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GRANT: (Whispering) Oh, oh, buck. There’s a buck. I’m good. But stay on him. If he stops, I’m gonna take him.

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GRANT: December 19th. Second day of Missouri’s muzzleloader season, which is late, of course, and Jerry was gracious enough to join me, but, I don’t think Jerry really wanted to join me. He wanted to join the chase for this. What do you think, Jerry?

JERRY: I did. Ever since you’d shown me this shed, you know, 93 inches. Got my fever up really good.

GRANT: Yeah. So, if we take the standard of, maybe grew 10% a year, you know if it’s healthy and the other side matched. Another big if. And it’s still alive, those three ifs, we’re looking at just a huge typical deer.

JERRY: Possibly, a world record.

GRANT: Possibly, that’s a good reason to save your tag for the late muzzleloader season.

TERRY: I’m talking about getting a Muddy.

GRANT: (Inaudible) you on the ground blind right here, ah huh.

ADAM: Anybody got a pocket knife?

TERRY: Not with me.

GRANT: Hanging some stands; do a little last minute scouting. Shoot our guns, because you know when you’re doing this, you don’t want to say, “Well, gosh, I’d a wish I’d a shot.” So, we not only shot ‘em; Jerry had ’em sighted in before we got here, but we made sure they were still sighted in after the five hour drive.

JERRY: Anytime you haul a gun around or on the airline or something, you need to shoot it.

GRANT: So our guns are sighted in. Feeling really good about it. Um, and we went out, did some just quick scouting. Now, our kind of strategies around this property – has a big field, big feeding field. You know, like 40 plus acres right in the middle and there’s some bottlenecks getting in that field around some duck holes and the Mississippi River’s a pretty big bottleneck and the oxbow lake on the other side. So, we’re kind of just getting a feeling, getting a plan put together.

JERRY: And after Terry was telling us that he’d seen this deer twice this season, you know, that’s not a very big chance for, to kill a deer like that in how many thousands of acres of timber and…

GRANT: That’s right.

JERRY: …really thick cover after the, after the ice storm.

GRANT: That’s right. We’ve had. There was a huge ice storm here, so it’s either open field or bedding area. There’s really no in between. But, we hung some stands and my strategy, my personal strategy is, I know this time of year, there’s going to be some fawns becoming receptive and fawns are usually the first deer out in the field. So, I’m gonna gamble to some extent on afternoon feeding hunts. What’s your strategy, Jerry?

JERRY: Well, in the morning, I like to just catch ‘em coming back out of those fields and get into some pretty thick cover where big bucks would hang.

GRANT: Hmm. Hmm.

JERRY: And this particular buck right here, you know, he was spotted uh, southwest of that big feed field and was kind of a, bottle – a funnel headed down that a way and I just put a stand in the middle of that.

GRANT: There we go.

GRANT: So, we’re good through that hump where you can see the tracks. That hump where it goes up and you see the tracks.

GRANT: So, Adam and I have hung a stand for our first morning hunt overlooking a really small feeding plot, but that’s really not the reason we’re there. It’s just a, an area; there’s a drain behind this and a road in front, so there’s a little pinch point right there for deer to come through.

GRANT: And it paid off, but not with this. Maybe his grandsons. Couple of yearling bucks come through. See some does cross in the distance and a fat, fat raccoon coming up the road. How about you?

JERRY: Well, let’s see. The first morning, you know, we really didn’t see too much. Uh, that evening was a little bit better. You know, we seen a couple bucks. Uh, probably shooter bucks, you know. One of ‘ems a good, at least four year old mature buck. Uh, it was broke a little bit but it was hard for me to pull the trigger the first evening, especially when we got something like this running around somewhere.

GRANT: I know what you’re saying.

JERRY: And then, oh, sixty five came up the field from down there, the other end where you were at, right up by me. Right in front of the stand.

GRANT: Sixty five turkeys excites me anywhere right now. That’s a lot of turkeys.

JERRY: They flew in, they flew up right there…

GRANT: Well, Adam and I go out at midday. We really didn’t want to booger up that feeding area, just the timing that first day, so we go out at midday during our hunt and hang a stand based totally on that day’s conditions.

GRANT: And Jerry, just as the plan sometimes works, does started pouring out and I’m telling Adam, “Man, there’s, there’s gonna be a fawn out of all these deer that’s gonna have someone wanting a date with her.” And sure enough, unlike you, my goal was kind of four and a half year old or older, mature buck and it’s getting a little late and we’re watching, watching and, and I tell Adam, “Well, let’s just, let’s just kind of see what we see here.”

GRANT: (Whispering) I’m gonna be able to do this. I’ve got about a 200 yard range with this muzzleloader. Sighted in. I, Jerry Martin sighted it in. Then I’d shot it when I got here to make sure I was familiar at 153 yards. Had a group about like that at 153. So, the gun’s great.

GRANT: (Whispering) Oh, oh. Buck. There’s a buck. It’s a pretty good deer.

ADAM: (Whispering) Yeah, he is. Pretty deer. Listen to him grunt. I’m on him if you want him. That’s a good deer, Grant.

GRANT: (Whispering) I’m on him.

ADAM: (Whispering) Okay. I’m good.

GRANT: (Whispering) If he stops, I’m gonna take him.

ADAM: (Whispering) Huh?

GRANT: (Whispering) Stay on him. If he stops, I’m gonna take him.

ADAM: (Whispering) Okay. I’m on him good. I’m good. (Shot) Good shot. Good shot.

GRANT: (Whispering) I don’t know.

ADAM: (Whispering) He’s going down. (Inaudible)

GRANT: (Whispering) Stay on him. Stay on him.

ADAM: (Whispering) I’m on him.

GRANT: (Whispering) He’s down. He’s down. Adam. Killing tree. Killing tree. He was down. That’s a good deer.

ADAM: (Whispering) Congratulations, buddy.

GRANT: (Whispering) I love it, buddy. Give it to me. We did that. We had over 100 turkeys come out. I was, I counted 60 and I got confused by another big flock, so 60 plus. I’m saying close to 100, literally. Jerry Martin’s right over there about five, six hundred yards and he’s going, “What did Grant shoot?” That’s what Jerry’s saying right now. Man, I’m excited. Hey, let’s go see what we got, brother.

ADAM: Let’s go do it.

GRANT: Whew. He is rank. Big old deer. Nothing wrong with that. Told. My goodness. Look at the size of that neck on him. Man, is he rank? I can smell him strong.

ADAM: He’s got a big head on him.

GRANT: Yeah. Big ole blocky head. That’s what we’re looking for.

ADAM: That is a pretty, pretty deer right there.

GRANT: Yeah. Big ole blocky head. I love that coloration right there on bucks.

TERRY: Oh, he’s pretty.

GRANT: Yeah.

ADAM: That’s a pretty deer.

GRANT: He’s goin’ in your lodge.

TERRY: Well, put him in there.

GRANT: Jerry, I just, ever since I’ve been a child, I find it thrilling to interact with a mature buck. But usually, it’s: see buck; decide whether to shoot buck; shoot buck; or pass buck and it’s over. Just moving through, you know how it is. But this buck, we actually got to watch for a couple of minutes. Watch him chase a doe. Hear some grunting. Make the good choice whether to shoot, don’t shoot, make a shot. Man, I love that. So, it was worth it for me, four and a half year old buck. My Missouri gun tag is filled. Done.

JERRY: Well, Grant, I just appreciate you inviting me down here to hunt a deer like this. I mean, I love big deer, love to hunt big deer and whether I get it or not, the opportunity is awesome.

GRANT: Well, I’ve enjoyed, ‘cause I’ve learned from you on this trip also. So, learning and interacting with Creation is just something I really love. Hey, I hope you have a great week and a great New Year. Thanks for watching GrowingDeer.tv.

GRANT: Where’s that twenty mark at? How far we past it?

JERRY: What did you say?

GRANT: I said 22.

JERRY: And it’s 22 (Laughter)

ADAM: 22 (Laughter)