Random Bucks Usually Aren't This Big

A couple live photos are posted below in Ty's story. Here are the field photos.




Remember when Mark Norris was hunting with Dave and I showed Dave several bucks right before dark that I thought him and Mark would be interested in? One of them was the same buck that I saw while talking on the phone with Ty, but that night, because of time constraints, we opted to go after the buck Mark eventually got. Ty opted to hunt a different buck as well based on the photos and information I gave him the evening before the hunt.

Weird side story - we were hired by another hunter who was willing to wait until after Dave or I was done guiding to be guided by us. I was in contact with him each day for several days before opening day and relayed to him the evening before opening day that I thought Ty would be done around 9 O'clock and that I'd be giving him a call and hopefully meeting up with him around noon.

After I dropped Ty off I couldn't reach him on his cell phone so I wandered around until I found him. He and his sons had already killed an antelope. They found one they thought was good and went and got him. The buck was about 78-79 inches. I congratulated them and decided that I would try to find Dave and Mark as quickly as I could now that I had several bucks and no one to hunt them. What happened with Mark's hunt is below.

The night Mark killed his buck I slept in the back of my truck at Dave and Mark's camp with Rocky and his son Travis. I headed home early the next morning under the assumption that Pronghorn Guide Service was done in Unit 10 for 2008. And we had had a great year taking two 90 inch bucks.

Now, I don't remember all this exactly so I'll just post what I can remember and if it's incorrect, oh well.

Mark's buddy, a taxidermist named Patrick Newman, showed up at Dave and Mark's camp either that second day or maybe the third day of the hunt and he was bummed. He said he couldn't find any good bucks and only saw very few antelope. Dave, being the incredibly nice guy that he is, decides that since Patrick isn't having any fun and can't find a good buck, takes him to hunt this buck that both Ty and Mark passed on for various reasons.

When they get there they park the truck and wouldn't you know it, another guide pulls up right behind them. Since Dave and Mark and his buddy were already out of there trucks walking they just continued to do so, but another minute longer and this other guide would have been the one to hunt this buck.

We have no official score and my Dad and I never actually got to see the buck as the hunter took it home. Dave said it would have been over 90 inches and you can see that from the comparison photos with the buck sitting next to a 90 incher. This buck clearly has more mass, but a much shorter prong.