WEBVTT - Ep. 257: This Country Life - Buck’s Mama and Brent’s Bucks 0:00:05.280 --> 0:00:08.680 Welcome to this country Life. I'm your host, Brent Reeves 0:00:09.160 --> 0:00:12.760 from coon hunting to trot lining and just general country living. 0:00:12.960 --> 0:00:14.720 I want you to stay a while as I share 0:00:14.800 --> 0:00:19.280 my experiences and life lessons. This country Life is presented 0:00:19.280 --> 0:00:23.279 by Case Knives on Meat Eaters Podcast Network, bringing you 0:00:23.320 --> 0:00:28.280 the best outdoor podcast the airwaves have to offer. All right, friends, 0:00:28.640 --> 0:00:31.880 grab a chair or drop that tailgate. I've got some 0:00:31.880 --> 0:00:43.280 stories to share. Bucks Mama and Brent's Bucks. Dear. Season 0:00:43.440 --> 0:00:46.080 is upon us, and I can't wait for the mosquitoes 0:00:46.120 --> 0:00:48.040 to thin out a bit so I can climb a 0:00:48.080 --> 0:00:51.559 tree down in the river bottoms. Unlike hunting with dogs, 0:00:51.880 --> 0:00:54.000 which was passed down to me from my dad and 0:00:54.080 --> 0:00:57.440 my brothers and I were on our own when it 0:00:57.520 --> 0:01:00.880 came to deer, I'm going to tell you why, along 0:01:00.960 --> 0:01:04.240 with some other stuff. But first I'm going to tell 0:01:04.240 --> 0:01:12.640 you a story. The story this week is a listener 0:01:12.720 --> 0:01:15.679 story from a family that lived twenty two minutes for 0:01:15.720 --> 0:01:18.720 where my wife Alexis grew up in the big city 0:01:18.760 --> 0:01:23.000 of Tyler. Lyndale, Texas is a small town well just 0:01:23.080 --> 0:01:26.960 over six thousand people according to the twenty twenty census, 0:01:27.319 --> 0:01:29.280 and if you look it up on the Internet. You'll 0:01:29.319 --> 0:01:35.000 see a list of quote unquote notable people from Lyndale, 0:01:35.280 --> 0:01:40.280 pro athletes, successful singers, composer, even the director for the 0:01:40.400 --> 0:01:45.200 Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders. But a name you won't see on 0:01:45.240 --> 0:01:49.560 that list is Julie Thompson, a lady whose career for 0:01:49.600 --> 0:01:53.040 the last thirty years has been in education. She's the 0:01:53.080 --> 0:01:57.000 wife of Dee Wayne and mother to a son named Buck. 0:01:57.760 --> 0:02:00.840 And it's Bucks story that I'm sharing with you today. 0:02:01.840 --> 0:02:05.600 So when Buck Thompson's words and my voice, here we go. 0:02:12.360 --> 0:02:15.239 My name is Buck Thompson. I live in northeast Texas 0:02:15.280 --> 0:02:19.120 in the small but growing town of Lyndale. I grew 0:02:19.160 --> 0:02:22.320 up deer hunting and fishing, and my mom was always 0:02:22.360 --> 0:02:25.120 a big part of that. Now I don't remember a 0:02:25.200 --> 0:02:28.440 time when she was Most of the time she killed 0:02:28.480 --> 0:02:31.440 bigger and more dear than all the guys on the lease. 0:02:32.840 --> 0:02:35.760 I didn't grow up in a culture of men only camps. 0:02:35.919 --> 0:02:40.000 My mom was always there, a part and accepted into 0:02:40.040 --> 0:02:44.720 the man dominated world. Some of my greatest memories are 0:02:44.800 --> 0:02:48.800 hunting with my mama. She really taught me how to hunt, 0:02:49.160 --> 0:02:51.000 and when I would go hunt with Daddy, we always 0:02:51.040 --> 0:02:53.400 had a good time. There was always going to be 0:02:53.440 --> 0:02:57.239 plenty of snacks and some sort of adventure. But my Mama, 0:02:58.240 --> 0:03:01.880 she took it seriously. Bringing home the meat was the 0:03:02.000 --> 0:03:05.840 name of the game. It was nothing for her to 0:03:05.880 --> 0:03:09.200 sit all day with a scope Marlin thirty thirty waiting 0:03:09.240 --> 0:03:11.960 for a deer to cross a small, narrow shooting lane 0:03:12.240 --> 0:03:16.680 where she hunted. Now once she sat motionless for hours 0:03:17.040 --> 0:03:21.040 waiting for the opportunity, and right a dark deer started 0:03:21.120 --> 0:03:23.560 crossing the lane, one after the other. She timed them 0:03:23.560 --> 0:03:28.760 crossing perfectly, and when the next shadows started across boom 0:03:28.960 --> 0:03:32.000 that Marlon notched another white tail and it was a buck. 0:03:32.880 --> 0:03:36.960 But the most special thing Mama did was take me hunting. 0:03:37.720 --> 0:03:40.000 My dad had to work one weekend and we loaded 0:03:40.080 --> 0:03:43.880 up and headed to Marion County, Texas for my first deer. 0:03:44.840 --> 0:03:48.240 The year was nineteen ninety nine and I was nine 0:03:48.320 --> 0:03:52.160 years old. I was in love with hunting. I remember 0:03:52.520 --> 0:03:55.640 staring at the kitchen window waiting for the mailman to 0:03:55.800 --> 0:03:59.320 deliver the newest deer hunting VHS tapes, and I washed 0:03:59.320 --> 0:04:02.839 them until they were broke. I had it all figured out, 0:04:02.840 --> 0:04:05.400 at least I thought I did. I had a few 0:04:05.480 --> 0:04:09.040 opportunities to kill my first dear, but none ever panned out, 0:04:09.360 --> 0:04:12.040 and I was getting antsy and have my picture taken 0:04:12.080 --> 0:04:16.760 with that old gray ghost of the East Texas woods. Finally, 0:04:17.160 --> 0:04:19.919 Mama and I got to the lease and we were hunting. 0:04:20.200 --> 0:04:23.200 We sat in my favorite hunting place we called the 0:04:23.240 --> 0:04:26.520 Hickory nut Stand. It was a homemade tripod stand with 0:04:26.640 --> 0:04:30.479 camo hanging from the shooting rail and built for two hunters. 0:04:30.960 --> 0:04:33.640 It only stood about eight feet off the ground because 0:04:33.680 --> 0:04:36.280 the pines that were surrounding it were only about eight 0:04:36.400 --> 0:04:40.320 or ten years old, and deer would literally walk right 0:04:40.520 --> 0:04:44.200 by you and never know you were there. Now, we 0:04:44.240 --> 0:04:47.279 got there before daylight, and this don grew in. Today, 0:04:47.360 --> 0:04:50.800 the deer movement was zero, and I got frustrated, impatient. 0:04:51.240 --> 0:04:54.279 I dreamed all summer about getting my first deer and 0:04:54.440 --> 0:04:57.880 was certain I should have already filled my tag and 0:04:57.960 --> 0:05:02.120 be telling tales of the hunt around the campfire. But 0:05:02.200 --> 0:05:05.560 there we sat, me and my mom for what seemed 0:05:05.600 --> 0:05:09.599 like years, until she finally gave in to my complaints 0:05:10.080 --> 0:05:13.960 and we left to go get something to eat. After lunch. 0:05:14.040 --> 0:05:15.839 I was ready to go home, convinced there were no 0:05:15.960 --> 0:05:19.120 dear for me that day, but my mama was confident 0:05:19.200 --> 0:05:24.200 we'd have better luck that evening. Another member, mister Dennis, 0:05:23.800 --> 0:05:26.880 he showed up to hunt that afternoon and decided he'd 0:05:26.960 --> 0:05:30.080 hunt with any earshot of us should we have any luck. 0:05:30.120 --> 0:05:33.960 And not long after Mama and I were back in 0:05:34.000 --> 0:05:37.640 the hickory nuts. Stand. Now, you remember how intense I 0:05:37.680 --> 0:05:40.320 told you my mom hunts well when you sat with her, 0:05:40.760 --> 0:05:44.680 That's how you're expected to hunt too. An hour, an 0:05:44.839 --> 0:05:49.720 agonizing hour of motionless staring into the woods was about 0:05:49.760 --> 0:05:53.039 all I was good for. And after an afternoon of 0:05:53.200 --> 0:05:56.960 sight eye looks and threats, she said, look, we've only 0:05:57.000 --> 0:06:01.200 got twenty more minutes set still. One will come out 0:06:01.480 --> 0:06:05.400 right at dark. My eyes rolled and a quiet sigh 0:06:05.560 --> 0:06:08.040 left my lips as I lowered my chin back on 0:06:08.080 --> 0:06:11.720 the woodstock of that single shot rifle that was secured 0:06:11.800 --> 0:06:15.400 on the shooting wreck. Light was leaving the pines, and 0:06:15.480 --> 0:06:18.320 shadows moved across the gray landscape, and just at the 0:06:18.440 --> 0:06:22.240 last bit of light, the image of a dope emerged 0:06:22.279 --> 0:06:26.080 from the pines, coming from right to left. Mama's hand 0:06:26.440 --> 0:06:30.400 patted my leg and whispered, there she is when you 0:06:30.480 --> 0:06:35.320 get it on your shoulder, squeezed the boom. Because of 0:06:35.360 --> 0:06:38.520 my mother's teaching, I already had my gun ready, and 0:06:38.600 --> 0:06:41.720 because of her lectures on shot placement, I knew where 0:06:41.720 --> 0:06:44.680 to settle the cross hair. The image of that that 0:06:44.800 --> 0:06:47.919 dough mule kicking straight up and down steals ingrained in 0:06:47.960 --> 0:06:50.000 my memory, and she tore off and made a big 0:06:50.040 --> 0:06:52.919 loop in the short pines. We found her with the 0:06:52.960 --> 0:06:57.120 help of mister Dennis, and me and my dad have 0:06:57.160 --> 0:06:59.320 had a lot of great memories in the woods, and 0:06:59.720 --> 0:07:02.680 I've hunted mule, deer and elk in the rocky mountains, 0:07:02.839 --> 0:07:06.599 experienced thousands of ducks. In migration, I ran up and 0:07:06.640 --> 0:07:11.680 down the river running through lines for big flathead catfish. 0:07:12.000 --> 0:07:15.960 But until my own children and I get to experience 0:07:16.040 --> 0:07:19.400 what me and my mama did that in November morning, 0:07:20.400 --> 0:07:30.000 it will forever be my favorite hunting memory. Don't ever 0:07:30.200 --> 0:07:33.240 take for granted the love of your mama, what she's 0:07:33.280 --> 0:07:37.160 willing to do to help you make your dreams come true, 0:07:37.200 --> 0:07:40.640 even if it's taking her only son by herself hunting 0:07:40.720 --> 0:07:44.200 all day, not expecting to have any help. But because 0:07:44.280 --> 0:07:47.200 she knew how much he loved to hunt and how 0:07:47.240 --> 0:07:51.239 bad he wanted to go get his first deer taking 0:07:51.280 --> 0:07:53.520 my wife and getting her into hunting as well as 0:07:53.520 --> 0:07:55.880 my little girl has been one of the most rewarding 0:07:56.000 --> 0:07:59.640 things I've done. I believe a lot of us out 0:07:59.640 --> 0:08:03.360 there and out on amazing opportunities, either because of a 0:08:03.480 --> 0:08:07.120 male only stigmatism or we are too wrapped up in 0:08:07.160 --> 0:08:10.680 our own wants and wishes. We missed the forest for 0:08:10.800 --> 0:08:13.880 the trees. How much joy we would have sharing our 0:08:13.960 --> 0:08:17.000 love of the outdoors with those who may never consider 0:08:17.040 --> 0:08:23.600 themselves an outdoorsman or an outdoors woman. Thank you, mama 0:08:23.760 --> 0:08:26.800 so much for loving the outdoors and not giving up 0:08:26.840 --> 0:08:29.840 on your desire to hunt and fish just because you 0:08:30.200 --> 0:08:34.320 weren't always invited because you're a girl. And thanks to 0:08:34.360 --> 0:08:38.160 my great great uncle George for taking my mama squirrel 0:08:38.240 --> 0:08:40.960 hunting when it wasn't the cool thing for a little 0:08:41.000 --> 0:08:44.560 blond headed tag along to be following you through the woods. 0:08:46.000 --> 0:08:50.360 One person's decision can shape a whole generation's outcome, and 0:08:50.440 --> 0:08:55.240 according to Buck Thompson of Lynndale, Texas, that's just how 0:08:55.280 --> 0:08:59.920 that happened. Thanks for sharing that, Buck, It's a wonderful sentiment, 0:09:00.040 --> 0:09:02.560 a wonderful tribute to you, mama. The love of a 0:09:02.640 --> 0:09:24.320 good mama just can't be big. Deer hunting is a 0:09:24.360 --> 0:09:27.920 big tradition in my family. Any and all game that 0:09:28.080 --> 0:09:30.960 was available was on the menu and supplemented the family 0:09:31.040 --> 0:09:34.880 on both sides of my lineage. My maternal grandfather, find 0:09:34.880 --> 0:09:37.640 a sly who grew up during the Great Depression, told 0:09:37.679 --> 0:09:40.720 me about catching possums and keeping them in a cage 0:09:40.760 --> 0:09:43.120 and feeding them out for weeks at a time with 0:09:43.200 --> 0:09:46.480 table scraps to clean out their systems before they knocked 0:09:46.520 --> 0:09:48.679 them in the head, cleaned them and ate them, and 0:09:48.720 --> 0:09:52.000 then sold the hides. Of course, but that side of 0:09:52.040 --> 0:09:55.720 my family was comprised mostly of subsistence farmers and saw 0:09:55.720 --> 0:09:59.000 mill workers who didn't have the time or the desire 0:09:59.280 --> 0:10:05.000 to hunt. My paternal side was a polar officer. If 0:10:05.040 --> 0:10:08.320 it crawled, walked, flew, climbed, or swam in the outdoors, 0:10:08.360 --> 0:10:12.400 it was fair game. In stark contrast to the other 0:10:12.520 --> 0:10:15.440 side of my family, there were no possum eating stories 0:10:15.480 --> 0:10:18.240 from the Depression era. Now I ain't saying they didn't 0:10:18.240 --> 0:10:20.640 eat them, but if they did, they didn't tell nobody 0:10:20.679 --> 0:10:23.720 about it, and I assume they didn't have to because 0:10:23.720 --> 0:10:27.200 of all the wild game that supplemented the livestock that 0:10:27.320 --> 0:10:31.040 was consumed. You know, squirrels, rabbits, and deer, just to 0:10:31.120 --> 0:10:35.080 name a few. I have a picture of my great 0:10:35.120 --> 0:10:37.839 grandfather love it reeves and a buck deer he killed 0:10:37.840 --> 0:10:41.240 in the nineteen fifties. There weren't a lot of deer 0:10:41.320 --> 0:10:43.760 back then in Arkansas, not in our party anyway, And 0:10:44.080 --> 0:10:46.400 if I was a betting man, I'd guess that buck 0:10:46.559 --> 0:10:49.160 was probably in the wrong place at the right time, 0:10:49.760 --> 0:10:54.040 and cross passed with my grandpa on a squirrel hunting'd 0:10:54.080 --> 0:10:56.200 be pretty easy to hit the magazine, cut off on 0:10:56.280 --> 0:10:58.720 his brown in a five, and slide the boat back 0:10:58.760 --> 0:11:02.040 and exchange it squirrel oed for some buckshot. If the 0:11:02.080 --> 0:11:05.280 opportunity arose, who knows, he could have been a stander 0:11:05.360 --> 0:11:07.720 on a deer drive and smashed that rascal in the 0:11:07.760 --> 0:11:11.600 hounds pushed him by his location. What was for sure 0:11:11.800 --> 0:11:14.439 was he was a hunter, and a good one. But 0:11:14.480 --> 0:11:17.839 the deer hunting jeans skipped the generation with my dad. 0:11:19.000 --> 0:11:22.120 He hated deer with a passion and coined the phrase 0:11:22.120 --> 0:11:25.959 that I and others still use, interjecting our own nouns 0:11:26.000 --> 0:11:29.720 into the statement when talking about fire ants, farrel, hogs 0:11:30.080 --> 0:11:33.000 or red walks. Now here's the quote from my dad 0:11:33.040 --> 0:11:36.040 about the white tailed deer here in the natural state. 0:11:37.640 --> 0:11:40.240 If I could mash a button and kill every deer 0:11:40.280 --> 0:11:43.040 in Arkansas, I'd mash it twice to make sure I 0:11:43.080 --> 0:11:49.880 got them off. Now, my father's deep seated hatred for 0:11:50.000 --> 0:11:53.760 deer came from two places. Number one, they ate his garden, 0:11:54.920 --> 0:11:58.839 and number two, his old cold dogs would, on occasion 0:11:59.320 --> 0:12:03.880 chase them instead of CODI is a trade very unbecoming 0:12:03.960 --> 0:12:06.920 of a hound that was supposed to be broke from 0:12:06.960 --> 0:12:11.640 chasing deer and on to chasing codes only. My dad 0:12:11.720 --> 0:12:13.720 killed a lot of deer, but he ate only a 0:12:13.760 --> 0:12:17.240 few himself. They were giving away the folks that needed meat, 0:12:17.320 --> 0:12:21.040 or my brother and I would split them. Wasting them 0:12:21.160 --> 0:12:24.840 wasn't an option. But he cared nothing about antlers. He'd 0:12:24.880 --> 0:12:27.080 be proud of us if we killed a buck, but 0:12:27.720 --> 0:12:30.160 as far as horns go, he cared nothing about it. 0:12:30.880 --> 0:12:33.720 And in my office it's a set of deer antlers 0:12:33.720 --> 0:12:37.160 from a buck that my father killed a friend and 0:12:37.240 --> 0:12:39.800 a coworker. My dad saw the antlers laying in the 0:12:39.800 --> 0:12:43.360 back of his truck, having been freshly harvested and removed 0:12:43.400 --> 0:12:45.960 from the deer. He said, buddy, where'd you get that 0:12:46.080 --> 0:12:49.160 rack of horns. But Dad said, I killed him over 0:12:49.200 --> 0:12:51.120 in front of the house. I gave the meat away 0:12:51.160 --> 0:12:53.520 and told the man that I gave it to. I 0:12:53.559 --> 0:12:55.480 wanted the horns back. I'm gonna give it to one 0:12:55.520 --> 0:12:58.760 of the boys if they wanted. He said, well, let 0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:00.560 me mount it on a plank for you to give him. 0:13:00.720 --> 0:13:04.120 And with that our friend of forty years, Jackie Beathay, 0:13:04.760 --> 0:13:07.800 coworker of my dad, mounted the antlers and gave it 0:13:07.880 --> 0:13:11.439 back to him. A few weeks later, he's like, here's 0:13:11.440 --> 0:13:14.240 your horns, buddy, say you never told me how that 0:13:14.240 --> 0:13:17.840 that hunt went, he said. Dad looked at him and said, well, 0:13:17.840 --> 0:13:20.400 it's probably one of the best shots I ever made. 0:13:20.600 --> 0:13:23.320 I didn't really have time to react, and I got 0:13:23.360 --> 0:13:26.800 him just before he got out of sight. Jackie's a 0:13:26.880 --> 0:13:29.880 deer hunting has always been one, and he was intrigued 0:13:29.920 --> 0:13:32.280 by the story, and he said, well, was he about 0:13:32.280 --> 0:13:34.280 to run in the woods on you? Dad said, no, 0:13:34.800 --> 0:13:37.120 he's about to jump out of the headlights. He had 0:13:37.120 --> 0:13:39.880 a mouthful of my peas when I shot him about midnight. 0:13:41.360 --> 0:13:46.360 Now that was about That was about the extent of 0:13:46.400 --> 0:13:50.000 my dad's deer hunting. Everything on the outside of the 0:13:50.000 --> 0:13:54.080 hot wire around his pea patch was free, but everything 0:13:54.120 --> 0:13:59.160 on the inside deer had to pay for. There's one 0:13:59.160 --> 0:14:01.160 more incident that I can tell you about my dad 0:14:01.160 --> 0:14:03.679 and deer. My brother Tim and I were talking about 0:14:03.760 --> 0:14:06.960 the other day. He reminded me where we got the 0:14:07.000 --> 0:14:09.800 inspiration to rope the deer that I talked about back 0:14:09.840 --> 0:14:14.240 on episode two thirty one of This Country Life. My 0:14:14.320 --> 0:14:16.559 dad had been out running his hounds one night and 0:14:16.600 --> 0:14:19.800 on the way back home he rounded a ninety degree 0:14:20.000 --> 0:14:23.760 curve on a gravel timber company road, and standing in 0:14:23.800 --> 0:14:26.280 the middle of the road staring at the headlights was 0:14:26.320 --> 0:14:29.920 a huge buck deer. Now, the deer just stood there 0:14:30.000 --> 0:14:34.000 staring at the truck. Dad honked at him. He didn't budge. 0:14:34.600 --> 0:14:38.280 He inch closer to him, he didn't budge. He stood 0:14:38.280 --> 0:14:40.720 and stared along. That dad thought there was something wrong 0:14:40.760 --> 0:14:43.800 with him. Now, if you got the impression from the 0:14:43.840 --> 0:14:46.760 Peapat story that my dad was a deer hating poacher, 0:14:47.240 --> 0:14:50.120 well here's the evidence that should knock that silly thought 0:14:50.200 --> 0:14:53.640 right out of you. Nagging. This encounter was in the 0:14:53.680 --> 0:14:57.560 middle of nowhere, well past midnight. Had he chosen to, 0:14:57.640 --> 0:15:00.120 he could have just driven on by or shot got 0:15:00.160 --> 0:15:03.280 him out the window the ladder ben what a deer 0:15:03.320 --> 0:15:06.000 hating poacher would have done, but that's not what he did. 0:15:07.160 --> 0:15:09.040 He decided to see if he was injured and if 0:15:09.120 --> 0:15:12.720 need be render aid or put him out of his misery, 0:15:13.480 --> 0:15:16.160 both things that are heavily discouraged these days, but this 0:15:16.360 --> 0:15:21.400 was a different time. Moving on, he grabbed a brand 0:15:21.440 --> 0:15:23.600 new Laryert rope from behind the seat, walked out in 0:15:23.640 --> 0:15:26.080 front of his truck, and through a beautiful loop about 0:15:26.120 --> 0:15:29.640 fifteen yards that landed, as he said, like an angel 0:15:29.920 --> 0:15:33.400 had placed it around his antlers. He popped the rope 0:15:33.440 --> 0:15:35.400 to tighten the sensi, and that's when the buck came 0:15:35.440 --> 0:15:39.000 to life. Apparently the deer was none the worse for wear, 0:15:39.040 --> 0:15:42.240 and only blinded by the truck lights, because as that 0:15:42.280 --> 0:15:44.880 buck ran into the darkness, it took most of the 0:15:44.920 --> 0:15:48.920 hide from his palms and all his fingerprints and a 0:15:48.960 --> 0:15:54.600 brand new rope with him. Now he found that rope 0:15:54.600 --> 0:15:58.200 about sixty yards off the road two days later, where 0:15:58.240 --> 0:16:01.280 it had unceremoniously called on the limb after that deer 0:16:01.360 --> 0:16:05.720 it mocked too shortly after takeoff. Thinking about that story 0:16:05.800 --> 0:16:09.200 makes me realize that apples really don't fall far from 0:16:09.240 --> 0:16:12.480 the tree. My brothers and Eyelow, with most of our 0:16:12.520 --> 0:16:17.240 friends and relations, love to deer hunt. I've been hunting 0:16:17.440 --> 0:16:21.360 surrounding states and been successful on many occasions. Nothing earth 0:16:21.440 --> 0:16:24.600 shattering as in antlercized, but good mature deer just the 0:16:24.640 --> 0:16:28.480 same and trophies to me for sure. But it's the 0:16:28.520 --> 0:16:31.320 ones that got away, though, the ones that I slip 0:16:31.400 --> 0:16:34.160 through my fingers, that caused me to pause or reflect 0:16:34.240 --> 0:16:37.800 on what I did to mess it up, sometimes resigned 0:16:37.840 --> 0:16:40.200 to the fact that some things just aren't meant to be. 0:16:48.800 --> 0:16:51.240 I was hung with Jacob Wood, a good friend of mine, 0:16:51.280 --> 0:16:55.160 on family property that he's been hunting on forever. We're 0:16:55.240 --> 0:16:59.160 good friends. He's very good friends. He's like a brother 0:16:59.200 --> 0:17:01.840 and a son all in one to me. Both of 0:17:01.920 --> 0:17:04.960 us loved a deer hunt, and I filmed him smash 0:17:05.040 --> 0:17:07.359 a great buck back when I was just filming for 0:17:07.400 --> 0:17:10.680 the experience and trying to learn how. I made him 0:17:10.880 --> 0:17:13.240 pass on that buck with his bow at twenty five 0:17:13.400 --> 0:17:18.639 yards one evening because the camera light was bad. The 0:17:18.680 --> 0:17:21.240 next day we left for New Mexico, where we chased 0:17:21.240 --> 0:17:24.479 elk for almost two weeks all over creation to no avail, 0:17:24.760 --> 0:17:28.000 regretting the deer that we let walk away for that 0:17:28.160 --> 0:17:32.199 stupid camera back home. That sixteen hour drive back to 0:17:32.280 --> 0:17:35.040 Arkansas was mostly in discussion on how we were going 0:17:35.119 --> 0:17:37.800 to rest for a couple of days then try to 0:17:37.800 --> 0:17:41.680 get that buck hemmed up with his muzzleoader. We got 0:17:41.720 --> 0:17:45.679 home well after daylight, exhausted and beat down from the 0:17:45.720 --> 0:17:48.560 butt kicking we'd received in New Mexico. He crashed at 0:17:48.640 --> 0:17:53.080 his house and I crashed at mine. Three hours later, 0:17:53.359 --> 0:17:55.240 I was picking up my phone to text him to 0:17:55.280 --> 0:17:59.400 see if he was awake when my phone buzzed, I'm 0:17:59.400 --> 0:18:03.760 going after this afternoon, he texted. I texted back, picked 0:18:03.760 --> 0:18:08.600 me up on your way through. Three hours later, we 0:18:08.600 --> 0:18:11.080 were standing over one hundred and fifty six inch white 0:18:11.080 --> 0:18:13.760 tail that walked out in the golden hour of light 0:18:14.200 --> 0:18:16.880 like he'd read the script we discussed all the way 0:18:16.920 --> 0:18:22.760 back home from that unsuccessful Elkhunt feast to famine to feast. 0:18:23.600 --> 0:18:27.520 Sometimes it just works out. What seemed like a sure 0:18:27.600 --> 0:18:30.240 thing went soar fast because of no camera light on 0:18:30.320 --> 0:18:34.080 the first opportunity, and then a couple weeks of self doubt, 0:18:34.520 --> 0:18:39.000 and then bingo, we got him. Then there's the times 0:18:39.000 --> 0:18:41.920 when all looks perfect, and Fate hands you an oatmeal 0:18:42.040 --> 0:18:46.160 raisin cookie you thought was chocolate chip. Can there be 0:18:46.240 --> 0:18:50.720 a bigger betrayal? I think not. I was both hunting 0:18:50.760 --> 0:18:53.119 the back of the property where my friend Jacob had 0:18:53.200 --> 0:18:56.760 named this buck High Beams because of his tall antlers. 0:18:57.560 --> 0:18:59.920 I called him a deer because I don't think an 0:19:00.000 --> 0:19:02.840 almo was outside of dogs and horses should really have names, 0:19:02.840 --> 0:19:06.560 and that includes cats. Sorry, Reva, but I said what 0:19:06.680 --> 0:19:10.640 I said. Anyway, This great specimen of a white tail 0:19:10.680 --> 0:19:14.600 buck was notoriously nocturnal, and Jacob had been watching him 0:19:14.720 --> 0:19:18.560 for coming on to four years. We had pictures of him, 0:19:18.560 --> 0:19:21.320 mostly at night, but on a whim, I went to 0:19:21.359 --> 0:19:23.800 the back where he hung out, just to sit on 0:19:23.840 --> 0:19:27.879 a food plot and see what I could see. I 0:19:27.960 --> 0:19:30.080 was facing the north and staring out across a hlf 0:19:30.160 --> 0:19:33.600 acre plot about lost in thought when I caught moving 0:19:33.680 --> 0:19:37.160 out of the right side of my vision. A doe 0:19:37.359 --> 0:19:39.920 was walking from the east edge of the woods, making 0:19:39.960 --> 0:19:43.760 her way steadily toward the center of the opening. As 0:19:43.760 --> 0:19:46.639 I watched her walking, tracking her smooth gait with my eyes, 0:19:46.680 --> 0:19:49.440 I looked past her and they're seventy yards away was 0:19:49.480 --> 0:19:52.920 the mystical book Old high Ben. It's halfway sticking out 0:19:52.920 --> 0:19:55.080 of the brush on the north side of the food plot. 0:19:56.520 --> 0:19:58.960 He walked out and followed her lead, pausing along to 0:19:59.000 --> 0:20:01.520 grab a bite of vegan food as he made his 0:20:01.560 --> 0:20:06.960 way closer with every step. At twenty five yards of broadside, 0:20:07.000 --> 0:20:09.760 I punched a hole just behind his left front shoulder. 0:20:09.960 --> 0:20:12.879 The mechanical broad had stopped when it hit the other side. 0:20:14.000 --> 0:20:16.800 The shot was as easy as falling out of the bed. 0:20:16.840 --> 0:20:19.400 He wheeled ninety degrees and smoked it out of orbit, 0:20:19.480 --> 0:20:22.760 heading northwest with about a foot of airw poking out 0:20:22.800 --> 0:20:26.359 of the entry hole. And that was the last I 0:20:26.359 --> 0:20:30.040 ever saw of him. We never found a drop of 0:20:30.040 --> 0:20:34.399 blood or him. Trust me when I say I looked, 0:20:35.080 --> 0:20:38.000 and we looked. We looked for days, and I looked 0:20:38.000 --> 0:20:40.439 for weeks. I crawled in and out of more treetops 0:20:40.480 --> 0:20:43.560 and thickets so thick with briers that a rabbit would 0:20:43.560 --> 0:20:46.479 have to toe the hatchet to get through them. And 0:20:46.560 --> 0:20:50.560 I never found so much as a hair. That was 0:20:50.600 --> 0:20:52.800 eight years ago, and I killed a lot of dear sins. 0:20:52.840 --> 0:20:55.679 But I will never get over not getting that one. 0:20:55.960 --> 0:20:58.360 And I don't get mad because his head isn't hanging 0:20:58.440 --> 0:21:02.359 on my wall. I'm disappointed. All the effort my friend 0:21:02.359 --> 0:21:05.680 put into passing him year after year, allowing that joker 0:21:05.760 --> 0:21:11.200 to reach his full potential, was seemingly wasting. I didn't 0:21:11.200 --> 0:21:13.119 get to have his antlers hanging on my wall. Now 0:21:13.160 --> 0:21:14.919 that was a big deal, don't get me wrong. But 0:21:14.960 --> 0:21:18.360 most importantly, that deer meet was lost, and that would 0:21:18.400 --> 0:21:21.560 have fed my family and my friends. And we can 0:21:21.640 --> 0:21:25.000 kill six deer in Arkansas. It's taking another deer for 0:21:25.040 --> 0:21:27.760 the freezer wouldn't be a problem, but that one would 0:21:27.800 --> 0:21:32.640 go to waste and wasting game. That's no way on. Now. 0:21:32.680 --> 0:21:35.040 Fast forward two years later, and on the opposite side 0:21:35.040 --> 0:21:37.479 of that property, I shot a good deer with a 0:21:37.680 --> 0:21:42.679 very familiar looking set of antlers. Now, the story of 0:21:42.800 --> 0:21:45.200 all stories would be that I cleaned him and found 0:21:45.200 --> 0:21:48.560 my era from two years before. But this ain't Hollywood. 0:21:49.920 --> 0:21:52.920 But standing there looking at the characteristics of the antlers 0:21:52.920 --> 0:21:55.040 in my hand and comparing them to the pictures I 0:21:55.080 --> 0:21:57.040 had in my mind of the one that got away, 0:21:57.119 --> 0:22:01.200 you know, OHI bem I'd say they were closely related, 0:22:02.400 --> 0:22:05.600 who knows, But I'll post pictures of them both and 0:22:05.640 --> 0:22:09.879 you can see what I'm talking about and decide for yourself. Now, 0:22:10.160 --> 0:22:13.000 that doesn't make up for the one that was lost 0:22:13.040 --> 0:22:16.359 by any means. Nothing will replace the loss because no 0:22:16.600 --> 0:22:19.879 portion of that deer that I shot was ever utilized. 0:22:21.040 --> 0:22:24.440 But it does speak for wildlife management and the plan 0:22:24.680 --> 0:22:27.800 Jacob had going on that property, allowing the game to 0:22:27.960 --> 0:22:32.040 grow and reproduce with the strongest jeans winning out a 0:22:32.200 --> 0:22:36.280 great and hard lesson in conservation all in one, and 0:22:36.440 --> 0:22:39.000 anything I can take a lesson away from good or 0:22:39.119 --> 0:22:42.399 bad that will help me in the future is a 0:22:42.480 --> 0:22:47.679 lesson learned. White Tail Week is going on until the 0:22:47.680 --> 0:22:49.639 sixth of October, and if you're in the market for 0:22:49.720 --> 0:22:52.520 some new first light, the savings set up this year 0:22:52.600 --> 0:22:55.760 is pretty unique and the more that you spend, the 0:22:55.800 --> 0:22:58.359 bigger the savings. Now, if you don't spend anything, you 0:22:58.440 --> 0:23:01.160 save at all, but you also don't get any new 0:23:01.280 --> 0:23:04.200 cool deer smashing threads in the systems they put together 0:23:04.240 --> 0:23:08.080 this year really cool. Check out all the details over 0:23:08.160 --> 0:23:12.520 at the meat eater dot com. Thank y'all so much 0:23:12.560 --> 0:23:15.400 for listening. Remember our folks that have been affected by 0:23:15.440 --> 0:23:18.959 the devastation brought on by Hurricane Helene, and do what 0:23:19.040 --> 0:23:21.800 you can to help and be sure if you're sending 0:23:21.880 --> 0:23:26.600 money that is to a legitimate organization. Until next week, 0:23:26.680 --> 0:23:29.840 this is Brent Reeves signing off. Y'all be careful.