An Ancient Whitetail Falls During Muzzleloader Season

White-Tailed Deer

United States

An Ancient Whitetail Falls During Muzzleloader Season

Posted 2016-10-21T23:40:00Z  by  Josh Honeycutt

Do You Hunt with a Muzzleloader?

Rack Report Details
Buck:167 4/8
Time of Year:September 16, 2016
Place:Coldwater, Kansas
Weapon: Muzzleloader  Muzzleloader 

This buck was believed to be 9 or 10 years old. (Photo courtesy of Paul Sawyer)

Paul Sawyer is a crucial piece of the Whitetail Properties puzzle. He's helped build the company into what it is today. And just as he pours his heart and soul into his work, he pours the same dedication into deer hunting.

That's why he worked hard to get on the buck he tagged during Kansas' early muzzleloader season.

This buck is 9 or 10 years old, Sawyer said. We have been hunting this ranch for 10 years. He has been with us from the start. Over the past three years, it does not appear he has grown or lost an inch. This buck has been on the hit list for five-plus years. It is really hard to say how many trail camera pictures we have captured over the years. The first time this buck was ever seen on the hoof by anyone was the evening I shot the buck.

That afternoon was special to say the least. They went into the woods that afternoon specifically to kill this deer. They got the north wind they were looking for and decided to go for it.

(Trail cam photo courtesy of Paul Sawyer)We had recent pictures of this buck both in the morning and evening in the food plot close to legal shooting time, Sawyer said. So we assumed he was bedding close to the food plot, which is positioned close to good cover along a river bottom. We just needed something to get him up and on his feet during legal shooting time. With the weather front coming in and the wind switching out of the north we were hoping that would happen.

The temperature was in the 90s when they got in the blind, but a weather front with rain was moving in. Soon after, the temperature dropped 15 degrees and it began to rain. That's when the big buck stepped out. It stepped out into the food plot from the thick cover. Sawyer found him in the scope and touched off the shot. The buck went down.

This buck had 8-inch bases, 20.5-inch beams and was 19 inches wide. It scored 167 4/8 inches. It was an incredible buck.

We are going to send the incisor teeth to Matson's Lab in Montana to have the age of this buck verified beyond the jaw bone aging we have done, Sawyer said. If you did not have history with this buck like we did you may make the mistake of aging this buck as a 4-year-old because he is on the way down in body size due to age. There is no place like southern Kansas. [It has] unparalleled age structure and quantity of mature bucks.

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