# My trophy Buck



## Rich Cronk (Feb 24, 2010)

Here is a photo of my Pope&Young Buck. I took him on Oct. 30th, 1985, and he measured 171&3/8".


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## youngdon (Mar 10, 2010)

Nice buck !


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## Rich Cronk (Feb 24, 2010)

Thanks Don! I can still remember pulling that bugger up into the back of my 1984 Nissan 4x4 all by myself. I had a topper on that pickup, so couldn't stand up straight while pulling. Nearly broke my back, but it was getting dark and I wasn't about to leave him out there for the coyotes to chew on while I went for help.


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## youngdon (Mar 10, 2010)

That's a lot of dead weight for sure, but you were smart for not leaving him.


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## pantherarms99 (Nov 2, 2011)

what a nice buck


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## hassell (Feb 9, 2010)

Real nice Buck, those big ones are hard to come by.


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## prairiewolf (Feb 19, 2012)

Very nice Buck !!


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## Rick Howard (Feb 25, 2012)

Nice Buck Rich!

I see one like that every night..... I think it is tattooed on the back of my eyelids. LOL


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## Rich Cronk (Feb 24, 2010)

Thanks guys! I took that buck with a Barnett compound bow. I can't recall the exact poundage, but the bow had a draw weight of about 80 pounds. I was shooting Easton 2117 arrows with Rotharr "snuffer" broadheads that weighed about 160 grains I think. The buck was angling toward me at about 30 yards. The arrow struck the junction between neck and shoulder, passed through both lungs but did not exit. The buck ran full tilt for about fifty yards before crashing to the ground.


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## Antlerz22 (Apr 18, 2011)

That is for most a lifetime buck, especially with the bow. Good job!


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## Rich Cronk (Feb 24, 2010)

Antlerz22 said:


> That is for most a lifetime buck, especially with the bow. Good job!


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It was for me sir. I have taken a couple with shotgun and one ounce slugs that were almost that big, but after you take up bow hunting then those deer killed with a shotgun don't really count.


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## bones44 (Jan 7, 2011)

Awesome buck Rich ! Not many of us can say we've got a P&Y buck yet. Key word YET. The memory of a great hunt is always something that reminds me of how much it means to be able to get out. Thanks for sharing ! My season starts Monday.


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## Rich Cronk (Feb 24, 2010)

One secret in taking a trophy Buck is to NOT shoot any of the smaller ones. Second is learning where that big Buck lives. Learn how to look at a deer track and know whether or not you are looking at the track of a huge deer. I used the method of placing the four fingers of my hand over the track. If the track is wider than my hand, I am looking at the track of a huge deer, and chances are good that this big deer is a trophy class Buck. Now find where these huge tracks go both directions, and place your tree stand within bow range of those tracks. If he has been there once and came back on same trail, he will do so again.


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## Weasel (Jun 18, 2012)

Beautiful symetrical rack on that one. Good going!


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## Ruger (Jan 22, 2011)

That's a keeper for sure! Awesome buck!


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## Fitz (Jul 12, 2012)

Thats a darn fine buck!


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## NattyB (Jan 5, 2012)

Rich you have a four letter advantage over many of us ("I-O-W-A"). I've seen year and a half Iowa bucks that look like 4 YOA Pa bucks. Yes, South-Eastern Pa does produce good bucks, but they don't get quite as heavy as Iowa bucks...hands down. You do have to pass up many smaller bucks, hunt hard and very carefully. I really have stopped large buck hunting, mainly do to the time commitment involved.

Lots of guys talk about "patterning good bucks". I've done that only on a few occassions during their late Summer feeding patterns. However, come Mid-Oct into the rut, bets are off. Best I've done is to find core bedding areas, hunt off them and identify travel corridors (3/4 up ridge lines) and wait them out on a good wind.

Big problem in SE Pa is that good bucks just don't walk much in day-light. They learn to go noctural. We've only killed P&Yers on the first week of season (Summer Fedding Pattern), or during the Rutt when they are chasing does.

Nice buck and thanks for the reminder of the Iowa Monsters. ...Now don't tell me you shot it on a trip to Texas! RS, NattyB

PS: Hope to be up in LeMars from the second week of November through Thanksgiving.


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## LeadHead (Feb 11, 2012)

Very nice buck, Rich.
One tip for the future if you have to load a deer into your pickup by yourself. What I did was removed the tailgate and used it as a ramp, resting one end of it on the bumper and the other end on the ground. I then tied a rope to the neck (mine was a doe; you would want to tie it to the antlers if it's a buck), got into the back of the truck and pulled it up the ramp into the truck bed. It's much easier than trying to manhandle a full-grown deer by yourself vertically. If it's snowy out, it will help the carcasse to slide even easier.
Another idea that just now occurred to me is that you might also be able to lay the deer on the slanted tailgate as though on a stretcher (as described above), then lift the other end of the tailgate off the ground, sliding the deer into the pickup. If you have a nice new shiny truck these methods might not help the clearcoat on the tailgate, but my truck is a working truck and it didn't make a noticable difference.
Hope this helps someone.


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## Rich Cronk (Feb 24, 2010)

NattyB said:


> Rich you have a four letter advantage over many of us ("I-O-W-A"). I've seen year and a half Iowa bucks that look like 4 YOA Pa bucks. Yes, South-Eastern Pa does produce good bucks, but they don't get quite as heavy as Iowa bucks...hands down. You do have to pass up many smaller bucks, hunt hard and very carefully. I really have stopped large buck hunting, mainly do to the time commitment involved.
> 
> Lots of guys talk about "patterning good bucks". I've done that only on a few occassions during their late Summer feeding patterns. However, come Mid-Oct into the rut, bets are off. Best I've done is to find core bedding areas, hunt off them and identify travel corridors (3/4 up ridge lines) and wait them out on a good wind.
> 
> ...


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Natty,
It was an Iowa Buck alright, and back then I was the only one who had permission to hunt on that ground during bow season. Now the area is riddled with tree stands. I am very lucky to have bow hunted around here before the sport became popular around here.


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## NattyB (Jan 5, 2012)

Bowhunting has really seen a explosion of interest. While this is probably good for the sport as a whole, it's often not good when six guys vie for the same property. I actually put stands on some properties, just to maintain "my spot". (Course the indians porobably did the same thing before us.) Hunting in SE Eastern Pa almost requires a degree in political science to negiotiate and maintain good relations with all those who have interest in the various properies. (I call it "smoking the piece pipe" with the other hunters.) Our heyday was '91-'97 on one large property we hunted. There are still good days afield, but finding locations can be more difficult. An old statistic: Iowa has 10,000 Sq Miles more ground than PA, and 10 Million less people. Pa has 12 million people. You're still better off than we are. RS, NattyB


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## Rich Cronk (Feb 24, 2010)

Iowa is still a great place to bow hunt for deer. Not as good for me because my favorite private ground is now rented to a man who says yes to anyone who asks permission to hunt there. Western Iowa has some public hunting area's that are heavily populated with deer, but you must walk in and walk out. No motor vehicles allowed. Kill a deer a mile or so back in those hills and you will have a long drag back to the truck. I don't hunt deer anymore, but I was real lucky to have enjoyed the days of the very best deer hunting, and this was especially true for bow hunters.


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## Rick Howard (Feb 25, 2012)

I shot this guy 2 years ago on public land in the Southern Tier of NY...... Shhh don't tell anyone. My pops helped me drag him out. He was heavy but we did not weigh him. He was taken with a rifle though. I did see him several times in archery season but, he was never close enough. I have no idea if it would score or what its score would be on any scale. 10 points.... 0 teeth.


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