Here’s why a Kentucky hunter is glad he walked away from his favorite stand and swapped rifles.
Jim Murphy, some of his friends and family members run several trail cameras on Jim’s farm in Wayne County, Kentucky. You’d think a deer couldn’t slip past so many without being photographed.
Despite the 24/7 surveillance by numerous cameras, however, the group of hunters managed to get only one photo of an unforgettable buck in 2013 and one in 2014, both times at night.
Each year, the deer showed up the same couple of days in late September. It was sporting impressive headgear in those two grainy mug shots, but the gang knew if it survived one more year, it could become a phenomenal animal.
“The photos we got of the buck those first two years weren’t good quality,” Jim said. “But you could tell it was a mainframe 12-pointer with some extra stuff. And its body was huge!
“When we started getting pictures of the buck at the start of the 2015 season, I made up my mind I wasn’t going to kill a deer unless it was that one,” he continued.
Unlike its abrupt disappearance the previous two years, the now even bigger buck was still around when the calendar flipped to October. It was still nocturnal, but Jim saw opportunity. Shooting the deer became a plausible goal.
“Our farm is mostly big timber. In a good mast year, that’s what the deer will be focusing on,” Jim said. “We also have about 20 small food plots that are planted in a mix of radishes, white clover and soybeans.
“The quality of bucks on the farm is improving. My nephew shot a 150-class 8-pointer in 2014. So we were optimistic going into the 2015 season because of that buck, as well as the photos we started getting of the bigger one,” he said.
Jim had several options for setups. The farm has both fixed-position stands and shooting houses. Plus, he uses a climber.
“I hunted about eight times during bow season without luck. I saw several small bucks, but I was determined to go big or stay home.
“I thought my favorite stand might be outside this buck’s home range because in most of the photos we had, it was at least half a mile away,” he said.
“However, in the photos, the deer always seemed to be going toward that stand.
“That’s why, on opening morning of rifle season, I decided to hunt there. The weather was great that day, and deer were moving. I saw three bucks chasing does. One was a pretty good one, but I passed on it, waiting for the big one.
“I hunted the stand in the morning and again in the afternoon, but didn’t shoot at anything.
“On Sunday morning, I went back to the spot I hunted the previous day. There was a lot of activity, and you could tell breeding was occurring. I thought, Maybe this buck will show,” he said.
Jim saw several wearing racks, but not the one he wanted.
While taking a break for lunch, Jim thought about where he would hunt that afternoon. He’d spent a day and a half at his favorite spot with no luck, so a change in strategy was in order.
“We have one stand back in some thick stuff,” Jim said. “It’s up in a little saddle, and you can see a maximum of 40 yards.
“The weather was just beautiful, and the wind was perfect for that stand,” he said.
That wasn’t the only decision that helped make his afternoon hunt the most memorable of his life. He also switched weapons.
“My dad had been real sick,” Jim explained. “He had a special deer rifle he liked to hunt with, a Marlin in a .45-70 government round. Dad wanted me to have the gun, and I had brought it along on the hunting trip.
“Normally, I wouldn’t hunt with it. But it’s an ideal brush gun, and I thought it would be perfect for where I was going.
“When I got to the stand and settled in, I looked at the rifle and thought, The last time this gun was held was by Dad. It was just kind of a spiritual moment for me,” he said.
“About 4:00, I heard the crunch of leaves, saw antlers, and, boom, this buck was right there,” he continued. “I could see enough of the rack to know it was a great deer. I thought, Oh My God! It has to be him!
“In 30 years of hunting, I had never seen a deer like that. I tried not to look at the antlers and freak out.
“I knew the hammer was going to click a little when I cocked the gun, but I managed to do it without spooking the buck,” he continued.
Jim raised the rifle and his scope filled with brown. When he managed to settle the crosshairs over the sweet spot, he squeezed the trigger and dropped the animal on the spot.
Taking a real trophy whitetail had been one of Jim’s lifelong goals. Just like that, he’d finally done it.
“Only hunters will understand how I felt,” Jim said. “I had shot the biggest deer of my life with Dad’s favorite old gun. He passed away 30 days later.”
This article was published in the June 2017 edition of Rack Magazine. Subscribe today to have Rack Magazine delivered to your home.
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