I had hunted this particular buck for (3) years before finally connecting on him. He has provided me with tremendous memories and will always be revered as a phenomenal animal. I harvested this buck on Monday November 18th, 2002.

Late Sunday night it had started snowing and it continued into the early morning hours of Monday. I new exactly where I was going to hunt on this day. I was headed to the "Sanctuary", which is a coveted area I have hunted for years. This buck had been tearing up the area for several years. The photos you see in gallery #2 that show the cedar trees that are shredded, were the direct result of this magnificent buck. The snow had deposited about 4 to 6 inches of powdery white gold. I picked up his track at about 6:20 a.m. and followed him through fir and cedar swamps and over hardwood ridges. He was travelling through his domain apparently worry free of encountering any other bucks. As I followed him I only encountered (2) scrapes that he had made during his meandering. He never once bedded down. I followed him until about 10:45 a.m. which is when he brought me out to an old twitch road.

I knelt in the skidder road to give my legs a short respite before continuing the pursuit. Suddenly, without warning, I caught movement to my right. The buck had backtracked and stepped out onto the road about 65 yards down to my right. I did not want to move for fear of spooking him. He was staring a hole right through me. I could only see part of his head, right main beam and part of his left shoulder. I slowly shouldered my 30-06 carbine and centered the peep sight on his shoulder. I fired one shot and the buck bolted into the woods. I was confident that I had made a vital hit even though I had shot left handed. I trotted down the road to where the buck had stood expecting to see the crimson sign on the snow. There was none!

I ran on his bounding track to see if he had started to bleed after a few bounds but it was not to be. I had missed him cleanly. I did not hesitate and began to cover some ground on his track. Shortly after taking up the track, I jumped him out of a thicket of softwood. I could not get a shot this time so I again ran on his track until he started walking again. Again, I jumped him but did not see him this time and again I was running on the track until he slowed to a walk. He had a long wide gait and I had no doubt he was carrying over 200 lbs on his heavy frame. This time when he slowed to a walk I began what my good friend RGB calls the death creep.

I began moving methodically, scanning to my left and right. As I inched beyond some 6 foot firs I looked to my left. The buck stood broadside a mere 4 yards from me concealed in the firs. In an instant he whirled and jumped in one powerful explosive bound! Snow and dirt kicked up as he moved. I was also moving. The carbine instinctively snapped to my shoulder. When the buck took his second leap it was to his right. He was broadside at about 8 yards and I drove one round into his right side. When the buck came down, he snowplowed into a small alder tree. His right main beam and tines were intertwined in the alder. The left beam was buried in the snow. The buck was down! I made my peace with this elusive Monarch and thanked God for the hunt and the past 3 challenging years. It was 12:10 p.m. For 20 minutes I sat quietly with this magnificent animal and regained control of my emotions. I field dressed the King, carved my initials into a tree and then began the long haul out.

It took me 3.5 hours to get the buck to the nearest road. I then walked to a friends house and he was gracious enough to drive me the (7) miles back to where my truck was parked. After retrieving my truck I returned and my friend helped me load my buck onto the truck. I couldn't have done it alone. The buck carried 8 heavy tall points on his massive crown. He weighed 220 lbs field dressed. I could not have been more elated! The Sanctuary buck and I had finally met. The memories he has left me with will last an eternity. Harvesting him was the most fulfilling experience I have had to date in the deer hunting woods.

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