Archer brings down potential record buck despite extreme drought conditions
It was the last thing I expected to hear in the midst of this wretched drought.
An East Texas archer bringing down a record buck on open range in a county with bone skinny history of producing world class deer?
Hard to believe.
As a rule, whitetails don't do very well in drought years. Rain produces the moisture that feeds the nutrient-rich plants and other forage deer rely on to nourish their bodies and grow their antlers. Take away water, and it eliminates a huge slice of the biological pie that promotes big racks.
Or does it?
You just never know. That's the thing I love about deer and deer hunting. Right when you least expect it, the unexpected happens.
Like on Oct. 1, the day Sulphur Springs archer Kyle Koon shot what is sure to be one of the top scoring bucks reported in East Texas this year. The buck carried an impressive crown sporting 17 points, including G2s longer than 13 inches, lengthy main beams, a 4 6/8 -inch drop tine and 6 1/2 -inch bases.
Koon, 28, says he is no expert when it comes scoring racks using the Boone & Crockett system, but he knows the basics. He rough scored the antlers at 193 points non-typical. He says the 10-point typical frame grosses around 178. The gross score is the tally before deducts for lack of symmetry between both sides.
The deer is huge by any standard, but it is exceptionally large for Hopkins County. Located in northeast Texas, the county is split right down the middle by the I-30 corridor. Deer hunters there have taken a handful of good bucks over the years but none that match up with this whopper.
"Some of folks around here that I have shown him to say it has got to be a Hopkins County record," Koons said. "They have never seen anything like it."
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department wildlife biologist Trevor Tanner of Greenville agreed. Tanner has seen his share of big bucks, but Koon's is by far the best he has heard of coming from Hopkins County.
"I have seen a couple that were pushing the 150s, but nothing like this," Tanner said. "What is really amazing is he grew this rack under such poor range conditions. You have to give that deer a lot of credit to be able to put on the amount of mass it has during a drought like this."
Even more impressive: the buck was taken off open range with no high fences involved. According to Koon, the deer was home grown on a 500-acre spread he hunts with his old brother, Cody.
He knew the buck was a local resident. He has an album of game camera photos of the animal going back to November 2008. The buck was a slick six-pointer at 1 1/2 years old and grew to become a 135-class 11-pointer last year. He says the buck wears a natural tattoo that makes him easily recognizable.
"There is no doubt this is the same deer we have been watching the last four years," he said. "He was very distinctive from the other deer, because he had a double white patch on his throat. When you were looking at him, you knew it."
Koon said he got the first pictures of the deer in 2011 beginning in late August. The buck was still in velvet, but it was plain to see its rack had grown into something very special.
"He exploded," Koon said. "We could tell he was going to be real hard to pass on again this year. We talked about how good he might be next season if we laid off for another year, but we weren't willing to take that chance."
Koon said his brother has been hunting deer during the muzzleloader season in Kansas this fall. That gave him the run of the property on the Oct. 1 archery season opener. He was joined on the hunt by Danny Lawrence, a good friend who offered to set up alongside Koon and video the opening morning hunt.
"I was pretty concerned about that, mainly because of the scent factor," Koon said. "You double the chances of getting busted with two guys going in there, but we decided to try it anyway."
The men went to serious lengths to prepare for the hunt. Koon said he and Lawrence hung their hunting cloths outside in open air for a solid week before the season opened. They didn't wear the duds to the hunting site, either. They wore their pajamas.
Once they parked their truck, the men got out and stripped down to their skivvies. They misted their bodies head-to-toe with spray-on scent killer intended to neutralize human odor, then donned their camo.
"It was in about 50 degrees that morning, so you can imagine how cold that mist felt," Koon says. "We were fanatical about our scent."
That's a good thing.
The buck showed up 45 minutes after daylight. Koon said the deer was browsing along an old logging trail in the company of another buck, a 130-class 10-pointer. The big buck was in the lead.
"The wind was in their face. It was the perfect setup," Koon said. "He moved within about 25 yards, but he was facing our tree and there was nothing I could do."
Koon said the buck closed the distance to about 15 yards and got a little antsy.
"He looked straight up in the tree. He acted sort of like he had Danny picked out," Koon said. "He didn't spook, but you could tell he saw something he didn't like and was getting uncomfortable. At that point, he turned and started walking away from us. That's when I drew. I took the shot as he quartered away."
Koon's shot was on the money. The arrow passed through at an angle and exited behind the shoulder on the opposite side. He recovered the deer about 100 yards away.
Remarkably, the hunter's companion managed to capture the entire ordeal on high-definition video. Each time he views the footage, Koon will recollect an incredible whitetail that defied the odds and grew a kingsize set of antlers under some of the toughest range conditions imaginable.
Matt Williams' email address is mattwilliams@netdot.com.
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