Once upon a time…
There was a family that passed the outdoors tradition from generation to generation. Though jobs, college, marriage, and other life adventures had scattered them across the country (even the world at times!), one thing could always bring them back together; deer season.
This admiration and passion for the outdoors quickly inspired a new tradition for the family in 1993; the Buckmaster Competition.
Every deer season, the hunters of the family would venture into the woods to harvest a buck, and at the end of that season, the hunter with the most points would be the victor. There were rules on how the deer and hunters were scored in a way to encourage ethical hunting activity.
After discussion and addendums over the years, the scoring criteria includes:
- Each hunter’s score will include the gross measurements of their largest buck of the season, two times the number of tines/points from each buck, and points for archery deer.
- Any deer harvested via a bow (any legal means during archery season) will earn 10 extra points (antlered or antlerless).
- The hunter with the highest score at the end of the season is the winner.
For example; if I harvested two 8-point bucks with a rifle and a doe with a bow, my score would be 110 (gross measurement of my largest buck) + 16 (for one 8-pointer) + 16 (for the other) + 10 (for my archery doe) = 152 points total.
Harvesting the largest buck of the season is never a guarantee of a win, and in the end, it’s usually the most well-rounded hunter of the year that takes the grand prize.
Each reigning Buckmaster is responsible for adding photos to the book from the season and then choosing a knife to bestow to the next Buckmaster.
The year my husband and I started dating, he had just been crowned the new Buckmaster. We poured over the book one night as he reminisced about hunts and deer from years passed. Each page held precious memories and indescribable moments of triumph as family members explored the outdoors.
This rich tradition had been one more reason to get together to celebrate, and even though I wasn’t a hunter at the time, I could appreciate that.
By the time we got married, he had been mentoring me as a hunter and angler for almost two years, and I was already hooked. Being in the stand or on the boat was something we did together, an experience that we would always share. Those moments in nature together are still some of my favorite.
I suppose it shouldn’t have surprised me, but sprinkled in with the “when are you going to have babies?!” question was, “Jessica, when are you going to be the first female Buckmaster?”
I looked up to these experienced outdoorsmen, and I could hardly imagine ever winning. At first. But I gave it my best shot. Literally.
Fast Forward: 2019 Deer Season
At this point in my hunting career, I had the caught the fever. The Buckmaster fever. I had been asked about it to the point that I was anxious to make it happen.
I started that deer season with hitting a different major milestone; harvesting my first buck off of the family ranch. After trying for almost 2 years, I finally had the chance to harvest a funky 8-pointer that will forever be one of my favorites: Kicker.
For me, my season was complete. I had gotten my Goliad buck, and that was all I had wanted. Then came the opportunity to harvest my personal best, the Big Freakin’ Eight. It seemed that my moment had finally come!
Towards the end of the season, Court, my husband, was invited to a ranch and managed to harvest the largest deer in the entire family, Mexican Chocolate. As he measured his deer and added up the points, he apologized; he had finished just 12 points ahead of me.
We laugh about it still, though he felt bad at the time. It took both of us getting our personal best deer to beat each other! I shrugged it off, confident that I could make it happen in 2020.
2020 Deer Season
This was when Big Boy started making more appearances on the family ranch, and I was determined to connect.
We went to the family ranch on three separate occasions, and it never happened. By the last hunt, I was begging for any spike or doe to appear. By then, the deer had seemingly vanished for the season.
Just when it seemed we would be one deer short, we got an invitation to harvest a management deer at the VWR Ranch. I finally received my Red Dead Redemption by harvesting an older 8-pointer.
I still look back on my 2020 deer season with a little bit of disappointment. The outdoors aren’t about winning, getting the biggest deer, or being “the best”. And that season, I allowed my competitive nature to corrupt my purpose for deer hunting.
Every time I look at him on the wall, I am determined not to fall into that trap again. Every opportunity to harvest an animal is a blessing, and shouldn’t be taken for granted. I vowed that I would never value a trophy over sustenance again.
2021 Deer Season
I went into this deer season with one goal; to harvest a deer with our crossbow. I very specifically hoped to have a shot at a spike so that my buck fever wouldn’t be quite so bad, and so that there would be one more doe tag at the family ranch.
With the harvest of TenPoint, my season was complete in my mind. It couldn’t get any better than finally achieving a goal I had been working towards since I started hunting.
A month later, Court put a 3-pointer from the ranch in the freezer and recovered a great 8-pointer; unfortunately, coyotes got to the buck before he did, and the meat was lost.
As we faced a venison shortage, he gifted me instead with a hunt for Christmas with our friends at the VWR Ranch. Another management buck? Let’s go!
On the first day of this year, Gnarles Barkley walked out in front of me and provided a shot at filling the freezer. My heart still races a little when I think about this hunt, and we’ve enjoyed a lot of healthy meals this month because of him.
As we waited for our ride, Court examined him closely. He wasn’t an enormous deer, but he seemed pretty comparable to the 8-pointer my husband had harvested earlier in the season.
And with only one other person in the family harvesting a buck of any kind, it looked like it had once again come down to the two of us for the win.
We started doing the math… Fourteen points for my archery spike, sixteen for my 8-pointer without any final measurements. Court would have six points for his 3-pointer, and sixteen for his 8-pointer without any final measurements.
The question was… just how close are these deer in size?
We made a deal. Court’s 8-pointer was still at the taxidermist, so we wouldn’t know the winner until we got him back. In the meantime, Court would measure my deer and keep it a secret until we could measure the mysterious 8-pointer.
2021 Buckmaster
It was a Friday night, and we got home at the same time. I had to run off to a private lesson with one of my students, but not before I noticed Court carrying the mysterious 8-pointer’s skull in his hands.
I kissed him goodbye and knew that we would have a winner when I returned.
When I got back, he sat me down. “Now remember, between TenPoint (my archery spike) and Brows (Court’s 3-pointer), your buck needs to be within 7 inches of mine to win. Mine scored 113 7/8; yours scored 107 1/2.”
It took me a minute, my tired end-of-the-week brain trying to compute what that meant. He walked me through the math, and his deer was only 6 3/8 inches larger than mine. Which meant…
“Wait… so that means…”
“You did it. You won.”
Holy schnikies, it took me a minute to process what had happened. And I’m still processing it a little bit, honestly.
All this time, I imagined harvesting this enormous buck and that would be the moment that it all came together.
Nope.
In the end, it all came down to TenPoint. If he had been a doe, I would’ve taken second. If I hadn’t focused on my archery goal, I would’ve taken second. It didn’t take a monster buck to win; a humble little spike made all the difference.
So if you’ve learned anything from this story, I hope it’s this; the little things make all the difference in the world.
After 28 years, I am super excited to say that I’m officially the first female Buckmaster!
Jess and the Outdoors 