Many moons ago before I was born this happened. I can remember growing up and seeing him hang on the wall on the few times we ever went out to eat there as a kid. When I got old enough to legally go in the bar I was sitting there having a beer and asked the owner of the bar the story behind him. For several years people had chased a ghost monster buck that was notorious for hiding on the wildlife refuge and only occasionally would venture off during mating season. Every year a guy or two would take a crack at him but inevitably seemed to miss. One year deer season closed and about a week later the bar owners dad went pheasant hunting and laying in a low spot just feet from the refuge fence he found this guy laying dead. He had been hit but was able to elude being found and laid down and died. Game warden got called and determined nothing suspicious about this and told him he could offer a carcass tag for $1 so he could legally take possession of a deer not taken by hunting. He took it and had it mounted and locally to this day if you mention "The Refuge Buck" everyone knows who you mean. It has been the focal point in the bar for over 50 years now. A few years back they had it redone because the years of smoking in the bar really yellowed him. Had a friend send me a pic yesterday of the old guy cleaned up. I could only dream of ever getting a buck this big.
Wow, that's a hammer! Imagine being the poor soul who wounded that beautiful deer and never being able to find it...... I've had that happen to me before, not a buck anywhere near that big, but a trophy to me, nonetheless. Made me sick. We ended up finding it several days later, eaten almost completely by coyotes.
Yeah, who've lost that buck probably had nightmares about it for years. But it would be understandable to get the shakes when looking at that one.
That's an awesome story! Even my wife, who's not a fan of hunting deer, thought that it was pretty cool that that buck's legend lives on and it's so well preserved for all of us to respect. Considering that a long lived deer will live 7-10 years, this is a great way to honor it. I'm actually proud that my wife for taking this stance, because she used to say that nobody should be shooting/ hunting deer. I even recently got her to watch some episodes of "Meat Eater" on Netflix.
I love that show. Mostly for the cooking but the hunting is still cool anyways. That buck story is something else and I've read my fair share of deer get-aways that have made hunters get ridiculously sick over not finding their quarry. Thanks for the story Greenstick.
The buck in the picture above, reminds me of this one that was recently taken in Maryland. Both impressive. Baltimore hunter bags his biggest buck yet on last day of bow season
Look up Bucknorris in bend oregon. This guy was a monster also, but, I believe he was hit by car one night. But, he does have some dandy offspring’s. Quite a lot of stories about Bucknorris
He was a legend and continues to be one to this day. I bet the hunter that hit him, knew he did, and looked a long time, probably sickened in the end by not finding him. Fortunately he was found by the bar owners dad, before the predators did. Good story!
