After dismissing him as a rut fluke that would never be seen again, I placed a camera on this 50 acre property in late summer of 2015 to see if I could maybe uncover some secrets to the area. I saw a rub on a hard bark willow tree about 8”-10” in diameter in 2013 that I never put much stock into then but knew it did now. I wasn’t sure of this photo was of him then but knew I had a big buck hanging around the area.
It wasn’t til I got this photo in this particular location that I decided I needed a stand in this funnel/pinch.
When this pic popped up, I knew he was the same buck I’d seen the previous year. The unique curl at the end of the right main beam is what gave it away. He had lost a considerable amount of extras but it did not make him any less attractive in my eyes. The shear size of the body of him shown in this picture is what lent him the name The Clydesdale buck. He wasn’t just as big as a horse but the larger of the breeds. Far bigger than any buck I had seen in my life.
I vowed I was gonna hunt this stand site til it was burnt completely out thinking he would eventually make the same trip (again pre-beast Eric). Fortunate for him, I filled both my buck tags on consecutive days out of that stand before he could make it back. Regardless, the area was burnt and the only other pic I had of him in that area was at night. Clydesdale 2 - Eric 0.
Cool story to top that year out. I tried filling some remaining doe tags on this property with my recurve. The evening of December 1 ended in no deer sightings. So I head back to the truck in almost complete darkness down the gravel road. I almost make it to the truck when I here commotion on the ridge overlooking. I walk back 50 yards or so just off the gravel not to make any noise. I can tell whatever it is is getting close and assume it to be hogs. Whatever it is stops just inside the brush maybe 30-50 yards. Moments later I get this strong whiff of rutting buck followed by several snort wheezes. After almost getting run over by a deer, they take off down the ridge. Later camera pics would reveal it was him chasing a doe. Picture was very poor but I could tell it was him.
2016 hits and he makes his first appearance in September.
He looked to be down yet again from the year before. Still didn’t make him any less than number 1 on my list. Didn’t hunt him as hard as the year before but still pounded out that stand, or the property for that matter, more than I should have. He was much more visible on the property though which was surprising. I kept at least 2 cameras running at all times on the property to see how he was using it.
Scrape location he hit where his annual rub line opened up.
This is a bedding area that is a ridge overlooking the road into the property. In this photo, he is following a doe. The previous pic on the card was of a doe seconds ahead of him. A gentleman that owns the oil pumps on this property mentioned seeing him on occasion from the road. Deer frequently bed on top and just watch him go in and out on a daily basis.
The only day time pic I had of him in 2016 was at the permanent stand site and it wasn’t a very good one.
Fortunate for him again, I was hunting another property that morning. I hunted the next day there and only saw one small buck running onto the property from the North neighboring field. He looked to be running like he was after a doe but I never caught anything in front of him in time. I got down about an hour later and,when I hit the ground, a stampede came thundering in my direction. I look up and see a doe being hounded by several bucks with him first on her tail. She sees me and turns off back up the hill. Naturally, I ease up their way thinking they had put some distance between us. Make it 15 yards and she makes a short blow and they’re all gone. Clydesdale 3 - Eric 0.
2017 is finally upon us. No early pics of Clydesdale this year and patiently waiting for the annual rub line to open up. Check the willows around the first week and half in October and nothing yet. I know the local doe group starts coming into estrous around the end of the 3rd week of October so I decide to make my first sit on the 21st. No sightings but the rub line has opened with a few scrapes. November 1st I make my second sit. Had a S-SE wind which is when the permanent stand is best for bucks cruising downwind of the adjacent doe bedding and coming through the funnel/pinch. I got in well before sun up and about 30 minutes prior to light I hear a buck skirt out in front and make his way down to the willows to thrash a tree or two. Daylight comes and a lone large doe fawn comes in and beds down for about an hour 20 yards away. Get down for the morning and check the only camera and boy did it have one piece of gold on it.
Aside from the fight, the scrapes had blown up everywhere in the area around the rubs. The sign was hot and I had to work that night and the following night leaving Friday the 3rd the next day I could hunt ugh!!!! Friday finally comes and a westerly wind is forecasted so I know I can’t sit ole trusty without him getting my wind. It’s 0-5 mph wind which makes it very unsteady on direction so I’m looking to get where I can cover both trails if he skirts me but be in position to hit him when or if he does get my wind. The only trees I have are hackberry trees this deep in the pinch and almost all are small. The worst of the worst. Too many small limbs and not enough cover. I try at one tree for 20 minutes and I can’t get my xop to position and grab the tree worth a flip. I pull down and move to the 2 largest ones in the funnel. They definitely would work fine for the stand but take a crap load of trimming to shoot out of. I spend nearly an hour getting this thing in somewhat killer shape. I check the milkweed and the water thermals off the neck of the pond are getting some pull with the occasional push towards the anticipated travel. It’s a little risky but if anything gets my wind they’re dead before they know it. Like most warm, low wind Oklahoma evenings it’s next to dead calm. Milkweed is almost floating straight down and it’s that magical hour. 6:30-6:35 I hear a blue jay start barking from up the trail. Man it’s too late for one to just be barking at nothing. Bow in hand. I hear what sounds like hooves walking. Release on the d-loop. Whatever pops out I won’t see til it’s within 25 yards. I see rack and it’s a shooter. I don’t care who he is I just know HE IS A SHOOTER. Draw and give the call to stop at 20. Let it fly and it’s looking good til about halfway and the arrow is running back to the ole guts. Hits him about where the rib cage ends but it doesn’t sound like it hits bone. Buck takes a couple quick steps to look again at what made the noise then turns and walks out just as quiet as he came in. Not good. Never want them walking away after a shot. I know he won’t be bedding within 100 yards of the stand so I get down when it’s dark and check the arrow. Smells like gut. Get out leave my stand and sticks and letting him set. Not gonna make excuses or lie but I’m not the most experienced in gut shot situations. I also know that a gut shot buck has a good chance of getting bumped and/or ate by coyotes during the night. Scared that it might be Clydesdale I decided to go back in after 6 hours. With the blood that I found at the shot site I thought there was a good chance I caught the liver also. Get back in after midnight and start on the blood. Quickly run out of it after 30 yards. Start circling up the anticipated path to where he likely went to bed. Found spots of gut fluid and occasional blood back the bedding area. Made it 50 yards inside the bedding and I hear a deer gut up and head over the crest of the hill. The edge of the property line is near so I decide to follow to the fence and come back after light to go from there. Did find several beds with very little blood and gut fluid on the way to the fence also.
Back in after daybreak, I can’t make out a path where he went but knew there are only so many water holes and places to bed on the adjacent properties. I search everything I can for 3 hours since I had to leave at noon for a wedding in Texas. I call my dad to ask him to check for a body on the drive to Texas and his search yields the same results. Sunday after church I head back out and contact a couple other landowners for permission to search the other places I think he could have been. Check them and nothing. Stop by a gentleman’s house that hunts the nearby property and ask if he’s seen any buzzards circling. Says he has seen a few so we get in is golf cart and check his land out and a waterhole I was unaware of. Nothing. At this point I’m feeling pretty lost. Thought I knew the area enough that I could eventually stumble upon him but couldn’t understand why he would pass up water for water elsewhere. I know deer can’t live for days with a hole in the gut so just where? Monday night I hunted but it man it didn’t feel right. I talked to two good hunting friends that night. One gave me a pep talk and a booster that I’d find him. The other gave me a little more hope saying he can live up to around 12 hours but that he would either be within 30 yards of water or in it. Also, whatever I thought he did or which way I thought he went to forget it and look at the unlikely.
I decided Tuesday morning I’d hunt the same tree and check around another hole of water and the WHOLE 5+ acre lake on the property. Both of which are the other way the buck left the scene of the crime. While in the stand, I did notice just the smallest ends of a nearby branch were in the direct path of where I shot him. Gave good reason to why my arrow changed course during flight and I couldn’t see them through the peep. Didn’t even sit in the stand that long because it was bugging me that much to hunt and still not have the answers. I ended walking the entire E side of the lake down around the S end to the dam that had a likely spot of overlooked bedding. It was promising but nothing found. Keep in mind this lake has cattails encircling the entire thing so you must walk every foot of it to be able to see it all. As I’m nearing the west end of the dam which is well above the lake level, a red object catches my eye. NO FREAKING WAY!!!! It’s a fresh rib cage. Found him!!! This dude got shot on the very NE corner of the property and died on the very SW corner of the property. A complete 180. I jump down off water side the dam and immediately it hits me. I see the telltale browtines of The Clydesdale Buck.
I throw down my bow/release and gloves and do this half laugh almost cry thing. I’m not real sure what I wanna do. I just let out this deep breath like I finally could breathe good for the first time in nearly 4 days. It all made sense at this point. This elusive creature couldn’t go out without yet another trick from his seemingly never ending book. Never had there been one buck that taught me so much about how big buck gets to be so old and elusive. He is the reason I joined the beast. He pushed me to get better. To hunt smarter and read the sign he leaves behind and most importantly to think outside the box. He didn’t get to be old doing what other deer do. And at that, I want to extend a huge thank you to this website and all the members that make it what it is!!
A little extra on this buck. I “guess” this deer to be 9.5 or older. I say 8.5+ to be as accurate as possible but I highly doubt he was just a 4.5 year old back in 2014. Another bonus is he is the best rackwise he’s been since 2014. A beautiful heavy racked main frame 10 with an additional 10 scorable points. My best bow buck to date. Just sad the cape was mangled by the scavengers. Lots of stories lost in that hide he wore for so many years.
great buck I never knew Oklahoma had big deer.