Hey mike its Ky good looking deer and I'm glad that you filled your tag.
Ky
Ky, thanks man.....Much appreciated. I know we talked about holding out for a bigger buck. I would have liked a 150 -160 class muley. I think given different circumstances with my foot injury and all, I would have passed on this buck. We saw several 3 and 4 points but this was the heaviest we saw. We saw one with deeper forks but not near as heavy. The circumstances ended up being right for the situation we were in. Don't get me wrong, we're thrilled with this buck and are enjoying our good fortune.
Andrew and I had quite a discussion before deciding to try for this guy. We knew he was heavier than the buck he was with, Although he's not extremely massive, but when compared to the other 4X4, he just looked a lot bigger. I have to admit that we were fooled a little bit by the contrast of the two bucks at 175 yards, which is the distance they were when we first ranged them. We figured his width was about 22 inches which we over estimated. We also knew he wasn't real tall. In fact, a little shorter than we were hoping for. His front and back forks were not very deep either.
On the plus side, he was the biggest buck we'd seen both in antler size and body size. And as I said, we liked that he was heavy. Also, being a 4x4 with eye guards that are over 2 inches long (One measures 2-1/2 inches) didn't hurt. Having a road below us was a plus in our case as well....although he damn near went over the edge into a steep basin. But the final decision came down to the fact that I had a Dr. appointment scheduled for the following week and we were unsure of whether or not I'd be in a cast or recovering from surgery costing us our last weekend of hunting. We ranged the shots at 277 yards (too low). 315 yards (hit a bit too far back), and 80 -100 yards (finishing shot).
All in all we had a blast. I want to thank you and your dad for all of your help (along with a few others). We really enjoyed meeting you guys..... I'm impressed with the standards you've set for yourself for being a young guy, I take my hat off to ya for setting high goals and sticking with it. It worked out for ya last season!
Here's to the end of another season
Happy holidays!
Update on the foot..... Not a broken bone or a ruptured ligament or tendon. It is a "strained" tendon requiring Ibuprofen, heat, Ice, elevation in the evening. (It sucks to get old!) Although still black and blue, the swelling is down. In short, I am recovering!
