. I quickly came to full draw, picked a spot, and touched off. I saw my arrow disappear high behind the shoulder, but I was in an elevated stand, so the exit wound would be lower, and he ran off. Not winning a NASCAR race like Crooked Brow, but he ran off at a quick jog.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=steSBlKJfx0"]Big9 - YouTube[/ame]

I didn’t hear a crash or anything, which worried me a bit. After I re-played the video, I got sick to my stomach. I thought that I had done it AGAIN. I don’t know where this monkey came from, but he had a sick sense of humor having that deer come out, then leave, then come back, and then “letting” me put a terrible shot on him. I just wanted to get out of that blind, and go home. I was done.

Game over.

Season over.

They can win this one, I just wanted it to be over.

I sat there as darkness closed in, disappointed, dejected, and mad. How could I have done this 4 times in ONE SEASON? No idea. I didn’t even bother getting out to look for my arrow, I just waited in the dark. It was probably completely clean anyways, or maybe it would have a few spots of blood, that’s it, and I was convinced of it.

Justin and Cody came to pick me up and wondered why I was still in the blind, especially after Cody saw the arrow. “Well that’s a good sign.” He said. I rolled my eyes. “Yea right,” I thought, I couldn’t hit a barn from the INSIDE this season. I was mumbling under my breath and Justin said, “Hey man your arrows covered in blood.” At this point, my optimism increased some, but I was still very mad about the shot.

We started walking a little bit and found blood splashes in the direction the deer had taken. Unfortunately, he ran over some bare dirt, and it was extremely difficult to follow. Justin eased up ahead, trying to find which trail he ran down, Cody remained on last blood, and I followed the current blood sign. We tracked a little ways, and I was just picking up faint splotches when Justin said “I got blood up here.” I slowly worked my way to him, trying to follow blood, when he said “HEY look where my lights pointing.”

It was him. Piled up 70 yards from where I shot him. Double lung. Words can’t describe how pumped I was at that moment. I started yelling. The roller coaster ride that I have been on this season was nothing short of sickening. All the ups, all the downs, and everything in between were all worth it. I had a 6 year old brute dead on the ground, 70 yards from the shot. It was a good night.

We did a LITTLE celebrating that night, and took pictures in the morning to have better light and color. This will go down in the books as one of, if not THE most memorable season of my life, and one that I hope somebody, somewhere, might learning something from, so that nobody would ever have to go through what I went through this year.



Justin was able to kill one of the bucks from the River Food Plot, known as the Tall 8 that weekend also. This is the third time that we’ve doubled up in the same season. Take that monkey.

Double #3


I wasn’t very happy with the shot. Yes, it killed the deer and he only ran a short ways, but it was still a terrible shot, and one that I am definitely not proud of. It’s often said that bowhunting is a game of inches. Well, those precious inches have done me wrong this past season, except for this deer. The elevation that that stand provided me allowed for just enough angle of that hit to take out both lungs. Had I had the same hit from a regular ground blind, there is no doubt in my mind I would have backstrapped another one.

For those wondering how I kept back-strapping the deer, I shot my bow after each incident, and it was dead on. I knew it wasn’t the equipment though, because after each screw-up, I went out at torched a doe. After hours of replaying events in my head, I realized that I got into a bad habit of punching the release as I was coming up the deer’s front leg. It was a rough way to learn, but I definitely learned some lessons this year.

Why this happened only on the bucks? I have no idea.

Buck Fever? Maybe. I’ll just blame it on that stupid monkey.

[WyoHunter]

Great read! Videos nicely spaced in between the appropriate parts of the story. Well done! Congrats on the beautiful bucks and for not giving up! Your success was well deserved.

[Mary]

Bravo...great story telling with an even better ending!
Very happy for you Adam!!!

[ipanic2]

nice buck and video

[Bone Thug]

Congrats....Nice buck!

[bdphunt]

Great recap and congrats on sticking with it and sealing the deal. Great videos too.

[Double L]

Congrats Adam! What a novel but for a deer like that you needed to tell the whole story. Great job on getting it done. Now put that monkey in the trunk where he belongs!

[MichaelW]

Enjoyable read and great coverage of your season, bud.

In the end, you got it done on a nice, mature buck. Congratulations on sticking with it through the ups and downs.

[ronny]

Very nice

[Casey]

Great read, Adam. Glad you finally got all that put together. Congratulations and thanks for sharing.

[Coup de Grace]

Great read and some awesome animals, thumbs up for you.

[Les]

Wow! Wonderful story, Adam. I appreciate you taking the time to chronicle your hunts. Enjoy hanging out with ya at camp, too!