Mike's Fine Central Texas Buck

Mike Armstrong took this fine 9 pointer at the Jones Ranch in Coleman County which is about 35 miles southeast of Abilene, Texas. Mike has bowhunted since 1991 and has hunted this managed ranch for 6 years; however 1999 was the second year for the 2000 acres to be under high fence and all the hunters were going to be very selective from this point on.

On October 2, 1999, just as the bow season opened, Mike had this buck and 11 others come within bow range however he chose to video the deer since he didn't want to take a buck and be sorry for it later. Back in camp the video was critically looked at by all the other hunters and the group decision was that this buck was going to score in the high 130s and that Mike had definitely goofed in passing this one up..!

Once the "mistake" was duly registered in Mike's mind, he began a long term effort to get "his" buck within range again. Easier said than done, though several other hunters saw the buck with out getting a shot, Mike was out of luck in finding him. Then on December 10, Mike's luck changed for the better and there was his buck 23 yards in front of him. This time there was no going for the video camera, it was up to the Matthews MQ-1 and the 90 grain Muzzy to do the job, and all went well since the buck folded up after a 40 yard dash.

There he was, Mike's best buck ever and no ground shrinkage here, he gross scores 138, just what the video watchers predicted. Though not officially measured yet, he will net very near the P&Y minimum