One of the most satisfying aspects of hunting is when you finally close the deal on a buck with which you have an extensive history. The more trail cameras and close encounters you have with the animal, the sweeter it is when you finally harvest. Things get even more exciting when it's a once-in-a-lifetime buck most hunters could only dream of ever targeting.
In a video from SKYNIC Hunting on YouTube, a father and son team up to pursue a monster Utah mule deer they have nicknamed "Bootstrap." Apparently the buck had given them the slip the year prior when they identified him as a massive typical. Somehow in just a year, he grew into a massive 250-inch non-typical stud, prompting the duo to pull out all the stops to seize a second opportunity.
It goes without saying, but Bootstrap truly was a beast of a mule deer, possibly the largest we've ever seen harvested on video. This big buck did not make things easy for the hunters in locating or recovering him, as the dense brush forced them to wait until the next morning.
It just goes to show one never knows what a buck is going to look like from year to year. There have been many instances in the past where a buck is typical one year and then morphs into a non-typical the following. We cannot help but wonder if he had an injury to the more non-typical side that helped with this sudden and dramatic transformation.
In any case, we cannot blame these guys for getting as excited as they did. Deer like this simply do not come around every day. And, the fact that a father and son were able to share in the harvest of such a deer together makes it even more special.
For more outdoor content from Travis Smola, be sure to follow him on Twitter and check out his Geocaching and Outdoors with Travis YouTube channels.
