Number 1 on the Hit List..

This buck has had our (Jay and myself) attention for the past two years. Last year he was #2 on our list, but went nocturnal once season came in and never showed himself again until last this past summer and boy, did he grow. This buck was referred to as "Little Brow" due to fact that in 2009, the other buck it traveled with had a very similar rack, but the main distinction between the two was the difference in the brow tines. "Big Brow" was taken in 2009 on the opening morning of Rifle Season by a distant relative, you can't win them all I guess, but this was disappointing to see our #1 taken out from under using see as he was taken in between Jay's and my tree stand. But after that I still managed to harvest a nice 7-point that same morning, and we had hope that "Little Brow" would make to next year.

Now to fast forward to this year, we had been getting pictures of a 130" class 10-point that had all the same characteristics and "Little Brow" did, he was alive and growing rapidly. The excitement for this year only grew as the season grew closer, no one else had said anything about him still being around, he was going to be ours. Well at the very least we just wanted to see him in person, then the thoughts of what would be look like if he grew one more year, well we won't get to find that out. No, we didn't get him, neither did anyone that we hunt with on a regular basis. He was harvested by a friend of the property owner adjacent to us by Jay's tree stand. Yes, we were saddened by the news that the buck we had been chasing the last two years was dead, but shortly after that I was happy. Weird, I know, that I was happy that someone else had taken him, no. I was happy because, he was taken in the bottom corner were our properties join together, he was at least a 3 1/2 year old deer, and had great growth and potential. I was happy because, we had him pinpointed to an area and were correct, we just couldn't control exactly when he was going to be there, and I was also happy for the future of that mountain with the side of that rack, I'm sure he has some offspring running around. Here's to the future and joy of hunting for years to come.

None other than "Little Brow" himself.