Hunter: Taylor McClain Gaines
Points: 13 (6L, 7R)
County: Elbert
Season: 2023-2024
Hunt Story
We meet again! He may have won last year, but tonight I was able to seal the deal! Last year I had a baby and wasn’t able to hunt as much as I usually do. I had a decent amount of pictures of this buck but just couldn’t put the time in to make it happen. One morning I was going to slip in a spot and sit on the ground, but there were deer already there. So, I made a loop and was going to sit in between some hay bales on the edge of another field. The sun was coming up and as I made my way there; I came face to face with this buck I called Muley. It was a straight on shot, but evidently buck fever got the best of me, as I just grazed him. Thankfully though, I started getting him back on camera and he was doing fine. I watched him grow through the summer and started trying to pattern him. I was constantly moving trail cams, hanging new stands and walking the woods looking for trails he was using. I went to bed thinking about him, and woke up checking trail cams every morning. Muley consumed my life. At 6:23 p.m. he came running out of a thicket of pines 25 yards from the stand and I smoked him with the muzzleloader! 210 pounds, 13-point. (Main frame 10-point with two drop tines and a kicker at right base)
