My neighbor and good buddy Bailey McQueen and I have been look for her first mulie buck over the last few days.  Like anyone I hunt with, we have been trying to get the biggest, oldest bruiser we can find… But maybe not as big as the guy in the pic above.  When Bailey and I spotted this buck this morning, in new country, we could only see part of his head gear.  We could tell he was heavy and had a nice frame, but beyond that, we had no idea that he was packing some EXTRAS!  As we moved in closer, every time he turned his head another tine would come into view, getting us more excited.  

To get within range we had to crawl through a foot of slew water and weeds… With Bailey as the hunter, and Kelsy running the second camera, I figured the whole plan would be called off once the swamp water found its way into their… personal space… And once all the little swampy water creatures were in sight, I was positive things would go south!  But, the water got deeper, the girls didn't weaken, and the buck kept getting closer…

At 135 yards I began pep talking Bailey on how tuff the shot would be and what she had to do, to make it count.  In mid speal Bailey cut me off and said, "Code, you just worry about camerawork, and I'll handle the shooting!" 

Once the buck stood up, Bailey waited for a broadside shot, and pulled the trigger… The smoke cleared as the buck was making his get away, he only made it a few strides before tipping over!  

When we walked up to the buck, none of us could believe how junky he was; sticker points and trash all over, that we never even knew existed.  Not very often does a buck grow when you walk up to him.