MissouriWhitetails.com
The Marriott Buck
J. Marriott harvested this very nice 18 pointer during the 2003 Missouri gun season. He has given us this account of his hunt.
On November 21st I arrived at my tree stand about 6:00 AM. Shortly after getting settled in I heard the thumping of deer feet running past my stand. It was just getting light enough to make out the silhouette of this
huge buck chasing a doe. He chased her past my stand and up a hill towards a cut corn field. I stood in my stand straining to follow them into the darkness. I couldn't believe I had seen this big guy and was unable to shot because of the time of day. I just knew they were headed for their bedding area and would be gone for the remainder of the day. Disappointed, I continued to watch the for new arrivals to the area, the day had just begun. Not forgetting about the big boy I had seen earlier I continued to watch this area as well. After about 15 minutes, to my surprise, I was able to see the outline of this big boy against the skyline as the sun began to rise. He was still chasing the doe and was about 300 yards out. They continued to play hide and seek with me for what seemed to be hours. I was spellbound as I continued to catch glimpses of this great buck at a distance. Then, after about 30 minutes of watching them in the distance, they changed directions and headed straight towards my stand. By this time it was well past shooting hours and I could see him clearly. He was huge. It was the type of buck I had hunted 30 years for. Passing on the 2 and 3 year bucks over the past years were paying off. When I realized I might actually have a shot at this great prize I raised my gun and tried to get the scope on him. Shaking like I had never shook before, I tried my best to keep this buck in my gun sights. Closer and closer I watched his
approach. Suddenly at about 50 yards he stopped. They were headed for the surrounding brush and I knew it was now or never. I had a clean shot at his neck so I decided it was now. I pulled the trigger on my
Ruger Mark II 300 mag and watched him drop in his tracks. Shaking like a leaf, I had to sit down in my stand while I gathered my thoughts. I looked at him again and he was down for the count. I hardly had the strength in my legs to climb down from my stand. It got worse as I approached this magnificent animal and finally realized my dream had come true. I actually had to sit beside this animal for over 30 minutes before I could catch my breath. What a rush.........
This buck field dressed at 212 lbs. He was green scored at 199 2/8 with 18 scoreable points
and only 5 6/8 deductions. My best buck ever.
I can only hope that all hunters will have the experience I had while on this hunt. It will live with me for ever.
Equipment:
Gun.................... Ruger M77 Mark II Winchester 300 mag
Ammunition.......Winchester 180 gr Fail Safe
Optics................ Leupold Vari-XII 3x9x50
J. Marriott
Burlington, MO
