The big Two was Due!!!!

[dvolmer]

So the last couple of years I have went up to the ranch I hunt in late November or early December to look and see what I didn't see during the modern rifle season (something about the rut seems to bring out the big boys from their hiding places).  The last two years I have seen this massive 2x2 (with no eye guards) ruling the roost and passing on his bad genetics to the herd.  I will be honest and say I even contemplated taking him out of the herd to stop the damage but we all know that that road is not a road a hunter wants to go down.  Slippery slope that ends in no good!!!  But when I saw him last year and that he had a pretty good limp in one of his front shoulders, I was hoping he wouldn't survive the winter.  I don't know if he hurt himself fighting other bucks during the rut or if he had been wounded with an arrow or a bullet.  I filmed him through my spotting scope and kept the video of him and other bucks on the ranch.

So this last Saturday on the opener I found him.  The only difference was that he had the audacity to somehow grow an inch and a half eye guard on one side of his rack.  It was a no-brainer as I pulled my rifle up and put him on the ground.  Good riddance I thought.  But as I got up to him, I realized just how unique of a buck he was.  I have shot quite a few deer in my life but this deer was the biggest bodied deer I have ever shot.  He had hindquarters like a spike elk and his back-straps were unbelievable in size and the fat on the buck was abundant.  25 inches outside width with lots of mass.  He had the frame and mass of a 175 class deer but was just missing the other two points on each side.  He was old with a roman nose and ground down teeth.  The last two years he was a huge deer but didn't have the eye guard.

As I mentioned above, when I filmed him last year he had a very noticeable limp.  I didn't notice the limp this year before I shot him but then again, he didn't move to far before the shot.  Upon inspecting him after the shot, I found a large lump just underneath the skin on his front shoulder.  While processing the buck I investigated the lump.  At first I thought is was a broad-head from an arrow but it turned out to be a bullet.  Smaller caliber like a 223 or a 243 so someone had taken a shot at him last year.  I could see how this can happen because if the buck jumped up in front of you and you saw his frame, there is no way you would have ever thought he was a slick headed 2x2.

So that is the story of how the big Two met his Due!  I wish I could post the video off of my phone of him last year and the video this year as I dug the bullet out of him but I just don't know how to do it!  I'm a technology idiot for sure!!!  Good deer to get out of the gene pool and an old mature deer at that!  Happy hunting all!!!

[boneaddict]

Great buck!

[lewy]

 

[Alchase]

Nice!

[RockChuck]

Nice!

[fishngamereaper]

Love big 2's....

[mburrows]

Really cool buck with a cool back story. Congrats!

[scrapperdude]

congrats and great story to go along with it

[deadwoodbuck]

Huge 2 x 2 big animal going to be some nice backstraps

[Jpmiller]

Very cool buck. Thanks for sharing I love stories and deer like this.

[h20hunter]

Stud of a deer, real trophy in my book.

[fishngamereaper]

Technically it's a 3 point... let's not get confused.

[jeffro]

Stud buck and good job.
See too many passing on the trait. Especially north of I-90. But also saw a couple in the Desert last year.

Yours looks similar to one I saw blasted by a semi truck just west of banks lake on Hwy 2 a couple years ago.
Wish I would have taken photos..... He was a brute. No eye guards.

Again, great buck! Thanks for sharing

[Johnny Doe]

Sweet Buck!  The years of "knowing" him make it even better!

[jdb]

I’d almost take a big two point over a big four point!! Big twos just look cool to me