I sighted the monster buck two days before the hunt while scouting and took a picture of him at about 80 yds, not a very good picture mind you, as it was at half light about 6:45 in the morning and I had the lens zoomed in to 400 mm.  After looking at the picture on the camera I called my good friend Matt Skipper, who was due at the ranch the next day with his two sons, 15yr old Alex and 11 yr old Brice. “Ok, I’ve just seen the buck you’re going to take  Friday, I said dryly.”  Matt as usual said, “I’m looking for a big one this year, what do you think he will score?”  I replied, “ from looking at the picture I just took I would say 180 B&C on the low side, he’s got a typical 12 pt frame with 11 plus inch tines, at least one G-2 is split and he’s got several extra tines coming off the main beams which has to be over 25 inches on each side!”   Matt replied after a pause…..”I’m not going to shoot the first buck I see, I’ve got 3 days to hunt and I want a good one!”  Matt has killed a dozen Whitetails, hogs, a 10 ft. Brown Bear and a huge Bison while hunting with Emu Outfitting from Alaska to Texas over the last 10 years & this is our usual outfitter-client banter.

   Now it’s Friday morning at 6:00 am and Matt, myself and Star S Ranch manager Brian are sitting in the dark overlooking the valley where I had seen the big buck the day before.  I had shown Matt the pictures of several good bucks I had photographed the past two days while scouting, including a high classic 10 pt that would score 160+, a 22+ in inside spread 10 pt sporting a 4 inch drop tine that forked & would have scored 170+ as well as the big 12 I had called him about the previous morning.   Matt’s reply was the same after looking at each buck, “I’ve got 3 days to hunt, I’m not going to shoot the first buck I see… as he drooled over the pictures!”  At about 6:30 am Brian sees 2 bucks working up the east side of the draw into what will soon be the rising sun.   We make a quick move to the top of the ridge once they have moved out of sight to position ourselves away from having to shoot into the sun when the bucks topped the ridge.  We peek over the ridge top and there in a Prickly Pear flat is the high 10 pt feeding.  We quietly discuss the merits of the 10 and then at 60 yds, out of the brush steps the big 12 pt with the spit G-2 I had seen the morning before….but now we can see both G-2 are deeply split and the main beams extend past his nose.  Matt puts the scope on him and Brian says, “that’s him,”  the next instant we hear Matt’s 300 mag boom, ….game-set-match!   As we walk over to the big buck I think to myself…”this is one of only two or 3 bucks that have gotten bigger with each step I take towards them lying on the ground.”  Matt is all smiles looking at his buck, big heavy 12 point frame, deeply split G-2’s on each nearly 27 in main beam, long tines including 5” G-5’s, 2 extra tines coming off the main beams plus a couple of small kickers.  Matt. beaming ear to ear, looks up at me and says, “See, I told you I wasn’t going to shoot the first buck I saw, ….what do you think he will score?”  Brian and I look at each other and suddenly getting a good look at this rack my 180+ estimation seems minuscule!  Upon putting the tape on him at the skinning shed I had to add the measurements 3 times to be sure I hadn’t had a seizure in my addition, I’m sorry…..I just had never scored a buck before that grossed 211 B&C!

    The second day of the hunt on the 10,000 acre high fenced Star S Ranch, located in Mason County, Texas, Matt’s oldest son Alex brought in a big funky 10 pt buck that grossed 197 B&C sporting over 25 inches of brow tines… all 6 of them!  11 year old Brice, who was relegated to a cull buck took a buck I would be proud to put on my wall.  This massive old buck with over 6” bases on his horns had a typical 10 pt type frame on the right side and nothing both a massive forked brow tine on the left side.   During the 3 day hunt, the boys each took big Fallow Deer and Matt took a 36” Gemsbok to finish off the weekend.  Upon taking home a hind quarter and back strap from the Gemsbok I soon discovered this was one of the best tasting meats I have ever eaten!

   The Star S Ranch is owned by the Scott family of Houston, Texas and has been run as a family hunting ranch for the last 10 years.  I have been given the right to bring  guided hunters in the just the last year and what a fantastic ranch this is.  The main clubhouse is way overboard featuring over a million dollars of taxidermy and the secondary “hunter’s cabin” is furnished with leather furniture and is very comfortable.  The ranch features over 2 miles of one of the forks of the Llano River running through it with 10,000 acres of classic rolling central Texas hill county land.  The ranch also offers Axis Deer, Fallow Deer, Aoudad, Blackbuck as well as Alpine Ibex,  Kudu, Sable, Oryx, Gemsbok, several other African species and let’s not forget Rio Grande Turkey.  Check out “Star S Ranch” on the Emu Outfitting website for details.