thedrifter
12-29-08, 09:18 AM
MONDAY DECEMBER 29, 2008 Last modified: Thursday, December 18, 2008 8:47 PM CST
Two bucks, one shot
BY MIKE CUNNIFF
Herald Sports Writer
“Mother Nature can be nasty at times.”
So says Goose Lake resident Jim Royston.
Who got a first-hand view of Mother Nature and what transpires in the wild up close earlier this month.
Royston was hunting down by the Coal City Recreation Club on the first day of the second firearm deer season when he came upon an extraordinary scene.
“I first came up the deer and saw them hunching up and then going down,” said Royston. “I really couldn't figure out what I was seeing. I snuck up a little closer and started to raise my rifle when I noticed the one deer was swinging his head left and then right.
“We've got locked horns,” Royston added, explaining what he was seeing. “I kept getting closer and the big deer just went nuts. He was swinging his head. I was thinking both were alive. I lined up my shot and both the deer dropped. I waited for a while and then walked up and what I saw was pretty wild.”
On the ground were two trophy whitetail bucks, who apparently had battled for breeding rights in the area and had gotten their antlers locked together.
“There was a 12-pointer on the left and a 10-pointer on the right,” added Royston. “The 10-pointer, I could tell had been dead and probably had been for some time (a few days). I couldn't tell at the time because the movement of the 12-pointer made it look like both were still in combat and trying to escape. I shot the 12-pointer once and both bucks went down for good.
“The 10-pointer had a broken neck and probably did not suffer as much,” Royston said. “The 12-pointer who was the victor of the two, had to of suffered a terrible agonizing ordeal until I arrived. Mother Nature can be nasty at times. The area they fought in was dug out in a 20 by 30 foot oval and looked like a war zone of hoof action along with tree and undergrowth damage.”
After figuring out what had transpired, Royston had another problem on his hands.
“Due to the antlers being locked together, there was over 400 pounds of deer that had to be dragged together out of the woods,” said Royston. “This was quite an endeavor for two people (my wife and I) to handle. Luckily it was only 75 yards from a roadway. A rope hoist attached to adjacent trees was a back saver and necessary. We did get some help on the last leg ... the trailering of the animals.”
A native of New York, Royston and his wife have lived in Goose Lake for 22 years.
“I have been hunting since I was 12 years old,” Royston related. “My dad got me started. I have probably gotten over a hundred deer in my 30 years of hunting. I hunt all over - Wisconsin, Michigan, Texas, Florida and New York. I shot a couple of nice bucks in Wisconsin, on property I own by Butternut, this fall. I also got a couple of black bears and turkey.”
He also was a fisherman.
“I fished quite a bit, especially when (my boys) were younger,” Royston said. “My boys are 25 and 23 now. The oldest one was in the Marines and just got finished with three tours in Iraq.”
Royston said, “The finding of locked antlers, dead or alive, is very rare in the wild. The racks were separated after a lot of manipulation and the 10-pointer was thawed out at the meat processor. This was necessary for final cape out of the shoulder mounts at the taxidermist.
“After return of the tanned hides, it will be time for final decision on how to mount them,” Royston went on. “Due to the encounter and what had transpired and was found, it will be easy to decide. We are going to re-lock the antlers in the as- found configuration for all to see the encounter.
“It will be a heck of a mount,” Royston said. “If you put them on a table, the antlers would probably be six feet in area. If a library or a shop would like them, it would really be a showcase piece.”
Ellie
Two bucks, one shot
BY MIKE CUNNIFF
Herald Sports Writer
“Mother Nature can be nasty at times.”
So says Goose Lake resident Jim Royston.
Who got a first-hand view of Mother Nature and what transpires in the wild up close earlier this month.
Royston was hunting down by the Coal City Recreation Club on the first day of the second firearm deer season when he came upon an extraordinary scene.
“I first came up the deer and saw them hunching up and then going down,” said Royston. “I really couldn't figure out what I was seeing. I snuck up a little closer and started to raise my rifle when I noticed the one deer was swinging his head left and then right.
“We've got locked horns,” Royston added, explaining what he was seeing. “I kept getting closer and the big deer just went nuts. He was swinging his head. I was thinking both were alive. I lined up my shot and both the deer dropped. I waited for a while and then walked up and what I saw was pretty wild.”
On the ground were two trophy whitetail bucks, who apparently had battled for breeding rights in the area and had gotten their antlers locked together.
“There was a 12-pointer on the left and a 10-pointer on the right,” added Royston. “The 10-pointer, I could tell had been dead and probably had been for some time (a few days). I couldn't tell at the time because the movement of the 12-pointer made it look like both were still in combat and trying to escape. I shot the 12-pointer once and both bucks went down for good.
“The 10-pointer had a broken neck and probably did not suffer as much,” Royston said. “The 12-pointer who was the victor of the two, had to of suffered a terrible agonizing ordeal until I arrived. Mother Nature can be nasty at times. The area they fought in was dug out in a 20 by 30 foot oval and looked like a war zone of hoof action along with tree and undergrowth damage.”
After figuring out what had transpired, Royston had another problem on his hands.
“Due to the antlers being locked together, there was over 400 pounds of deer that had to be dragged together out of the woods,” said Royston. “This was quite an endeavor for two people (my wife and I) to handle. Luckily it was only 75 yards from a roadway. A rope hoist attached to adjacent trees was a back saver and necessary. We did get some help on the last leg ... the trailering of the animals.”
A native of New York, Royston and his wife have lived in Goose Lake for 22 years.
“I have been hunting since I was 12 years old,” Royston related. “My dad got me started. I have probably gotten over a hundred deer in my 30 years of hunting. I hunt all over - Wisconsin, Michigan, Texas, Florida and New York. I shot a couple of nice bucks in Wisconsin, on property I own by Butternut, this fall. I also got a couple of black bears and turkey.”
He also was a fisherman.
“I fished quite a bit, especially when (my boys) were younger,” Royston said. “My boys are 25 and 23 now. The oldest one was in the Marines and just got finished with three tours in Iraq.”
Royston said, “The finding of locked antlers, dead or alive, is very rare in the wild. The racks were separated after a lot of manipulation and the 10-pointer was thawed out at the meat processor. This was necessary for final cape out of the shoulder mounts at the taxidermist.
“After return of the tanned hides, it will be time for final decision on how to mount them,” Royston went on. “Due to the encounter and what had transpired and was found, it will be easy to decide. We are going to re-lock the antlers in the as- found configuration for all to see the encounter.
“It will be a heck of a mount,” Royston said. “If you put them on a table, the antlers would probably be six feet in area. If a library or a shop would like them, it would really be a showcase piece.”
Ellie