Banner Man... Bryce Lambley

[deermaster1]

when i get a new bowhunting magezine, i always look at the list of articles, and your name is one i always look for.  cant wait to get your book!

[Wary Buck]

Alright, tests are out and no wandering eyes...yet.  The buck in my avatar was taken on the third day of our season, 9/17/08, in NE.  I passed this buck up reluctantly on the last day of '07 season, 12/31.  It was the only time all year I could say I passed on him.  In the spring, I found his right side shed antlers from '07 and '06 seasons.  Based on that evidence, he'd gone from about a 96" buck to a 113" buck to about 140" gross this past fall when I killed him.  I'm not hung up on scoring deer, etc., but I find a buck's development fascinating and I'm sure many of you do too.  

Well, 9/17 was a miserably hot/humid day when I reckon few Nebraskans even bothered going out.  I chose a stand on the edge because with little wind to cover my entrance/exit, I wanted to spook as few deer as possible but still wanted to monitor traffic from a timber/swamp to a cornfield.  In fact, the easiest/quietest stand to get to was my buddy ladder stand where I take my girls.  Near quitting time, I was just getting my stuff together to leave when the next train rumbled by when this big buck came cruising through.  I didn't recognize him right away, just saw some very tall tines, made my decision, and within a few seconds it was go time.  Heart shot, he went maybe 50-60 yards as I recall.  

There's more to it than that, of course, and the full story will be in a future issue of Bowhunter Magazine.  My other '08 buck will be spotlighted in a future issue of Traditional Bowhunter and I'll get back to you shortly with a preview on that story.

Here's a different angle on this buck.

   

Guru--You're gonna want to kick me, and sometimes I kick myself in the arse too, but I did not get this buck mounted.  While it's a beautiful deer, I mounted way too many of my earlier bucks and my den is FULL.  So I've been doing skull mounts of most of my recent deer, which is kinda sad, as they dwarf many of the deer that are mounted but I'm not really in a position to build a second den yet.        My two capes from this season did make a NE taxidermist very happy.

[Guru]

OK        I know what you mean about space though Bryce....mine is extremely limited! I'm lucky enough to mount my own animals and have done so with some of my older deer. I've only mounted one of my bucks since 2000, and I have 5 more that are bigger than anything I have mounted now with the exception of one......I need the space...

It looks like I'll have to take a few apart and make simple antler mounts out of them to open up some space for the big boys....

But I know most don't have that option as they've/you've invested a lot of money in your mounts....

 I've held off ordering a book(Same with Mike's new book), hoping that since I heard about it that I'd be able to get one in person when I finally got to meet you......we'll see. But I don't know how much longer I can go without reading it.....hopefully some Sitka business will bring us together soon you can sign one and hand it to me    

[Wary Buck]

Alright, I am as proud of the way I killed the second buck I took in '08 as just about any.  And it's quite a story, that will appear in a 2010 copy of TBM.

Picked up a new property in '08, but even though it was huge--just over a square mile--there were literally NO mature trees on it.  A bunch of immature cottonwoods and willows in a couple spots, a ton of CRP and corn and beans on a near flat piece of ground.

This landowner owns five pieces of ground within a few miles, and his hired hands were already hunting on the most likely (and huntable) pieces of ground, so I opted for the toughest one (with the least competition).  I quickly figured out why any sane bowhunter would leave it alone.  

I scouted the place a few times in the summer, but never set foot on it during hunting season until Oct. 4.  A very long story short (yes, it will be a long version in my second book yet to come), I crawled up in a tiny cottonwood I'd located earlier near a bedding area on a night with 40 mph winds and this 140" buck walked in right under me.  I traded video camera for bow and shot him from about 8' high at 3-4 yards from the base of my tree.  A spear might've been more appropriate.  (By the way, I could've killed a smaller 4x4 seconds earlier, and passed up a dink buck from the same tree 30 minutes earlier). Just an intense hunt from a tree 99% of guys would dismiss as unhuntable on a property that 95% of guys would similarly dismiss.  Now you know why I elected to end my Nebraska buck season prematurely.  Very rewarding hunt to say the least.  Some of the video captures from the hunt are surreal and very cool.  

This first picture is the tree I hunted from, my stand is only 7.5-8' up, which gives you an idea how small the tree is.  Picture the hunter up in it, and then the buck under him where it's kind of darker in front, just 3-4 yards away.  Intense!

 

 

[Guru]

Too cool!

[A.S.]

Awesome stuff Bryce. I always enjoy your magazine articles.

[bohuntr]

Very cool Bryce! I look at some of those trees you have set up in and all I can think is if I put a stand in them they would most likely fall over, course I am 6'05" and 280lbs!     I just ordered Mike Mittens book and need to get one of yours ordered also. Keep up the good work on the magazine articles!

[Gaff]

awesome stuff bryce!! i always look for your articles in TBM. you seem to have that ability to "take us there with you".. and anytime i hear pronghorn bows i think of you. you represent them very well.        

gaff

[Butch Blankenau]

Bryce,

Congrats on another great year!  Did you weigh either of those bucks?  The second one looks like a brute.  Weights fascinate me almost as much as horns these days....almost.

Butch

[flightmedic]

he is a very gifted writer

[Mark Baker]

Congrats on the "banner boy" honor, Bryce...and I loved your book, BTW.  I read it en-route to Georgia Trad banquet last August on the plane, and though I'd read much of your stuff, it was easy reading again!  Great bucks and looking forward to the details in full.  - Mark

[Wary Buck]

Again, I feel the need to thank you guys.  I am really looking forward to a life after being a teacher when maybe I can share a few campfires with some of you in other parts of the country.  Just 8 more years!     I also am looking forward to this spring being my first without coaching track, and that may mean, hopefully, I can finally attend a PBS Banquet in 2011!  The kind words really do mean a lot to me.  

Butch, I did not weigh either buck as I was hurting for time on both.  I really believe both dressed right about 200 lbs., the second one maybe a hair more.  Luckily both died near where I get to with my rig.     They weren't as big as my brute from '04, but I feel comfortable penciling them in at about 200.  

Flightmedic, apparently the apple didn't fall far from the tree as having an English teacher Dad and newspaper publisher Mom may have helped.  Thanks.

And the rest, again thanks for the kind words.  It makes it much easier to go back to work where my average class now has 30 kids in it, at widely varying ranges of "ready to learn."  Throw in a 42% free/reduced lunch quota here in Fremont (a measure of poverty), close to 30% ELL (Spanish-first speakers), about 15-20% IEP (many of them special needs)...and teaching is a real challenge these days.  Of course, that's a whole 'nother topic for another time/place, but it gives you an idea of some of the hurdles our society is up against.  Hearing some kind words, even if from another arena of my life, certainly helps.  Some very good folks here.

Feedback on the book has been much appreciated, and if anyone is interested, PM me and I'll get back to you.  Or check out sponsors Kustom King and Three Rivers.  Thanks.

[tjp]

I just got my May/April issue of Bowhunter Mag.  Bryce has a very good article on hunting on a time budget in it.  Great Job bud.

Tom

[Wiley Coyote]

I just finished My Neck of the Woods. Excellent read!          

[jacobsladder]

im enjoying My Neck of the Wooks right now...just picked it up at the kzoo expo.