I guess its about time I get on here to thank you people for the congratulations, comments and expressions of mutual happiness for what happened to Barry and I this season. We're still floating on high. Lets face it, at sixty years old, we're almost wrinkled old men now. What hair is left is gray, our eyes are not as good as they used to be and I seem to use ladder stands more than monkey seats. I told someone I used to stand in my treestands until my feet got tired, then sat for a while. Now I sit until my ass gets sore, then stand up for a while :>) My dad used to say there is a fine line between wisdom and senility.
Most of you know we've been at this game all our lives. A lot of time, effort, teamwork, mental stress and lost sleep went into this one. We constantly worried over multiple close gunshots, poaching, pressuring him too much, etc. Having it all come together, taking him fair and square the right way was most important. Just knowing he was out there made use of the alarm clock unnecessary.
Knowing the passion that guys like us share is a special thing. This is far more than an accomplishment for my brother and I. It is who we are and its nice to know there are lots of others who feel like us.
I will plan on writing a magazine story with all the details but here are some to fill in the blank spots. I named this buck Woody...not as in Woodsman and not as in woodpeckers. Enough said. Woody is a very special deer. He has it all. Brains, dominance and unpredictable movement patterns. His rack has good tine length, good mass, bladed tines, a wide spread (30" outside), four droptines, a dark forehead, lots of character in his face and scars from fighting other bucks whose racks fit between his main beams. We have at least three set camera pix of him (three more rolls of trail camera film are yet to be developed as of this writing). Last night I discovered I have a shed antler from him two years ago before he developed the droptines. No question about it. I think he is 5 1/2 years old. Cementum analysis will confirm this later.
I spotted him first in September of 2003. I saw him twice and Barry saw him twice that season. Barry came close to getting a shot at him. A couple friends hunting the same area also had close encounters. We never found his sheds last spring. Barry got video footage of him on October 17 this season. He disappeared when the rut kicked in. I suspect he went on the road spreading his seeds.
Both of us killed great bucks in early November so our tags were filled. Each of us saw Woody half a dozen times before our late season primitive weapons buck tags kicked in after Christmas, but before Christmas he was always out of range, in low light and never in the same place twice anyway. I was lucky enough to take almost 40 minutes of footage of him one evening during gun season but since I don't hunt with guns, I only had my video camera with me. I got other great deer footage in late November, filled some doe tags and Barry even got footage of a bobcat stalking and killing a squirrel ten yards from his stand. I still don't understand why a guy can't hunt with a bow and arrow during gun season in this state.
By Christmas, Woody's preferred unpicked bean field was pretty much depleted of beans. He moved to a neighboring property to feed on standing corn nightly. When antlers started shedding on local mature bucks, we decided to get more aggressive in our hunting strategies a few days ago. I will save the details for the magazine article but we were blessed with good luck, good friends, good weather, good wind directions, good stand placement and plans that all fell into place. The rest is history.
You know I've heard all this wild stuff that happens when someone kills a monster. My phone has been busy more often than not. Emails are relentless. Biggie Hoffman had to be tied down to be kept from driving up from Georgia just to fondle a set of deer antlers. This morning I was offered $20,000. for Woody's warm nuts, presumably for live sperm. I told the guy they had already assunmed room temperature. Hell, I'll sell Barry's jewels for ten grand though.
I'm sure there will be rumors arise. They will all be untrue. When a guy really loves this sort of stuff and spends a good portion of his life pondering choices, you can't help but wonder about deer and people as individuals and ask oneself why we do what we do. I once heard a guy say if he ever killed a giant nontypical he would give up bowhunting because he had "done it all." I know another guy who in fact did hang it up. I can't help but wonder if they ever loved it in the first place.
I'm fairly certain I've now taken the biggest buck of my life. I don't know how many more seasons I'll get but I'm running below 3/4 of a tank. I'm not only grateful for the opportunity and the outcome, but thankful for close friends, an understanding wife/family and a brother who shares the passion as much as I do. I'm a lucky and blessed guy.
You know that feeling of "hunter's remorse" that sets in after the fact? It ain't happening this time. I feel GREAT. Thank you one and all. May all your hunts get better.
Topic: Gene Wensel Scores BIG (with Pic) (Read 18915 times)
