Well, it took me to age 59, but finally came face to face with my Buck of a Lifetime on November 19th. Mufasa is an 18pt that green scored 185 6/8". The story of that hunt is as epic as the buck itself. I hope you enjoy it.
Luck: When skill and opportunity meet. This is a short story of a lucky encounter of a lifetime!
The ranchers, cowboys, and hunters in this NW Texas town named him Mufasa. The name Mufasa is of African origin and means 'king' or 'ruler'. It comes from the Swahili verb ku-fasa, which means 'to rule over' or 'govern'. The name is associated with leadership, strength, wisdom, and royalty. Mufasa was a free-range ghost that ruled over thousands of acres for many years, never making a single mistake…until November 19, 2024. Here's the story of that epic encounter.
First, I want to thank my brother and my best friend for sharing this experience with me. All three of us had epic encounters over that three day span, and luck was on our sides. The entire experience is irreplaceable. From the stories shared on our 30-hour roundtrip to experiencing the unique wilderness of the mesquite and juniper trees, across the miles and miles of nothing but cactus and tumbleweed and a world of wild things that most people on this earth don't even know exist! Combined with the bonding with real ranchers, cowboys, and guides just elevated this entire hunt to priceless! A special thank you to my guide Travis Adams for always giving me 100%! I know the day is coming I'll come home empty handed, but four for four is a heck of track record buddy
.
Mufasa: The Final Chapter. That first day was pretty much a complete loss. Heavy thunderstorms brought flooding rains followed by high winds. So, the pressure was on to make it happen within three days. Fortunately, the weather wouldn't be an obstacle those days, so it was all up to luck. You know, that skill meets opportunity thing. Well, day two was that thing!
We started off that morning watching the sunrise from an elevated position where we could see probably 1,000 or more yards. Not a cloud in the sky, and a steady light breeze and upper 30s. Absolutely gorgeous day to truly be in the middle of nowhere! After watching several bucks, we decided to take full advantage of the middle of the rut and spend the remainder of the morning rattling, so just before 8 we jump in the SXS to begin a sequence of rattling across a few thousand acres. Fate had a different version planned that morning.
We arrive at the first location and set up on the shady side of a thick Ashe Juniper tree. For those not familiar with this tree. It's much like a normal cedar tree we see across TN, but imagine it more rounded and short. I included a picture to show our set-up. We were on the opposite side of the Juniper shown by the red arrow. Standing in the shade with the breeze in our face, it's time to commence the most intense form of trophy whitetail buck hunting…rattling. You absolutely have to be on full alert and ready for anything to happen…FAST! Here we go…it's about 8 am.
Travis begins his usual sequence of smashing horns together and simultaneously grunting to mimic two mature bucks fighting. I'm standing next to him with my Browning .300 stainless A-bolt loaded with custom reloads (special thanks to my brother for those hot reloads) with that trusty 35 year old rifle locked into a BOG deathgrip tripod ready for whatever comes next, or at least I thought so! Within a minute or so we see a large framed 9pt, maybe mid-140s, approaching fast from probably 500 yards away. I'm admiring him through my Leupold scope right up until he gets about 150 yds away. I put the crosshair on his chest and say out loud, but quietly, 'boom, you're down'. I'm just wishing he was about 20-30" bigger. I no more than uttered those words and I hear a buck grunt behind us…CLOSE! I say to Travis standing behind me, 'Did you hear that buck grunt right behind us?'. I'm trying to look out of the corner of my eye to locate this ghost that magically appeared nearly on top of us when I hear Travis say in as loud a quiet voice as he could utter the words, 'That's him, that's the buck we're after…RIGHT BEHIND US!'. I turn my head and look through that Juniper, and standing maybe 20-25 feet away (not yards!) was one side of a rack unlike I had ever saw before in the wild! He was so freaking close I saw drool drip from his mouth. OMG, now what! I don't know how many possible scenarios I processed in what must have been a second or two. My 50 years of hunting experiences quickly came to one conclusion. Ease the gun out of the tripod and swiftly, but methodically, turn around and shoot through the Juniper tree. I have to reach up and release tension on the deathgrip to be able to raise the rifle up and around to shoulder that 20 foot shot through something I can barely even see through. In the meantime, that 9pt we rattled in has apparently become our decoy. Mufasa kept staring at him while at the same time knowing something was on the other side of that Juniper just feet away. He would look our way, then look at that 9pt, then back our way, and I was attempting to make this 90-degree maneuver when he wasn't looking at us, but you can only outsmart an old brute like that for a few seconds if you're lucky. Before I could get into full position to take the shot, he gets too nervous and bolts! My instincts kicked in again and I immediately ran to the side of the Juniper fully expecting to commence unloading. As we use to call it, 'Spray and Pray'. To my amazement, he ran about 40 yards away and stopped broadside to look at that other buck one more time! Are you kidding! Did this just happen to me. A 185" 18pt buck standing broadside at 40 yards! Oh, this deal is done! With complete confidence I shoulder my trusty .300 to put an end to Mufasa's reign. As I squeeze that hair trigger, nothing happens!!! You see, I had been watching that 9pt with zero intention of shooting him, when all this happened so fast and furious this old veteran hunter, who has pulled the trigger on nearly 300 whitetails, forgets to push the safety off…WHAT?!? That gave Mufasa enough time to turn and look at me now standing in the wide open! My instincts tell me I'm now left with milliseconds before this once in a lifetime moment turns into tragedy. At some point in all of this I think my heart stopped beating! As fast as my right hand could shift from the trigger to the safety and back to the trigger, and as fast as I could put the crosshair back into his shoulder area, Mufasa steps down from king of the Texas jungle. And a few seconds later I begin to breathe again. There laid a buck unlike any I ever thought I would encounter, much less that I would be the final chapter in his story. My eyes teared up as I stood in awe of such an incredible whitetail buck that had managed to survive so many years ghosting through that wilderness and alive only in those few trail camera pictures passed around by those that pursued him.
Mufasa
Green Score 185 6/8" (net of 3-4" broken)
18 points
NW Texas
Free-Range
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/PmjDweQ969kr6m9y/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Luck: When skill and opportunity meet. This is a short story of a lucky encounter of a lifetime!
The ranchers, cowboys, and hunters in this NW Texas town named him Mufasa. The name Mufasa is of African origin and means 'king' or 'ruler'. It comes from the Swahili verb ku-fasa, which means 'to rule over' or 'govern'. The name is associated with leadership, strength, wisdom, and royalty. Mufasa was a free-range ghost that ruled over thousands of acres for many years, never making a single mistake…until November 19, 2024. Here's the story of that epic encounter.
First, I want to thank my brother and my best friend for sharing this experience with me. All three of us had epic encounters over that three day span, and luck was on our sides. The entire experience is irreplaceable. From the stories shared on our 30-hour roundtrip to experiencing the unique wilderness of the mesquite and juniper trees, across the miles and miles of nothing but cactus and tumbleweed and a world of wild things that most people on this earth don't even know exist! Combined with the bonding with real ranchers, cowboys, and guides just elevated this entire hunt to priceless! A special thank you to my guide Travis Adams for always giving me 100%! I know the day is coming I'll come home empty handed, but four for four is a heck of track record buddy
.Mufasa: The Final Chapter. That first day was pretty much a complete loss. Heavy thunderstorms brought flooding rains followed by high winds. So, the pressure was on to make it happen within three days. Fortunately, the weather wouldn't be an obstacle those days, so it was all up to luck. You know, that skill meets opportunity thing. Well, day two was that thing!
We started off that morning watching the sunrise from an elevated position where we could see probably 1,000 or more yards. Not a cloud in the sky, and a steady light breeze and upper 30s. Absolutely gorgeous day to truly be in the middle of nowhere! After watching several bucks, we decided to take full advantage of the middle of the rut and spend the remainder of the morning rattling, so just before 8 we jump in the SXS to begin a sequence of rattling across a few thousand acres. Fate had a different version planned that morning.
We arrive at the first location and set up on the shady side of a thick Ashe Juniper tree. For those not familiar with this tree. It's much like a normal cedar tree we see across TN, but imagine it more rounded and short. I included a picture to show our set-up. We were on the opposite side of the Juniper shown by the red arrow. Standing in the shade with the breeze in our face, it's time to commence the most intense form of trophy whitetail buck hunting…rattling. You absolutely have to be on full alert and ready for anything to happen…FAST! Here we go…it's about 8 am.
Travis begins his usual sequence of smashing horns together and simultaneously grunting to mimic two mature bucks fighting. I'm standing next to him with my Browning .300 stainless A-bolt loaded with custom reloads (special thanks to my brother for those hot reloads) with that trusty 35 year old rifle locked into a BOG deathgrip tripod ready for whatever comes next, or at least I thought so! Within a minute or so we see a large framed 9pt, maybe mid-140s, approaching fast from probably 500 yards away. I'm admiring him through my Leupold scope right up until he gets about 150 yds away. I put the crosshair on his chest and say out loud, but quietly, 'boom, you're down'. I'm just wishing he was about 20-30" bigger. I no more than uttered those words and I hear a buck grunt behind us…CLOSE! I say to Travis standing behind me, 'Did you hear that buck grunt right behind us?'. I'm trying to look out of the corner of my eye to locate this ghost that magically appeared nearly on top of us when I hear Travis say in as loud a quiet voice as he could utter the words, 'That's him, that's the buck we're after…RIGHT BEHIND US!'. I turn my head and look through that Juniper, and standing maybe 20-25 feet away (not yards!) was one side of a rack unlike I had ever saw before in the wild! He was so freaking close I saw drool drip from his mouth. OMG, now what! I don't know how many possible scenarios I processed in what must have been a second or two. My 50 years of hunting experiences quickly came to one conclusion. Ease the gun out of the tripod and swiftly, but methodically, turn around and shoot through the Juniper tree. I have to reach up and release tension on the deathgrip to be able to raise the rifle up and around to shoulder that 20 foot shot through something I can barely even see through. In the meantime, that 9pt we rattled in has apparently become our decoy. Mufasa kept staring at him while at the same time knowing something was on the other side of that Juniper just feet away. He would look our way, then look at that 9pt, then back our way, and I was attempting to make this 90-degree maneuver when he wasn't looking at us, but you can only outsmart an old brute like that for a few seconds if you're lucky. Before I could get into full position to take the shot, he gets too nervous and bolts! My instincts kicked in again and I immediately ran to the side of the Juniper fully expecting to commence unloading. As we use to call it, 'Spray and Pray'. To my amazement, he ran about 40 yards away and stopped broadside to look at that other buck one more time! Are you kidding! Did this just happen to me. A 185" 18pt buck standing broadside at 40 yards! Oh, this deal is done! With complete confidence I shoulder my trusty .300 to put an end to Mufasa's reign. As I squeeze that hair trigger, nothing happens!!! You see, I had been watching that 9pt with zero intention of shooting him, when all this happened so fast and furious this old veteran hunter, who has pulled the trigger on nearly 300 whitetails, forgets to push the safety off…WHAT?!? That gave Mufasa enough time to turn and look at me now standing in the wide open! My instincts tell me I'm now left with milliseconds before this once in a lifetime moment turns into tragedy. At some point in all of this I think my heart stopped beating! As fast as my right hand could shift from the trigger to the safety and back to the trigger, and as fast as I could put the crosshair back into his shoulder area, Mufasa steps down from king of the Texas jungle. And a few seconds later I begin to breathe again. There laid a buck unlike any I ever thought I would encounter, much less that I would be the final chapter in his story. My eyes teared up as I stood in awe of such an incredible whitetail buck that had managed to survive so many years ghosting through that wilderness and alive only in those few trail camera pictures passed around by those that pursued him.
Mufasa
Green Score 185 6/8" (net of 3-4" broken)
18 points
NW Texas
Free-Range
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/PmjDweQ969kr6m9y/?mibextid=wwXIfr
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