The breeding season can make a smart white-tailed buck make some really bad decisions. A buck can live in total seclusion throughout the year and then, suddenly and seemingly from nowhere, can end up smack-dab in front of you while following a “hot” doe. Sure, this is probably the best chance a hunter has at seeing a truly monstrous buck. The peak of the white-tailed breeding season, often referred to as the rut, is THE BEST way to bring that big boy into sight. Of course, pure chance can also bring a mature buck out of hiding.
This was the case last week in Houston when the 13 point buck above was struck by a vehicle near FM 1960 and Northgate Country Club (about 60 yards from the light on Northgate Forest Drive) on Tuesday November 18 at 6:45 am. Apparently the big buck was flushed from a wooded area he had likely been using as a bedding area and made his first — and last — wrong move. Here is an eye witness account as received via email:
Guys, I had to share this with you. Tuesday morning just as I was coming up to the light at Northgate Forest Drive and FM 1960 the golf course ground crew flushed this big buck from a section of thick woods next to FM1960. He was hit by at least one car immediately. The grounds crew ran over and pulled him from the middle of the road but he was messed up pretty bad, bleeding a great deal from the mouth. Truly unfortunate. The best buck I have every seen in the flesh.
The antlers of this Harris County buck were subsequently scored using the Boone and Crockett Club system established for white-tailed deer and chalked up a remarkable score of 188 5/8 inches. The buck was estimated to be 4 1/2 years old, so who knows how big this urban monster would have been had he survived another couple of years. I’m sure his genes live on in other deer, out there somewhere.