Taking a Monster Buck from Jessa's Stand
By Mike Lambeth
Oklahoma’s Atoka County is known as a great spot for whitetails - heavily wooded ridges littered with acorns. This southeastern county hasn’t yielded many Boone & Crockett bucks, in fact only two - a 210 2/8-inch non-typical, and a 177 6/8-inch typical.
The rugged, hilly landscape of Atoka County produces its share of “shooter” bucks. However, like in most counties in the state, the bucks harvested are 2 ½ years old or younger - never reaching trophy potential.
Nevertheless, Farris resident Mark Miller took a giant buck there last season, sporting a unique set of headgear, and certainly causing folks to take notice of the value of deer feeders and game cameras.
Until about 15 years ago, Miller claims his place had few deer. In fact, he claims Atoka County had few deer 20 years ago. Therefore, he formulated a plan to improve his deer hunting spot.
Miller’s Management Plan
If Miller wanted a quality hunting spot, he knew he would have to work hard to achieve his management objectives. His plans were set in motion after a successful south Texas deer hunt a few years back, so he decided to emulate some of the Lone Star state’s management tactics on his own property.
“I knew I needed to manage my land if I ever wanted to take big bucks,” surmised Miller. “So I had some dozer work done on my place to make “senderos,” or openings, like the ones I saw in Texas.” He also placed several Moultrie game feeders strategically on his property, to provide supplemental feeding for the deer and turkeys.
In concert, Miller’s adjoining landowners decided to manage their lands too, and hopefully grow some trophy bucks, as well. They decided to harvest only older bucks in hopes of allowing the younger bucks to mature.
Miller’s property is small at only 80 acres, but it received very light hunting pressure for several years. The terrain is heavily wooded with oak flats and limited openings - just the gnarly vegetation where big bucks can retreat and stay secluded.
Due to his busy work schedule, Miller employed some Moultrie game cameras to help do the scouting for him. He figured these surveillance units would monitor which bucks were available, and help him decide on a tree stand location.
Miller’s hopes soared last summer when one of his Moultrie game cameras revealed a buck estimated to score150 inches was in the area. After viewing the images of the clean racked 10-pointer, Miller couldn’t wait for the season opener to hunt the “150-class buck.”
Archery Season: The Search Begins For the 150-class Buck
When archery season opened, most Sooner archers bemoaned the hot, dry weather - not exactly the best conditions for optimum deer movement. Nonetheless, Miller was poised to tag the 150-class buck, if given the chance.
Miller’s young daughter, Jessa, accompanies on many deer hunts, and advised her dad to move his “double-wide” tree stand near a funnel, where his Moultrie trail camera regularly captured the big buck’s presence. The larger perch would also enable Jessa to tag along.
Miller hunted the stand as often as possible between work and family obligations, but was afforded only occasional sightings of the buck, and none within bow range.
Black powder Season Comes and Ends In a Bang
When black powder season opened, legions of front loaders were plagued with a full moon, and very little sign of the impending rut. Temperatures cooled slightly, but the hunting was dismal at best.
On opening day Miller went to the stand he nicknamed “Jessa’s stand,” where he had bowhunted several days. Later that day, he got a glimpse of a huge buck chasing a doe, but was unable to shoot as the buck ghosted into thick cover.
The next several days he never saw the buck again, and wondered if the huge trophy had been taken by another hunter, but with no reports Miller remained optimistic.
The last weekend of black powder season caused Miller to wonder if he would regret passing on the 12 smaller bucks he had seen already, while waiting for the 150-class buck.
Saturday morning of the final weekend dawned to cooler temperatures, as Miller nestled in his stand awaiting the woods to awaken. The day was slow with only a few does sighted, so Miller decided to climb down from his stand at 10 a.m. Upon reaching the ground, Miller was shocked to see the 150-class deer standing 30 yards away, while his smoke pole dangled from a rope nearby. Miller watched in horror as the monster buck turned and fled.
Last Day of Black powder Season
Sunday morning, the final day of primitive season dawned to great deer hunting weather. Miller had lunch plans, but convinced himself he could still hunt the elusive buck a few hours and still make the noon gathering.
Without Jessa at his side as in many trips before, Miller headed afield amidst a lingering fog that blanketed the area. Daylight broke and Miller had a high hopes - five does usually frequented the area and attracted bucks, small bucks.
Soon Miller saw two small bucks and at 7:30 he saw the familiar five slick heads heading his way. The does glanced at their back trail causing Miller to be ready with his .50 caliber muzzleloader. “I really expected to see another small buck” opined Miller, “but out walked another doe.”
Miller peered down the sendero and noticed a seventh deer standing on the edge of the opening - a buck. “Normally, I look at all bucks with binoculars before I decide to shoot,” said Miller. “This time I didn’t have to look twice at the buck; I shouldered my weapon, took careful aim, and fired.”
At a mere 40 yards, the broadside buck whirled at the slug’s impact and vanished into thick brush. Miller felt confident about his shot and thought he saw velvet hanging from one antler. Soon, Miller heard the thrashing sound a deer makes when it collapses.
“Normally I wait 30 minutes before going after a deer I’ve shot, but I couldn’t wait, so I climbed down and walked over to the edge of the clearing where the buck entered,” remembered Miller.
Sixty yards away the buck lay motionless and his rack was very different from the 150-class buck Miller had hoped for. This buck was awesome and the perceived “velvet” hanging down, was a drop tine instead! Miller picked up the rack and noticed there were two more drop tines, as well.
The giant drop-tined buck’s three unique tines measured 8, 9 ¼, and 10 ½ inches respectively. The great rack spanned 21 ½ inches and carried 16 points. The buck’s rack later tallied up a score of 207 inches, and is being mounted by Miller who does taxidermy in his spare time.
Closing
Taking a drop-tined buck is the dream of most deer hunters I know. I was fortunate enough last season to shoot my first - an 8-pointer with double-drops.
For now, Miller sits in an enviable position. His buck will enter the books as the second largest non-typical ever recorded from Atoka County.
Miller says has big plans in the future. “I hope the 150-buck puts on 20 more inches of antler so I can have a chance to take another Booner.”
For now, Miller will rely on his game feeders to nourish the deer on his land, and keep up with their progress by checking his game cameras’ photos. This coming season, I think Miller’s odds are high to score another big buck, if he hunts from Jessa’s stand.