This deer is something special to me. It symbolizes many things.
Enjoy
The Texas Ten
by Troy Knoll
Early afternoon on the bow season opener in 2008, I brought to a close what has probably been the most difficult challenge of my archery career. I have been successful in harvesting a great deal of animals with archery gear including some decent bucks. However, a deer that always seemed to elude me was a ten-point buck. Sure, I have taken some nice eight points, a couple big nine points, and even a decent six by four, but I just wanted a big ole’ 5X5 TEN POINT BUCK! I started hunting when I was just thirteen years old and was unable to score on my first buck until a month after my sixteenth birthday. Shooting that little eight-point lit a fire in me and I was more dedicated to this bow hunting thing than ever before. Everyone around me seemed to be shooting 10-point bucks. This type of deer seemed to be out of reach for me. It is rare in some of the places I hunt to even see a ten-point buck. On most of the properties I hunt our group lets smaller bucks walk in hopes that they grow, but we just seem to get larger eight points, not the elusive ten. Then in July as I walked in to check the card from a trail cam I had placed on a property I had recently acquired in Prince Georges County, I spotted a buck that I thought could change all of that.
The buck jumped out of a small thicket ahead of me as I walked from my work truck to the mineral station I had prepared months earlier. I was on my way in to swap cards on the camera and replenish the apples and corn that I put out for the deer. I would usually stop by the property once a week to check the cam and bring food. I had seen some decent deer but nothing worth writing about. Since my circle of friends consists of die-hard whitetail bow hunting fanatics, it should come as no surprise that I was talking to one of them (Jeff) on the phone about hunting as the buck jumped up from his bed. I stopped dead in my tracks and remarked to Jeff, "I ‘ve got a good one over here." I didn’t get the best look at the buck but I figured he was a ten from the low, wide frame of the still growing rack. Trust me, you have never seen a fat boy run as fast as I did that day to get back to the truck so I could put the card with the new pictures in my card reader. There he was, the same buck I had just seen, walking past the cam just a day before . . . And he had 10 points!
From that moment on my life revolved around this deer. There was an even higher scoring eight-point in the same group of pictures but my heart was set on this one particular buck that we named "The Texas Ten" for the low, wide shape of his rack that is typical of south Texas deer. I’m sure that everyone I know heard me talk about this deer more than they ever cared to hear about it. I am positive that I drove my Wife crazy with the highs and lows of scouting and keeping tabs on this buck. Over the next two months I would pick up the card from the camera one or two times a week and get upwards of 100 pictures of this buck. There were also around 10 different bucks that shared this mineral and bait station but this guy was definitely the most visible and consistent visitor. He was also one of the most deceiving deer I have ever tried to judge. We would see pictures of him that made him look like a 150+ inch deer however others made him look like he would barely go 125 inches. I know that even at 150 inches he would not be a world class giant and at 125 he definitely wouldn’t be. I didn’t care, he was a true 10 point buck and if I could pull this off he would be the biggest deer I had ever taken in my life.
The property that this deer is located on is a neighborhood yard that borders a large private unhunted forest. It also borders a major highway‘s noise reduction wall. The deer filter through a pinch point between the homeowner’s yard and the highway as the make their way out to ravage the neighborhood landscape during the night. We call this property "The Hood" because of its location in a neighborhood. I placed double stand set in a tree in the pinch point in early August preparing for the upcoming season. The summer seemed to drag along worse that usual. I mean, it’s always a long wait between seasons, but I have never had such a promising outlook on an upcoming opener . . . This long waiting period of began to play on me . . . Should we try it on the opener? What if the wind is wrong? What if he disappears when the velvet comes of? What if this isn’t his home area? Should we go in the morning? Or the evening? What if he doesn’t show up on the first hunt? Should we give it more time? Or go in the next day? I was coming unglued. I talked with all of my friends about this deer but Jeff was the one that was going to be taping the hunt with me so we spoke daily. Oh yeah, the video thing, did I mention that? Adding the video aspect has been fun but it is definitely twice as much to consider.
Jeff has quite a wall of trophies to his credit and I value his opinion but this deer was getting to him as well. The use of the trail camera had Jeff thinking the buck was getting wise to our game. He thought I should remove the flash cam so it would not spook the buck but I figured since he had been flashed with it so much already it would not make a difference, in fact removing the camera would be different . . . Or would it? Seriously, we were losin’ it! We had thought of everything . . . twice . . . The buck was the only factor we couldn’t control. We felt like the deer just knew we were watching, especially when we got trail cam video of him. The video seemed to show the difference between a mature buck’s edgy demeanor and the naivete of younger deer.
A day before the opener we had a final plan . . . or so we thought. We decided to hunt the buck in the evening based upon recent photos taken by the trail cam of the buck heading to feed around seven in the evening. Jeff and I made separate plans to video for some buddies in the morning. Both of our hunts that morning were busts with little deer movement. The fact that we saw little deer activity coupled with a few random photos of my buck cruising through the pinch at 1:45 and 2:30 in the last week had me rethinking the decision to go in at two. I thought more about the moon transit time which called for deer to be on their feet around lunch time. The moon on Sept 15th was full, the temps were high, and the forecast for the evening was calling for 14 mph winds from the north west which was perfect for the evening hunt. I just had a feeling we needed to be in the tree earlier.
Jeff and I were hanging out at his house shooting our bows at about 11:30 when I said "Lets Go." Jeff asked if I was serious and I told him that I just had a hunch that we should get going. The thought of climbing up in a stand in early September to hunt at lunch time seemed crazy and although Jeff was giving me the evil eye, we started the long trip to "The Hood" from Frederick. I had a lump in my throat already. I felt like I was so close to making this dream a reality. I had never been this nervous before or during a hunt. It just seemed so real and it was finally here. We had scrutinized every detail . . . well almost . . .
As we climbed into the tree I noticed that a large dead branch covered in a vine that was lodged above my stand had shifted and partially blocked our way. This caused something we never expected. As Jeff climbed up the tree, the before mentioned branch hooked Jeff’s backpack. The zipper opened and my brand new Canon GL2 video camera fell out of the backpack and to the ground, breaking the tripod adaptor from the bottom. Luckily that was the only damage done and the camera still worked. We were set up and ready at 12:45 p.m.. I sat with my bow at the ready. I was feeling edgy and anxious. I was already second guessing my decision to come out this early. I was thinking how long and hot the sit would be if he never showed. I didn’t have to think about that for too long as I looked to my left and spotted an antler. The antler that I knew so well from studying every inch of this deer for months. I simply said to Jeff, "IT’S HIM" and time stood still.
We had only been in the tree for an hour and "The Texas Ten" was within 22 yards. He still had some remaining shreds of velvet hanging from his left antler. He was partially hidden behind some brush. I immediately drew my bow and I remember thinking how I couldn’t believe the hunt was gonna be over just like that. I remember Jeff telling me weeks before in our discussions that the hunt could be anticlimactic and nothing to it. I had a hard time believing that because things just don’t work that way for me. There is usually some kind of drama as my family and friends can attest. This hunt would prove no different. Here I was at full draw about to make the most important shot of my life and it seemed that it was going to be that easy . . . Until the buck kinda tweaked out . . . turned . . . and walked away . . . offering me no shot. Still at full draw, a million thoughts went through my head . . . What caused his reaction? Is it over? Did he see me? He can’t smell us . . . Maybe it’s just the way big bucks act in the wind . . . I held my draw . . . and held . . . and held . . . for what seemed like an eternity until he finally walked back in my direction . . . slowly . . . I let down my draw . . . He looked forward toward the yard . . . He took a few more steps behind a sapling and I drew again . . . After reaching full draw the buck finally moved into the shooting lane after another lengthy pause . . . and the shortest yet longest hunt of my life was in the books.
I had taken my first ten-point buck! We were blown away! Jeff kept saying "You called it! You called it! You said we had to be in the tree before two and it worked!" I had killed the deer I was after at 1:40 in the afternoon. "The Texas Ten" was mine. He was the first buck I had ever gotten trail cam photos of before taking, and thanks to Jeff, my first mature deer on video! The feeling was that of a giant weight being lifted. A huge relief and feeling of satisfaction in the fact that all of the practice, preparation and planning and a little luck following my hunch had all payed off. Then a weird feeling I have never experienced came over me . . . a feeling of sadness that the whole thing was over . . . I realized I was never going get those exciting trail cam photos of this great deer again. Wrapping my hands around those antlers was a great feeling. For the first time in my life I was speechless. Everyone knows I have a big mouth and I really could not find words. I just kept looking at that perfect rack. That 5X5 rack I have been dreaming of for all of these years.
The best part of the whole deal is having been able to share it with so many friends and family and let them hunt the buck along with me. I would not be able to do any of this without the support and understanding of my wife that I know thinks I’m crazy but somehow "gets it" and tries to understand my obsession and I thank her for that.
No comments:
Post a Comment