Big 8 - 5 years in the making

cutman

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I never officially posted a conclusion to the story of this buck. I watched him for 3 years - he made an appearance (as the nemesis) in this thread multiple times -

http://deerhunterforum.com/index.php?threads/Caribou-buck.39/

And he had this thread dedicated to him:

http://deerhunterforum.com/index.php?threads/big-8-on-scrape.808/

I saw him in person three times - opening day of 2015, chasing a doe in 2016, and the day I shot him - October 25, 2017. The conditions that day were perfect for the stand I thought I would get him in. The temperature had dropped, the tide was low, the moon was insignificant, wind was out of the NW, and it was peak rut. He was the first deer I saw that morning, and I knew as soon as I saw his rack standing high above the marsh grass that he was the biggest deer I had ever seen in SC. He was too far away for me to shoot and I was shaking too badly anyway. I watched him cross the marsh and started grunting at him, and eventually he turned and tried to get downwind of me. If I had waited I think I could have shot him at 40 yards, but I shot at 100 or so. My first shot was low (still get buck fever I guess!), but I got a second chance at him and made it count.

Here’s the Live from the Stand thread: http://deerhunterforum.com/index.php?threads/live-from-the-stand-2017.2986/page-10#post-58224

I became somewhat of a reluctant local celebrity after the kill. Everyone in the area saw pictures of him within days. He rough scored high 160s gross as a typical and unofficially netted 148.5. The double brows hurt his typical score, but who cares. He’s truly magnificent. Each G2 is over 14”.

So now he’s finally home. My taxidermist has become a good friend over the years, and she does great work. She made a special pedestal to incorporate the salt marsh where he was shot. I think it turned out pretty well.

Image1563835542.646171.jpg

Image1563835565.329089.jpg

Image1563835579.252405.jpg

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View from the stand where I shot him.

Image1563835624.646778.jpg

He hasn’t been officially scored, but I’m curious just for my own sake. This buck was a once in a lifetime animal for this area. I’ve managed this property for 15+ years, so all of y’all who I’ve learned from in that time deserve credit as well.




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Cutman, IMO nets are for fish. A 160 inch gross score buck is something most of us will never see, much less bring to ground. First, you gotta be where they are and most of us ain’t. Then, everything has to mesh just right to have the opportunity. We like to think it’s skill, but a great deal of it is just luck, but I’d rather be lucky than good as the saying goes. Congrats on a fine buck and a fine mount. Lots of memories for when you’re old and gray !
 
That’s an awesome deer cutman and some great taxidermy work. Enjoyed reading about your encounters with him.


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Great buck. I will never understand how double brows are a deduction. Should be double points. Anyway, congrats.
 
Wow. Once in a lifetime buck. That would be my dream buck. Awesome color rack, character and long tine!!

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Congrats! It's an interesting read to go through the different threads and read this story, especially with the pics of the different years and stages of growth for this buck, from a petite youngster to a big bruiser. Maybe consider putting all of the different posts into 1 thread, a timeline story of caribou? And thanks for the series of lessons on how to grow a big deer, the #1 takeaway here is; if someone wants to shoot a big deer, let them grow, don't shoot them when they are an average 8 point.
Also an interesting tidbit on big bucks you have here on the other thread that I've noticed before, once they are big they often don't show up on camera as early as the smaller bucks, raising a lot of anxiety for the expectant deer managers.
 
Great story! Great buck! And great taxidermy work! Thanks for taking the time to post. Congratulations!!!
 
Great buck and mount. I have always thot that was a beautiful stand from where you took him. Pretty cool stuff. Congrats.
 
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