Rocky the Mega-Muley
By Jaren McCourt

View Larger Photo

The hunt started Saturday October 18th, but I was able to make it down there a few days early to do a little bit of scouting. After getting camp all set up Tuesday afternoon, I headed up on the mountain. I had not seen a single deer over the first hour and was becoming a little discouraged. As I rounded a corner I caught a glimpse of a rack in the skyline of a rock pile. When I pulled my binos up I was in awh! It was a GIANT 5x6. He had a few other bucks with him, but I was able to get some footage of him to show my grandpa. After getting the video I continued on my way to see what else I could turn up.

The next morning I ventured out with little luck. I did not turn up any new giant bucks just a few decent bucks, but also did not see the 5x6 (Rocky). My grandpa showed up Wednesday night and I showed him the video clip of the buck and he said that was the number one buck for the hit list. Thursday morning we went glassing a new area and found two new shooter bucks for the list, but none quite as big as Rocky. After locating a few back up bucks and the hunt closing in, we set our sights on finding Rocky again. We glassed Thursday night and all day Friday for Rocky, but he had vanished.

My grandpa was set on finding Rocky. Knowing there was going to be a lot of other people in the area, we headed for high ground on opening morning. We had the pleasure of sharing the high ridge with three other groups of hunters after Rocky, but he never showed himself that morning. As we were heading off the ridge, I happened to glance to my left and seen a buck standing there! I pulled my binos up in high hopes, but it was not Rocky, it was a buck that was with him on Tuesday! We made our way back to the truck and decided to regroup and have some lunch. As a group, we decided Rocky still had to be with that other buck. My grandpa and I headed to where we had seen that buck earlier. As we topped out over the ridge there were a small group of cedars located between us and the main road below. I caught a glimpse of a buck stand up in the cedars and told my grandpa to get ready! As the bucked stepped out at 150 yards my grandpa was ready to shoot, but I told him to hold off. It was not him.

View Larger Photo

We continued to work our way down the ridge and hit another big group of cedars. Deer started scattering like crazy. We ran to high ground and got set up. As we sat there and waited, we did not see any deer going up the other hillside. Just as we were about to leave, I caught a glimpse of two deer working their way up a draw across the canyon. IT WAS ROCKY! With my grandpa set up I gave him the yardage of 550 yards! He dialed in his scope on his new 26 Nosler rifle and squeezed off a shot. I was watching through my spotting scope and it was a direct hit! The buck made his way about 70 yards and tipped over! The excitement and adrenaline finally kicked in! All the hard work and summer scouting had finally paid off! We had beaten the odds! We knew with many other hunters after him our time was limited to find him. As we approached the buck we could not believe our eyes. This buck was huge and full of character! His mass was unreal, totaling up at 45"!! The buck ended up scoring an impressive 215" and is his biggest buck to date. Congrats to my grandpa, Reed McCourt, on a trophy of a lifetime! Thank you for letting me be a part of it and trusting me to help you harvest this monster.