The state of Nebraska is well known for big corn-fed bucks, but I doubt Wesley O’Brien expected to harvest a white-tailed buck of record proportions when he left Lexington, Texas, on an invited no-cost deer hunt. Large-bodied bucks produce robust antlers and Nebraska is known for both of them. I’m sure the 24 year old hunter had dreams of big bucks bounding in his head, but could it happen? He wasn’t going to be in Texas anymore, and barely north of Kansas for that matter.

He was, however, on a farm in Richardson County, located in the far southeast corner of Nebraska. On Saturday, November 14, the very first evening of Nebraka’s gun season, the hunter’s aim was true as he squeezed off a round at a monstrous non-typical whitetail buck standing broadside and approximately 100 yards away. Wesley knew the shot was good as he watched the big buck go down. He also knew the buck was good, but determining how good was going to take some work.As Wesley O’Brien can attest, the deer did not suffer from ground shrinkage. In fact, the buck tenatively scored 281 Boone and Crockett inches and is threatening as largest white-tailed buck ever harvested in the state of Nebraska! The antlers will be officially scored after the mandatory 60 day “drying” period as required by Boone and Crockett Club.

Source: “So it remains to be seen if the O’Brien buck will top a famous set of antlers from a deer killed 47 years ago in Hall County by bowhunter Del Austin of Hastings. Commonly called ‘Old Mossy Horns,’ the Austin buck scored 279 7/8 , ranking it not only first in Nebraska, but a world record for a whitetail taken by archery.”

O’Brien admitted that their was some luck involved in taking this bruiser whitetail, which he now refers to as “Too Easy.” He came to Nebraska with a friend who knew a landowner, who in turn allowed them to hunt his farm. Other than a non-resident license, O’Brien paid no fees for deer hunting access. He then shot the buck shortly before sundown not long after stepping out of a truck to stalk a different buck.

Sometimes white-tailed deer hunting is just about being in the right place at the right time. Or from the buck’s perspective, at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Growing big bucks is all about age, genetics, and nutrition, but when it comes to producing mature bucks year after year nothing in white-tailed deer management is as important as harvesting bucks at the proper rate. So what is the proper harvest rate for bucks? The general rule of thumb is to harvest no more than 20% of the buck herd throughout all age classes in a given year. This includes young, middle-aged, and old cull bucks as well as mature trophy bucks.

The white-tailed buck pictured above was shot on the evening of November 7, 2009 by bowhunter Joyce Ooten. She was hunting on her 23 acre Grayson County property when she arrowed the 19 point buck standing at 20 yards. Of course, the mature buck did not spend its entire life on Joyce’s 23 acres, but did I mention that her property is next door to the Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge (NWR)? And Hagerman NWR provides solid white-tailed deer habitat.

Hagerman NWR consists of about 12,000 acres, which is comprised of roughly 3,000 acres of marsh and 8,000 acres of upland and farmland. Not only does this place provide ideal habitat for growing big deer, but deer harvest is limited to bowhunting only. In fact, all of Grayson County is bowhunting only—even during Texas’ General Season. Good habitat combined with proper harvest rates means Hagerman NWR will produce mature bucks on an annual basis.

Source: “A Texoma grandmother says she bagged her biggest deer in Grayson County this weekend, and it may be one of the biggest ever killed in the area by a woman. Joyce Ooten, 60, used her bow to shoot this 19-point-buck over the weekend. Ooten shot the big game on her property, the Refuge Road Archery Range.

Ooten says she and her husband, Donnie, have had a friendly rivalry for some time over who will kill the bigger deer. Now, she says she’s ahead. “He’d been telling me if you’re going to get that deer, you had better get down there and hunt it. I like to hunt in the afternoon, not much on mornings, and he said you better go down there and get it or I’m going to get him. I beat him to it,” Ooten says.

Ooten says she will mount the deer on her wall. We’re still waiting to hear back from Texas Parks and Wildlife to see if this kill breaks any records.”

White-tailed bucks are an interesting lot. Individual bucks run together in bachelor herds during the summer, but become mortal enemies during the fall and winter. Most hunters realize the proper harvest of animals is essential for white-tailed deer population management, but we also hate to see deer die of natural causes, especially when self-inflicted. However, the life of a white-tailed buck can be tough.

In addition to surviving the seasonal stress periods of summer and winter, and sneaking by hunting season after hunting season, bucks also fight for dominance among themselves for the right to breed receptive does in the area. When big white-tailed bucks fight it is a sight to see. I have seen bucks spar for several minutes, although battles of several hours are well documented. I suspect that most encounters are intense, but short in duration (just seconds) with the stronger buck making his point rather quickly. 

However, sometimes bucks will fight to the death. This happens when animals become gored by powerfully swinging points, when animals are pushed or knocked into natural obstructions, or when antlers lock and one or more bucks die from exhaustion and/or starvation. Such was the case last week when Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) responded to a landowner’s call about two bucks locked together in Franklin County, Texas. TPWD does it’s best to manage the Lone Star State’s white-tailed deer population through surveys, hunting regulations, and law enforcement, but they also get hands-on with wildlife when the situation calls.

TPWD: “On October 20 Camp County Game Warden Heath Taylor received a call from a landowner in Franklin County about two bucks that he found on his property that had gotten their antlers locked together and were under a fence on opposite sides from each other. One buck was a 9-point that had already died but the other was a huge 14-point that was still alive but to the point of exhaustion. Warden Taylor notified Franklin County Game Warden Doyle Brown and both wardens met the landowner.

When they arrived, Warden Taylor and the landowner were able to pry the bucks apart and untangle the huge buck from the fence. After laying there for a couple of minutes, the big buck stood up and walked into the brush escaping what would have been certain death. Both the wardens and the landowner stated that it was one of the biggest bucks they had seen in this area.”

When it comes to deer hunting, you just never know what you will see when you enter the woods. Over my hunting career I’ve seen some amazing things in nature. Some of these events I would have considered unbelievable had I not seen them with my own two eyes. But one of the benefits hunters get from sitting motionless, scentless, and undetected is that animals do what they normally do, except that we get to witness some of these normal–yet amazing—things that few people ever will.

Bowhunters often get to observe white-tailed deer up close and personal. Or at least that is the goal. However, I’ve been busted by a deer’s eyes and nose so many times that you would think it’s entirely impossible to sneak up on one. Of course, that’s what makes bowhunting so darn challenging. Yet, numerous times I’ve literally walked up to within 10 yards of deer and went undetected. As you know, it depends on the situation—and a little bit of luck. Hunting, like anything else, is all about timing. No hunter understands that more than Ben Bartlett. That’s because his right place at the right time allowed him to arrow one of two big fighting white-tailed bucks.

LDN: Ben Bartlett was at his deer hunting lease located in Angelina County before sunrise on the day of October 23. Interestingly, killing a deer was the farthest thing from Bartlett’s mind as he boarded a canoe and paddled his way down the old Neches River channel. His main objectives were to scout for acorns in a stretch of woods in the remote back country and ultimately find a good spot to take his 12-year old daughter, Alli, hunting the following morning.

Ben was making his way down an old logging road shortly before sundown when the distinctive sound of clashing antlers and crackling brush overpowered the hum of a light breeze whisping through the treetops. Past experience told him what he was hearing was a pair of heavyweights going at it. Certain the battling bucks were close, probably within 200 yards, the hunter raced down the road to shave some distance before ditching his day pack and peeling into the dark woods.

“It was pretty obvious this was not a couple of pencil horn bucks sparring. The sound of two mature bucks locking up has a real distinctive sound to it. I had no doubts this was the real deal.”

He said he pushed his way through a dense thicket that eventually opened up into an oak flat that was cluttered with clumps of palmetto and underbrush. He spotted the two whitetail bucks at about 40 yards, but dim lighting made it impossible to tell much about either deer, other than both were shooters.

“Both of the bucks had their heads down and it was just a tangle of horns. I could see their muscles bulging as they pushed and braced for leverage against one another. It was a pretty awesome sight.”

The hunter played on the fit of rage to trim the gap even farther. He inched closer each time the battle moved behind a palmetto clump, eventually moving to within 18 yards before he dropped to one knee on the soggy ground and brought his compound bow to a full draw.

“I was a little nervous about taking the shot, because their movements were so erratic. They stopped for a split second when one of the deer coiled to push back and it gave a me a clear shot, so I took it.”

The arrow found its mark, just behind the shoulder, and passed completely through. However, neither deer reacted or appeared alarmed. The hunter said the heated battle continued for about eight more seconds before the wounded buck collapsed and died. The larger buck then used its antlers to hook and gore the lifeless body of its adversary multiple times before finally fleeing the scene a minute or so later. Bartlett said he passed on multiple opportunities to shoot the second buck, which easily had 10 inches on the 140-class whitetail that lay motionless on the ground.

Bizarre as it might seem, Bartlett’s recent bowhunting encounter is not his first with stalking fighting whitetails in two decades of hunting with a stick and string. However, it is the first time he has been successful at killing one. In looking back, he thinks his success may have hinged on the fact that he threw caution to the wind and moved in quickly on the brawling bucks, before they had time to finish their business.

“I’ve tried sneaking in on fighting buck before and each time the fight was over by time I got there. In retrospect, I think I have always been too cautious and moved too slow to avoid making a bunch of noise. If it ever happens again, you can bet I’ll be trying to get there as fast I can.”

Witnessing a brawl between two mature white-tailed bucks at any distance is a prize encounter few deer hunters are fortunate enough to experience in a lifetime of hunting, but getting a ringside seat and drawing blood with a bow and arrow is virtually unheard of. Just goes to show you that anything can happen in the deer hunting woods.

Each fall, deer hunters think of cool, brisk mornings and dream of big whitetail bucks running through the woods. Although every hunter wants to bag a monster buck, I don’t have to tell you that they are not exactly behind every tree. Especially when it comes to huge non-typical East Texas bucks. But like I always say, hunting is hunting and you just never know what will step out. Well, what stepped out for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Kaufman County Game Warden Eric Minter was a big 27 point non-typical white-tailed buck. Not bad. Particulary since this is his first buck with a bow!   

That’s because this past Monday (10/19/09) the Kaufman County warden found himself as the lucky hunter staring down the buck of a lifetime from his treestand hung 20 feet high in a creek bottom filled with acorn dropping white oaks. When all was said and done, it was Minter putting his own tag on a whopper 27 point non-typical buck. While there is no firm green score number on the multi-tined monster whitetail yet, photos from the buck would lead one to believe that this deer will score well above the 200-inch mark as non-typical. Well over.

Source: “I’ve been kind of leery of telling everybody just yet because I don’t know what he scores and I don’t want to guess and it be a lot lower or higher than I expected,” Minter said. “But this is unbelievable.” Some observers who have looked at the whitetail think it’s possible that the Minter buck could potentially challenge the existing Pope & Young Club state record non-typical in Texas, a 225 7/8 inch buck taken by bowhunter Jeffery L. Duncan on the Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge back in 2001.

“(The) does started freaking out and running and this dude let out a grunt like I had never heard before,” Minter said. “He grunted like that twice. When I heard him, I thought ‘Golly, he’s got to be the biggest thing out there.’ He came back into the opening and came right up (towards my stand) at about 30 yards,” Minter said.

“The sun still hadn’t really cleared the tops of the trees yet so it was still kind of dark under the tree canopy. All I could make out was that he had two drop tines and that he was wide. I had some trees marked at 20, 30, and 40 yards and he was the exact distance as my 30 yard tree so I put my 30 yard pin on him, tried not to look at the antlers anymore, and let it go.”