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Steve Eggert and his hunting buddy Brian Olinger booked with
Brazos
Archery Outfitters several months ago and kept in touch
regularly with e-mails. Asking all kinds of questions about hunting
and proper equipment and such. It wasn't hard to see that these guys
were "pumped" about coming to Texas to hunt. This would be their
first road trip together and they drove straight through from Wabeno,
WI to our ranch at Newcastle, TX. After 22 hours of driving they
arrived late Friday afternoon and couldn't wait to see the ranch and
get ready for the morning hunt. Even after driving 22 hours
straight, sleep was the last thing on their mind. We about had to
hog tie them to keep them in camp long enough to eat the traditional
"Night before opening day - Big Feed" we always put on for our
hunters. As soon as dinner was finished, these guys grabbed their
bows and headed to one of the lighted feeders on the ranch to try
and stick a pig. They settled on a ground blind and after a few
minutes, began to hear hogs all around. Apparently the boys had
worked up quite a sweat walking to the blind and the pigs got a
whiff of it and headed for the hills.
Opening morning I directed Brian to a stand on the far south side of
our lease where we consistently see a lot of game. Today was no
exception. He had a very nice 10 point come in but never offered him
a shot. A young 8 point camped under his stand for several minutes
but was not what Brian was looking for, so he passed and held out
for bigger and better things. I had placed Steve in another stand in
the same pasture, about 1/2 mile north of Brian. This is the same
stand where my son killed his 125 P&Y 11 point 3 years ago. During
the morning hunt Steve saw a small spike, a young fork horn and a
big old doe. He elected to pass on the doe but decided later in the
day that he'd like to go back to the same stand for the evening hunt
and try to harvest the doe. He fixed up a "special" arrow for the
doe, tipping it with a Wasp 2 blade mechanical head.
As
the shadows began to grow long, the deer started to move in to the
feeder. First, the same little spike, then, the big doe. Steve
watched her for a few minutes to be sure she didn't have fawn with
her and even got a little video footage of her and the spike. Just
as he was about to put down the camera and pick up his bow, a big 10
point with a dark heavy rack appeared in the viewfinder. Steve just
about dropped the camera when he saw the big buck. He had the
composure to grab a little footage of this great deer, then set the
camera aside and picked up his bow, already loaded with the special
doe arrow. The buck put his head down to feed on the corn and Steve
put his 20 yd pin behind the deer’s shoulder and touched the
release. He saw that he had made a good shot and watched as the buck
bolted out of sight into the mesquite brush just beyond the feeder.
After waiting an eternity of 30 minutes he climbed down and began
the search for his trophy. The shot did not produce an exit wound,
so the blood trail was pretty sparse for the first several yards.
Following the buck’s path mostly by hoof prints, Steve found his
arrow lying in the middle of the road a few yards from the stand
minus the broadhead. The blood trail seemed to end just beyond the
road and Steve had the presence of mind to back out and come to the
camp for help in finding his buck.
He
and his partner Brian were waiting at the camphouse when my partner
Johnny
 Johnson
and I returned from our hunt. Steve told us the story and we loaded
up, armed with a variety of lights and peroxide bottles and headed
to the pasture where he had shot the deer. Steve showed us the last
spot where he had found blood and Johnny and I took over from there.
One thing we've found from being in the outfitter/guide business, is
that you get plenty of practice in tracking. We got down on our
knees and began to find the smallest of blood sign in amongst the
cactus and tall grass. Steve and Brian stayed well back out of the
way and marked the line with toilet paper as we tediously followed
the deer's path of hoof prints and blood droplets. The deer kept
pretty much on a straight line so we periodically shined our lights
ahead to try and pick up a glimpse of him. Finally, after about an
hour of crawling in, under, and through all kinds of thorny
vegetation, I lifted my light and saw the buck lying just a few
yards ahead.
 To
say that Steve was excited would be a huge understatement. He and
Brian exchanged "high five's" and a little back slapping and both
were giggling like a couple of little girls!
Johnny and I did the hard work of holding the lights while they
loaded the big buck on the cargo carrier and we all headed back to
camp. What they didn't realize is that Johnny and I were about as
happy about this as they were. There isn't much better advertising
for an outfitter than to have one of his hunters have such success.
The buck weighed 185# on the hoof and green scored 132 2/8 P&Y.
Great deer Steve! Now, go back to Wisconsin and tell 'em what Texas
is all about!
Visit the
Brazos Archery Outfitters web site, click on the logo below.
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