Opening day & my biggest buck so far! 18 point

Ok, well opening day for gun season went a little better than usual. For the first time I doubled up, shooting a small doe in the morning and this big feller in the afternoon. I'm hunting for the first time with a brand new Savage 20 guage bolt action shooting Federal Barnes tipped eXpanders. The 'riffle' is topped with a Bushnell Elite 3-9x40. One sweet combo!

I always hear the stories about shooting a deer withing the first 30 minutes blah blah it never happened to me until now. After getting my earlier doe taken care of I decided to go to my bow treestand that I usually dont hunt in gun season since its so far away from the road and during gun season they dont want anyone driving on the farms, everyone has to park and walk in. But it was early and I had plenty of time so I went on the long walk. I wasnt half way to my treestand and he comes trotting right to me!

I've never been a trophy hunter and out over a dozen or so racks I have in the garage most are under 8pt. I hunt to feed the family and because I enjoy it, and always hope for a nice buck but not like some of my friends who wont even shoot anything unless its over 150-class... heck I dont even know what that means. This time I was finally rewarded with a real wall-hanger. Even though it was pure luck getting it walking in to my treestand, I did earn it on the drag out... along with a few pulled muscles in the back I think!

Its not one of the nice perfect symmetrical 'typical' bucks that many seek, this one is definitely non-typical, but I like the uniqueness of it and the character.

Whats also interesting is this is my 18th year hunting I got this 18 point that also weighs 188.

I got one as well with the bow and arrow so I am all done for the year... back to cutting firewood now!

Thanks everyone! I wanted to respond to some of the comments so they are below in no particular order...

tcassavaugh said:

very nice....opening day i was in the tree stand by 0700 and dropped one by 0730 but only a big spike. Horns are tough to cook, don't make good broth for soup, but they sure do look good on the wall.

sounds like you will be eating venison much of the year. One with bow, doe and this buck....takes a big chunk out of the grocery bill. Sounds like you better get a bigger freezer.

Congrats on a great buck!

cass

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Adios Pantalones said:

I'm more impressed by the weight- plenty of steaks

(I'm pretty food driven- like one of my dogs)

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Cass... I have a whole box full of spikes, forks, 3pts, 5's, 6's, and 7s... were I grew up it was rare to see anything big at all so if you wanted to eat you dont pass up a deer. Around here I see enough deer, and enough bigger ones, that I have started to let the little bucks go (all does fair game).
Cass and Adios... yeah I hunt for many reasons but the end result is dinner. I grew up on 90% venison diet, only a little chicken and occasional pork thrown in, rarely ever beef. My folks didnt make a lot of money and we survived for a good long while with a huge garden, dad hunting all sorts of stuff, and chickens (I mean live ones). Always believed venison was one of the better red meats. And now, even though I can easily afford store bought groceries and meat, I still prefer venison, grow a large garden, can and freeze, and store potatoes and squash down in the root cellar. We dont cook deer alot, mainly since I'm on a rotating shift schedule, but 2 deer will get us through the year fine. 3 deer allows me to do some extra things like trail bologna, different types of sausages, and a few batches of jerky.

BXpellet said:

Nice Buck, If I saw that in the woods when I was hunting, I would probably S*** my pants,

That's a wall hanger for sure!!

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No kidding! I think the only reason I didnt is because he didnt give me the chance. Had to react quick. I suffered from buck fever terrible for years - even if it was just a small doe my heart would go pounding and I'd start jittering. Its only in the last few years where I have taken my camera and starting passing up the small ones and watching em wander around up close that my nerves started calming... a little atleast !

soupy1957 said:

Great looking animal!! gonna have the rack mounted?

In the State of Connecticut, we can't be as un-orange as you are in the pic. Did you take off your orange vest or jacket, or are you allowed to be as orange-free as you are in that pic?

I trust you are going to EAT that deer!!

-Soupy1957

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Yup... I;m no trophy hunter (see my first comments above about eating deer) but its nice after 18 seasons of hunting to finally have a real monster.

Yes we have a minimum orange vest requirement here. In my pic I had just dragged the beast out of the woods and long since shed many layers of clothing. Infact the brown shirt is just a base layer, like an 'under armor' shirt of a different brand. I was sweating bad and very winded. I could literally only pull that fellow about 5 feet at a time before I had to break, and that would take everything I had, every time. I'm not a particularly stalky fellow (that deer weighs more than me, and before field dressing it was well over 200 pounds, maybe 220?). During the hunt I was actually in all camo coveralls with a blaze orange camo pattern vest and hat. I changed into the carharts for the 'work'.

Bobbin said:

And just exactly how stoked are you?! He's beautiful.

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I couldnt put it into words if that tells ya.

CALJREICH said:

WOW I can tell its hard for you to keep the huge smile off your face in the first picture. Are you getting that one mounted or are you waiting for something bigger?

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Yeppers, cape & horns at the taxidermist now. Just got done doing the butchering today also. Was thinking about doing some kind of custom mount since this will probably be the only other buck I ever get mounted - like I said I'm not a big time trophy hunter... unless a bigger one just happens along who knows. But we couldnt really come up with something good so going with a standard mount but a more unique one I think... the mckenzie 4600 'full sneak' found here http://www.mckenziesp.com/Full-Sneak-C21.aspx in the top middle but with the addition of the mouth being partly opened like if it were flehmen or grunting. I'm also going to try and spice it up by putting a little scenery with it, probably a small rubbed tree beside it (maybe one of the actual ones he rubbed) or an old fence post a little bit of rusty barbed wire. Just something to make it unique. And will all go on the bricks above the fireplace (Rockland insert).