Gus McKinney tagged the buck in a spot he hadn’t hunted for 2 years
Gus McKinney with the buck he tagged on Nov. 26. Courtesy Gus McKinney
Gus McKinney has hunted a small piece of personal land close to St. Louis for almost 20 years. A brand new job pressured the 48-year-old locomotive engineer to seek out new floor to hunt on in recent times, however on the morning of Nov. 26, McKinney returned to his outdated spot in St. Louis County. It was the primary time he’d hunted there in two years.
“Through the years, buddies and I’ve killed lots of nice bucks in that space, so I went to an outdated ladder tree stand on the property that morning,” McKinney tells Out of doors Life. “I’ve had that stand there for over 12 years, and it’s produced lots of nice bucks.”
It was the center of the rut, and McKinney’s stand missed a low-lying journey hall that whitetails had used prior to now. The realm was crisscrossed with recreation trails and bordered by a river on one facet.
“At 8 a.m. I noticed a fantastic buck popping out of the river backside throughout a reduce bean area monitoring a doe,” McKinney says. “He was about 150 yards away, and he might have gone wherever. However he was chasing that doe, and he or she headed my means.”
A number of instances the doe got here inside 70 yards of McKinney, and he was tempted to strive a protracted shot on the trailing buck. However he wasn’t comfy taking pictures his crossbow that far. So, he watched and waited for the deer to work nearer.
“After about half-hour the buck chased the doe again into the woods beside the sector, towards the place I used to be,” McKinney says. “There was a path resulting in the place she was standing, and I’d ranged that spot at 40 yards. When the buck received there, I softly mouth grunted to cease him, and I let my arrow fly.”
McKinney watched the bolt fly true, hitting the buck simply behind the shoulder. The deer kicked and ran for 20 yards earlier than stopping. Then it turned and walked again towards the doe, which was nonetheless within the open.
“He acted like he wasn’t even shot,” McKinney says. “I noticed him bleeding. Then he received wobbly, and simply fell over useless, with the doe watching the entire time.”
Recovering the buck was a chore. McKinney drove his truck as much as the deer, but it surely was too heavy for him to load alone. He additionally didn’t wish to area costume the deer close to his tree stand as a result of he was fearful it’d draw coyotes in. So, McKinney tied the buck’s head to his tailgate and dragged the deer for about 150 yards to a spot the place a slight rise within the terrain helped him muscle it into his truck mattress.
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Again at residence, McKinney dressed and caped the deer, which weighed 184 kilos. His taxidermist gave the buck a inexperienced rating of 199 7 /8 inches, however he says he’ll have it formally scored by a Boone and Crockett scorer after the drying interval is up. The B&C All-Time record-book minimum for non-typical whitetails is 195 inches, so there’s an excellent probability his buck will make the e book.
“I’ve by no means been a lot involved about measuring and scoring my bucks for data,” McKinney says. “However this deer is way and away one of the best one I’ve ever taken.”