Flint Smith's Lucky Draw

Every year we hunters wait for the tag drawings, but very seldom do we ever draw the low percentage tag we put in for. But in 2015, Flint Smith drew the coveted late season trophy deer tag on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. After getting the news, Flint immediately began planning for the November rut hunt. His standards were set high for at least a 190 inch buck. After passing on many nice bucks, he decided to glass from one of his favorite vantage points. No sooner had he setup when he spotted an absolute giant chasing does. The heavy typical had huge back forks and great fronts, everything you look for in a big muley. Flint watched him until he disappeared into a thick line of timber. He quickly made a plan to intercept the buck and made the half mile hike down towards the deer. Once there, he began slowly working his way down the tree line glassing into the thick timber every 4-5 steps. After 30 minutes he finally caught a glimpse of a deer. The deer was 60 to 70 yards away and raised his head in the thick brush looking right at him. At first, he couldn’t tell if it was the buck he was after. Then he turned his head to his left and he could see the deep forks. It was him. He had one opening to shoot through, so he settled the crosshairs on the tip of his shoulder and slowly started to squeeze.  The buck moved and started to walk to his left deeper into the thick trees. He started to panic and made the only move he really had. He moved 3-4 steps to his right to where he had a shot, exposing himself to the buck. He shouldered his rifle off hand and put the crosshairs square on the buck’s shoulder and squeezed the trigger. The buck immediately hit the ground. At this point Flint was shaking uncontrollably as he made his way to the deer. With 14 inch deep forks and 19 inch G2’s, the buck’s gross score was 191 4/8 and netted 186 4/8.