Kent and I hunted for a couple of hours without a single deer sighting. We moved locations and continued our search. By 9 am we had located him! He was with a small 3 point and almost a mile north of where I had last seen him. While we prepared for the shot, the bucks decided to bed for the morning. The big buck bedded in a jack pine thicket offering no shot. At 256 yards we set up and waited for the buck to stand. After almost an hour, the buck stood and began to bristle up and posture. He walked away and into a small thicket and began raking on a tree. Kent had to get out of his scope and adjust his rest and got back in his scope. Kent immediately found a buck standing in the open and facing us. Kent settled the cross-hairs and shot!
"Kent, you missed!" I exclaimed. Suddenly I noticed a different buck running towards us with blood running down his side. "Kent, you shot the wrong buck!!"
Those have got to be the worst words to hear when hunting. Had I not witnessed it, I probably wouldn't believe it. Better yet, I captured the whole thing on film. The big buck apparently was displaying his dominance to the other buck as he approached. When Kent took his eye off the buck and tried to relocate him in his scope, he found the other buck that was standing in the open. When I get the video edited, I will post it. It's sad, but priceless.
Luckily, Kent still managed to shoot a good buck considering it was the wrong buck.
Kent with the wrong buck
Kent's 28" 3x4
The one that got away.........
Sorry for the pic quality
Jace Hall with the right buck
Interesting... I just ran across this story and when I saw the pictures I recognized Kent.
ReplyDeleteI worked with his son for upwards of 10 years. I went javelina hunting with Kent and his son, a few years before he shot this buck. On the first morning of our javelina hunt, we were on our way up the mountain. Kent stopped so we could check out a ravine and we immediately found javelina. Within a half hour of my first javelina hunt, we were on the stalk. All three of us put a tag on a javelina that morning.
Then in 2013, after i shot my first ever bulk elk, Kent's son saw my social media post and called me. He then called his dad to see if he would help me retrieve my bull. Kent showed up with some of his boys, and they showed me how to process an elk. I have processed many deer and other game over the years, but I had never processed anything this big.
My first bull was an 8x7 with devil horns on almost 24" fronts, long G3's, and j hooks on both sides. We got that bull off the mountain by about midnight. Kent gave me the number of his butcher/taxidermist and i headed that way.
I probably saw this buck hanging in Kent's trophy room the next day, because I stopped by his house tho return a rope we tied my bull to my trailer with, and he showed me all his mounts, but I don't recall this story.
In 2014 I shot a nice antelope and headed over to Kent's butcher/taxidermist again.
Then In 2015 I was thinking of buying a piece of property up north. Once again, Kent's son suggested I call his dad to look over my potential property. Kent is very familiar with construction, so I meet with him again. Kent walked the property with me and gave a thumbs up. He told me at that time I didn't have to hire a contractor to build a house. That advise has saved me tens of thousands of dollars!
In June of this year, 2018, I moved into my small house, and hopefully, will begin building our big house in 2019.
The wrong buck couldn't have fallen to a nicer, more giving person. I know first hand that Kent is a great hunter too.