Ryan Ross writes, "I am a resident of California who is in the United States Navy. Currently, I am stationed at Vance AFB in Enid, OK going through pilot training with the Air Force. I have been hunting non-stop for the last 3 weeks here in Oklahoma. Last Saturday (25OCT), I finally connected with a small fork-in-horn with my muzzleloader. I was very happy because I have been in a 2 year drought. On Sunday, I decided to try my luck out duck hunting where I have been deer hunting because I have been seeing a lot of ducks. That day I ended up seeing 7 deer, 5 of which were bucks, and shot 3 ducks.

Monday I went back out duck hunting and ended up getting 5. On the drive out of the public land I was hunting, I was looking out across a field and I saw a doe bedded down along a fence line. I slowed down a little and then I saw something I will never forget behind her. All I could see was antlers sticking out of the grass. I quickly found a place to turn around and drove back by. This time I saw that the buck had at least an 8 inch drop tine on the left side. I immediately called my dad and brother and asked for advice. All they could tell me was "you got to try something." So, I drove downwind of the buck and parked the truck. Luckily I had my bow in my truck, so I decided to put a stalk on him.

When I got into the field, I belly crawled around 200 yards toward the area that I saw them in. When I got to within 20 yards of the fence line, I got to my knees and knocked an arrow. I had my grunt call with me, so I let out 2 quick grunts. Nothing. I didn't want to push the buck, so I sat up a little higher to see if I could see anything and I saw the doe. She was only 25 yards away. The buck was bedded down about 10 yards behind her which meant he was only about 15 yards away from me! I quickly hunkered down and began the wait. About 5 minutes later he lifted his head. The grass was tall enough to cover his eyes so all I could see were these massive antlers 15 yards away. At that time I noticed he had 2 drops on his right side!

Anyway, I let out another 2 grunts and he wouldn't stand to give me a shot. He just looked around and went back to looking toward his doe. I waited another 10 minutes and let out another 2 grunts. This time I noticed something walking across the field toward me. It was a small spike that was coming toward my call. Well, the spike could see me, but he seemed to be more concerned about the large buck so he kept coming in. He got to the fence line and started walking toward the doe. The big buck didn't like that at all and I saw his antlers start to move like he was going to get up. I quickly drew back and when he stood up I let him have it. All the deer took off running with the large buck in the back. At around 100 yards he went from a full stride and face planted into the ground.

I couldn't believe it! Finally, I connected on a buck of a lifetime with my bow. I was in tears by the time I made it back to my truck and called my brother. He couldn't figure out what was going on until I told him I was just so excited I couldn't control myself. I took the buck to the taxidermist yesterday and had him put a tape on it. He really didn't know how to score non-typical bucks, but he tried anyway. The buck grossed 164 even and netted 160 3/8. The buck has 14 scoreable points (including 3 drops and a split brow) and dressed out at 190lbs. I just wish my dad or brother could have been there to share in the experience with me."