The Hunt for Captain Jack

For a 8 to make 140 it takes an exceptional animal..... as its been said on here many times before. Jack is a great deer. And if I were you I'd shoot his ass in a second. But I agree with ric on the 127-130.... his g-2s are probably closer to 8 IMO. And beams are probably closer the 22.... 26 inch beams are GIANT.... short brows kill an 8pt....or any deer for that matter for scoring purposes. With an 8 u also lose out on your 4t.h mass measurement. Its almost always small unless a buck has bladed beams

Just for a reference. This deer wasn't 140.... he was 138 n change.



And this deer had beams that went on for days...and they were 25

I hope u do kill him. I want to know what he scores for real. Wasn't he just a 7 last year ?

Hey, buddy. Some bucks just don't increase antler growth. The genetics just aren't there. I shot a 8 point in late season muzzy that by my calculations, was 6.5 years old. He had a 15" spread, 5" bases, 5" bladed brows and his 2's and 3's were all 5-6"'s. gross score was in his teens. I had one of his sheds from years past, so I had some history with him. However, I was tickled pink to have harvested this mature buck.
Captain Jack is an exceptional buck in the fact that he is at least 4.5 years old and more than worthy of an arrow or slug. I hope you can take him down. He's a trophy in most of our eyes. Good luck, buddy!

I tried to explain this to stuff to Mason the other day. Some deer just do not have what it takes to score. It doesn't make them less of a trophy, to me. Mason uses Mrex as a benchmark; "Would Mike have shot him"?, he asked regarding the deer I shot last week. "Nope". He just couldn't understand that. Mrex is in a club that scores deer by specifics. In other words, a great deer with "one too many" tines on a side is punished, score wise. Mrex shoots deer based on score. He works hard at finding deer that meet all the criteria to score. I'm not that good. I'll never be, cause all I have for a goal is a fairly old deer that strikes my fancy. The beams on CJ are enough to strike my fancy. If his tines were longer, he would score higher, but he wouldn't be any "better" deer to me. The deer I hunted last year was a fine example of that. He was 6.5 yrs old. I knew him like a pet, and it was time to go. If my arrow would have clipped the other lung, I'd have plastered this site with "hero-pics" of one of the ugliest and most beautiful deer I've ever hunted. His antlers are in Mason's room as I type, and I remember him as one of the best, meanest, most dominant bucks I've ever met. Knowing him for four seasons adds to the memory and the regret.

Capt. Jack is a great one, Jesse. Don't let the number assigned to his antlers sway your thoughts on that. Go kill him!

One of these is 4.5, one is 6.5. I'd bet the one with all the antlers would have liked to ask the one with the goofy rack for a little advice...he may have made it a little longer.

Had I not shot the deer I did....this is the deer I would have pursued.

this is the 4th year old history I have with him. I figured him to be a minimum of 3 the first year I saw him..... again. That was 4 years ago. We have sheds off him and trail cam pics every year. I had him at 15 yards in 2011 but I had already filled my Buck tag.....

I wouldn't have hesitated to kill this deer this year... all 115 inches of him

bowhunter1023 said:

Yes. You could see where he had some nubbins, but no actual tines. If he'd grow that G3 on his let side back to match, that would be a big help.

One other reason I want to kill him is it appears he's keeping other bucks from using the farm. He runs that corn pile and I haven't had a pic of a truly good buck in the last 2 years other than him. It's that, or there is a real lack of mature bucks in our area.

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I'd bet every piece of hunting crap in my garage that deer is doing that very thing. On my once well-monitored piece in Fayette, there has always been one really dominant deer that runs the place. When we kill one of them, another moves in right away. Ugly 6 died last year, this year, there is a really big, bossy, mean monster buck that only has ONE spike antler about 15" long, huge body. He rules the place. In fact, I saw him run my buck off a doe on Nov 3, and another on Nov 11. He doesn't even have to fight 'em, he looks at them and they RUN! It's awesome video footage to see. He's crippled, one ugly horn, and runs the dang place!

Kaiser878 said:

For a 8 to make 140 it takes an exceptional animal..... as its been said on here many times before. Jack is a great deer. And if I were you I'd shoot his ass in a second. But I agree with ric on the 127-130.... his g-2s are probably closer to 8 IMO. And beams are probably closer the 22.... 26 inch beams are GIANT.... short brows kill an 8pt....or any deer for that matter for scoring purposes. With an 8 u also lose out on your 4t.h mass measurement. Its almost always small unless a buck has bladed beams

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You get 4 circumference measurements regardless. On a 8 point you measure half way from the G3 to the tip of the beam and take it here. However, it still takes a great 8 to make 140.

Smoke 'em and start the next story. That's a trophy in anyone's book given the history that you have of him. No regret in shooting him.

I agree , not that my opinion means squat . Just kill em and let us know what he scores then .

Flatlander said:

You get 4 circumference measurements regardless. On a 8 point you measure half way from the G3 to the tip of the beam and take it here. However, it still takes a great 8 to make 140.

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Yes....that's what I said. But like I said. Most 8s get screwed by this mass measurement because they really start narrowing down at this point

The score is irrelevant. The history and the chase is the iceing on the cake. Hope you get a crack at him before Thanksgiving.

Kaiser878 said:

Yes....that's what I said. But like I said. Most 8s get screwed by this mass measurement because they really start narrowing down at this point

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Ok, I see. I misread your post. I tend to do that sometimes, sorry man.

Flatlander said:

Ok, I see. I misread your post. I tend to do that sometimes, sorry man.

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No problem my friend. Easy to do....sometimes I don't make the best sense. Ha

Kaiser878 said:

No problem my friend. Easy to do....sometimes I don't make the best sense. Ha

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Yeeeepppp can't argue with that one hahaha.......