He finally got what he deserved (SAD UPDATE)

[Kyle@theWintertime]

There's a close friend of the family I have known forever. He and my dad have been friends a LOT longer than I've been breathing, LOL. And this fellow (henceforth referred to as Mr. E to protect his identity) is just fundamentally Good People. If you need something, he's there for you. He never asks anything in return, and he's just a kind, humble, gentle person.

Every fall, I mean EVERY fall, we all hunt together a few times. Nobody logs more hours in the woods than Mr. E. He's always a cheerful member of deer camp, and he never slacks off...even though he's getting up there in years, he insists on doing his share of the maitenance and cleanup of the camp. And did I mention he's diligent about being in a blind??? I know some guys who sit for one or two hunts and then complain til they're blue in the face that they didn't get a deer. :roll: Not Mr. E, he has occasionally not gotten a deer in a whole fall but he never complains, it isn't in his nature.

His whole life, he's shot mostly doe, and a few little button or spikehorn bucks. He's never, EVER gotten a really good buck. I always feel a little sorry for him...his little bitty baby-buck or doe will be up there, hanging next to other folk's big ol' bucks. Now, I've never gotten a big buck either...but I'm 32. Mr. E is about to enter his eighties.

A few minutes ago, Mr. E's son dropped by. See, I am planning to try my hand at a taxidermy project; my dad got a very pretty asymmetrical seven-tined buck (seriously, it's just pretty as a picture) and he wants it mounted, BUT...it's a wee little seven-pointer and my dad balked at the pricetag of mounting it. I've got a taxidermist friend who is gonna help me learn, and it frankly doesn't seem that hard...it isn't like I'm doing a fancy cape-mount, just an antler mount. Well my dad apparently told him, and he told Mr. E. Now word is around I'm a hobby-taxidermist. :shock:

But the reason his son dropped by...was to drop off his dad's antlers in the hopes I'd mount them as well.

That's right, Mr. E GOT HIS BIG TROPHY BUCK. :clap: And wow, it's BIG. This is the BIGGEST, nicest buck EVER taken from that whole property. It's an eight-tined buck so it can't claim the record there (I think a ten is the property record) but these antlers are HUGE. The tines are big, and LONG, and did I mention the HUGE base??? It's also the WIDEST antler base I've ever seen on that land...sucker's pedicles are like at LEAST 5+ inches apart!!!

I mean, this is a ONCE in a lifetime buck, and NOBODY on this earth deserves it more than Mr. E. In all these years he's never complained about never getting a good one...looks like Fate decided he was overdue, so he didn't just get a good one...he got the BEST.

I can't tell you how happy this makes me. I'm gonna practice on my dad's buck, and we've got a couple other skull-cap antlers lying around that I'll practice on too beforehand...but for sure I'll mount this buck for Mr. E. I don't even want to charge him a penny, not even for materials, because this is a really special occasion.

And of course, Mr. E isn't bragging in the least...he's just stated that he's pleased to have gotten such a big buck and he's feeling very blessed. So his son (and everyone who knows him) is doing the bragging FOR him...he deserves it!

I love it when good things happen to good people!!! Plus apparently it was just the most excellent hunt of his life, and the shot was dead-accurate and the deer just DROPPED. Way to go, Mr. E!!!!!!!!

I'll share pictures when I get to mounting this beast. For now the top of his head will live in the garage with the others, LOL. No way he will get confused for any of my dad's deer...this monster is bigger and wider, unmistakeable!!!

Mr. E really got what he had coming.

 

[DumansArk]

I love it when those wonderful people, the Good people, get a gift like that. =) Yay for Mr E!

 

[Prisma]

Very true...so glad to hear it

 

[CWD]

glad to hear Mr. E got a big'en.
always nice to hear about someone getting a big trophy like this.
and it sounds like it could not of happened for a nicer person.

 

[Marinea]

Your Mr. E sounds a whole lot like my dad. He hunts- deer, ducks, and a trip every year to Montana for elk. He has been hunting his entire life. Yes, he's gotten his limit of ducks, and has a few deer mounted, but he never got that elk he dreamed of.

My dad is, truly, the most honorable, nicest, most caring person I have ever known. If I am technical about it, he's my step-father. I was an adult (barely) when he and my mom married. But, whenever I speak of my "father", he is the man I mean. Now, keep in mind, this is an old country boy, an Army pilot, a commercial airline captain...not the softest of men. When I married my hubby, he walked me down the aisle. Before we went out, I said to him what I wrote above, and that man cried like a baby.

Back to the elk. My dad is also almost 80, and this past year was to be his last for the Montana trip- he just can't handle all the walking up and down the mountains. When he got back, he told me he had gotten one, but I had no idea. I went down to visit my parents later on, and he showed me the mounted horns- laying on a full size pool table- and extending over each side. Apparently, the elk he got was the largest the hunting ranch had ever seen, and scored some ridiculous number on the Boone and Crockett scale. The meat, I learned, had been donated to a local mission- all several hundred pounds of it. All he took was the horns- and the memory.

Sometimes, despite what the news would have us believe, good things happen to good people. We need more Mr. E's, and we need more of my dad.

I am not going to be able to be with my dad this holiday season. Kyle, thanks for the smile typing this out gave me. Gonna go call my dad.

 

[Kyle@theWintertime]

Well.....an update.

Mr. E called my dad today, and after they were done discussing whatever they needed discussing, my dad mentioned that monster buck...and after talking, he hung up and said, "Well, that's that. You can have the antlers."

Mr. E's wife won't let him put up a set of antlers in their house...there's a "no wall-trophy" rule at the cabin (during summer, they let charity groups use the property for children; but because of that we've got strict rules about what is and is not able to be hung on the walls), and so Mr. E has no use of his buck's antlers. His kids don't want them either...they only want to display THEIR deer.

I'm still gonna mount this buck...it's too nice a buck...and I'll tell everyone who sees it about Mr. E forever...I'm just bummed he's not gonna get to keep his buck.

Apparently since he never had anything worth mounting, it was never discussed with his wife before. <br /><br />__________ Wed Nov 27, 2013 3:48 pm __________<br /><br />

Your Mr. E sounds a whole lot like my dad. He hunts- deer, ducks, and a trip every year to Montana for elk. He has been hunting his entire life. Yes, he's gotten his limit of ducks, and has a few deer mounted, but he never got that elk he dreamed of.

My dad is, truly, the most honorable, nicest, most caring person I have ever known. If I am technical about it, he's my step-father. I was an adult (barely) when he and my mom married. But, whenever I speak of my "father", he is the man I mean. Now, keep in mind, this is an old country boy, an Army pilot, a commercial airline captain...not the softest of men. When I married my hubby, he walked me down the aisle. Before we went out, I said to him what I wrote above, and that man cried like a baby.

Back to the elk. My dad is also almost 80, and this past year was to be his last for the Montana trip- he just can't handle all the walking up and down the mountains. When he got back, he told me he had gotten one, but I had no idea. I went down to visit my parents later on, and he showed me the mounted horns- laying on a full size pool table- and extending over each side. Apparently, the elk he got was the largest the hunting ranch had ever seen, and scored some ridiculous number on the Boone and Crockett scale. The meat, I learned, had been donated to a local mission- all several hundred pounds of it. All he took was the horns- and the memory.

Sometimes, despite what the news would have us believe, good things happen to good people. We need more Mr. E's, and we need more of my dad.

I am not going to be able to be with my dad this holiday season. Kyle, thanks for the smile typing this out gave me. Gonna go call my dad.

That is so wonderful...and you know, when I told my dad (of course I told my dad, that's awesome) he said "better to wait your whole life and get the trophy on your last hunt, then to get your trophy on the first hunt and spend the rest of your life being disappointed that there isn't a repeat performance." :lol:

 

[Zab]

..Maybe you could put a nice brass plate on it, telling the story? Wouldn't that be appreciated and he'd know that his ''trophy'' is still his, just hanging somewhere else?

 

[Kyle@theWintertime]

..Maybe you could put a nice brass plate on it, telling the story? Wouldn't that be appreciated and he'd know that his ''trophy'' is still his, just hanging somewhere else?

That's a good idea--and I know a place that'd do a brass plaque very inexpensively, too. Thanks!!!!

 

[Marinea]

I was just going to suggest the brass plaque, but I will add this: when you get it done, take a good picture that shows the antlers and the plaque and give it to Mr. E. If he's anything like the hunters I know, it will give him a kick to be able to pull that picture out of his wallet as he talks with the other guys at the local hardware store.

According to my dad, he suggests Mr. E's name, the date and where it was killed (city and state). Oh, and my dad said that if someone did that for him, he would never, ever forget it. Just one more good thing coming from you, Kyle. *hugs*

 

[big bucks ny]

After the mount and plaque are done you should see if you could hang them in a local diner, gas station , or bar so he can get the recognition he deserves. Tell him congrats for me also.