Each fall, deer hunters think of cool, brisk mornings and dream of big whitetail bucks running through the woods. Although every hunter wants to bag a monster buck, I don’t have to tell you that they are not exactly behind every tree. Especially when it comes to huge non-typical East Texas bucks. But like I always say, hunting is hunting and you just never know what will step out. Well, what stepped out for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Kaufman County Game Warden Eric Minter was a big 27 point non-typical white-tailed buck. Not bad. Particulary since this is his first buck with a bow!
That’s because this past Monday (10/19/09) the Kaufman County warden found himself as the lucky hunter staring down the buck of a lifetime from his treestand hung 20 feet high in a creek bottom filled with acorn dropping white oaks. When all was said and done, it was Minter putting his own tag on a whopper 27 point non-typical buck. While there is no firm green score number on the multi-tined monster whitetail yet, photos from the buck would lead one to believe that this deer will score well above the 200-inch mark as non-typical. Well over.
Source: “I’ve been kind of leery of telling everybody just yet because I don’t know what he scores and I don’t want to guess and it be a lot lower or higher than I expected,” Minter said. “But this is unbelievable.” Some observers who have looked at the whitetail think it’s possible that the Minter buck could potentially challenge the existing Pope & Young Club state record non-typical in Texas, a 225 7/8 inch buck taken by bowhunter Jeffery L. Duncan on the Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge back in 2001.
“(The) does started freaking out and running and this dude let out a grunt like I had never heard before,” Minter said. “He grunted like that twice. When I heard him, I thought ‘Golly, he’s got to be the biggest thing out there.’ He came back into the opening and came right up (towards my stand) at about 30 yards,” Minter said.
“The sun still hadn’t really cleared the tops of the trees yet so it was still kind of dark under the tree canopy. All I could make out was that he had two drop tines and that he was wide. I had some trees marked at 20, 30, and 40 yards and he was the exact distance as my 30 yard tree so I put my 30 yard pin on him, tried not to look at the antlers anymore, and let it go.”
Does anyone know where this big buck was shot?
Man, that is a very nice nontypical rack, but how much does that buck weigh? Looks big.
I believe it was taken at Becker Bottoms in Kaufman, Texas.
Wow, nice buck. Congrats to Mr. Minter. I drive to South Texas to hunt and here is a monster buck in the same county I live in. Where is Becker Bottoms, if that is were the buck was killed?
Whats up? I don’t see a tag on this deer!
Great deer, congrats!!
Way to GIT R DONE Mr. Minter!
It makes you wonder (no tag)? How long had the warden been trailing him, and by the way did Mr. Warden have permission?
Yes, Mr. Warden did have permission. I live about 20 miles from Kaufman and the story is he shot this deer on private property. The owner of the property seen the deer and called the warden. The warden set up his stands and feeders and hunted the land. Once he saw it, he shot it! Congrats to Mr.Warden, but I think the owner should have this record under his name, not the wardens!!!
Why should the land owner get credit for the buck? He didn’t hunt it. He didn’t shoot it.
It’s like a conspiracy theory! You guys talking about no tag on the buck and how the land owner should get the recognition. This guys is a game warden, of course he tagged it. Heck, the tag could be under his hand or on the leg… it doesn’t state the tag must be plainly visible.
Also there is a big difference between seeing a big buck and seeing that big buck within bow range and then being able to get a shot off, and a good shot at that! I’m sure many of the biggest bucks shot were seen by folks that didn’t shoot them, but they wish they had. No buck envy here, nice deer man!
Not all tags are actually tags. In NC we punch a card.
Quit hating on the guy. Good shot bro! Contrats on a great deer that Y.O.U. had to invest the time to get. If we see a buck on a trail cam should the trail cam be on the tag? My God!
That’s a nice deer. It makes me want to go hunting more now that I have seen some of the big bucks that are out there.
If you’ve been hunting long enough, you’ll know that tags are commonly placed on a deer’s back leg, below the hock.
This buck was killed in Crandall, Texas in the Trinity River bottoms. Amazing. I was shocked when I heard about it. There are more big bucks down there, but the land is private..\
If we’re really talking about tag placement and since it was killed in Texas…the Texas law states that the tag has to accompany the unprocessed deer, but does not have to be attached. That information is available no matter how long you’ve been hunting. That’s a very nice buck and congrats to the warden
The sad part is he kicked two guys off of the place to take this deer, two guy who had invested their time for years. The bottoms flooded the lower levels of the older ladies land which is why he got the call and permission to be on the land. Real shame would of loved to see the buddies who put the time in beable to take this deer. Guess it’s a perk of being a warden.
Probably the lands along the east fork of Trinity.
Well Hunters!!! Warden Minter is a great person and a outstanding warden. He hunts hard and works hard, let him enjoy his accomplishments. STOP HATING …..