Working for Bucks

Cort Travis is back on the Oklahoma Outdoors Podcast this week with another great story. Some of you may remember Cort as the Oklahoma State University student who killed a 200" buck a few years ago. While this one wasn't quite that good, he is still a heck of a buck and has a heck of a story to go with it. And while two big whitetails are great, the bigger lesson in this episode is that no matter your financial situation, with a little hard work, you too can have a chance at some great hunting opportunities.

Cort's first buck came after getting permission to hunt some land owned by his landlord, and this second buck came from that same property. Being a college student, and now freshly out of college and trying to make a living in this crazy world, Cort didn't have a lot of extra cash laying around to pay for a lease. Instead of giving up or just not hunting however, Cort rolled up his sleeves and made a deal with the land owner to work around the property in exchange for hunting rights. Doing odd jobs and helping work cattle has earned Cort the right to hunt a great property and harvest two fantastic whitetail deer.

Check out the Sportsmen's Empire Podcast Network for more relevant outdoor content!

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[00:00:00] Hey guys and gals, welcome to the Oklahoma Outdoors podcast brought to you by Arrowhead Land Company. Here, you will be educated, entertained, and equipped to get more out of your outdoor experience. So hold on tight, because here we go!

Alright folks, welcome to the show. I'm gonna be real with y'all real quick. So this is my third pre recorded episode that I'm putting out. So it's still October, back here in podcast land. And I've talked about it the last two weeks, so I'm getting ready to go on my Iowa trip. So I have to have an episode like the week before, basically the week I leave, and then I probably won't be able to record one while I'm gone, so I have to have another episode for that week after that.

And so that's what I'm doing right now. I've been sitting in this chair for a lot of hours, and [00:01:00] essentially I'm just out of intro type small talk stuff to go over. So that's why you're getting slightly more drained John right now. I apologize for that. I yeah, I just, I really wanted to get some episodes out, so I've been working overtime to do that.

I've recorded basically two episodes a week for the past three weeks, essentially, and tonight is editing night. And this is my third podcast to edit in a row, and so I'm just a little worn down. But I don't want to be all doom and gloom. Let's see, I think this episode drops November 3rd. 13th and so more than likely we are like headlong into the lockdown phase of the rut and so it may seem like things are slowing down the sightings have probably gone down and that's just because there are a lot of does being bred right now.

I want to encourage you guys because this is still a really good time to kill a big buck because as soon as he's done breeding that doe He's going to be on the look for another doe. So it may seem slow. You're probably questioning yourself a lot. Am I in the right [00:02:00] spot? I'm not seeing anything.

My biggest piece of advice for hunting this type of or this, portion of the rut is use your historical data like we talked about a few weeks ago and just put yourself in the best spot possible and just be patient and stay there. Stay in the woods, put in the time, because like I said, eventually That buck is going to get up and he's going to be looking for his next doe.

And that's when he's going to come by your stand. So you just got to stay at it. This is the true grind. I think a lot of people talk about the grind of the rut and really pre rut because that's when a lot of people are fresh and they're hunting the most. But if you really want to know the grind portion of the rut, it's right now.

Cause as I mentioned, Deer signs are, or deer sightings are probably down, you've probably been hunting a lot you're starting to second guess yourself and everything so yeah, that's what I'm saying, you just gotta stick to it, stick to your guns, and be patient so yeah, that's my two cents on that I believe duck season just is the opener[00:03:00] good luck to all you duck hunters. Hope y'all are smashing them. I am very ready to do some duck hunting. I got some new decoys sitting in the garage. I got a new pair of waders. I got that blind that I got, on half off or clearance or whatever it was. So definitely ready to do some duck hunting.

Obviously, I'm gonna be hopefully doing some more deer hunting. I don't know. By the time you're listening to this I could have killed two or three more bucks. There's no way to know. So yeah. Good luck to all you guys next week I will be back, more semi live and I'll be filling you in on basically what has happened between the time I'm recording this and the time that you guys listen to the next episode.

In that time I've probably done a little muzzleloader hunting and possibly might have done some hunting in Texas. Hopefully as long as, the earth doesn't catch on fire, I'll be hunting in Iowa. And so yeah, I'll have a lot of stuff to catch you guys up on the next episode, alright, like I said, I'm pretty much out of small talk. So that's gonna do it for that. This week we have a really good episode with my old buddy Court Travis. For those of you who that sounds familiar, Court is the Oklahoma State student who shot a [00:04:00] giant buck just outside of Stillwater. And and he's now a little bit older, he has graduated, but he's still hunting around there, and that's part of the reason I wanted to have Court on, is because he's still young he's fresh got a new job and everything, can't afford, a big fancy lease or anything like that but he is still doing great and killing good deer on a good property, basically just through hard work.

He's not paying a dime He has a deal with the landowner where he just, basically does some work and he gets to hunt there. So yeah, I just want to really excited about this one for all the young hunters out there. And you don't have to be young. Like you've just dreamed of being able to hunt some private land.

This is the episode for you. So take some notes. Again, Court's a great guy. I always enjoy having them on. And that is what we have this week. So that's it. This is my last episode to edit. And so I'm going to finish this one up as soon as I get done with this intro. Thank you guys for listening.

And we're going to get into my episode with Court, right? Hey everybody. Welcome to today's show. And [00:05:00] today we've got our old friend, Mr. Court Travis on. How are you doing Court? Doing well. How are you doing? Oh, not too bad. You're probably doing better than I am though. You're headed back from the taxidermist, right?

I sure am. I had some success this past weekend, but hey you're not doing too bad yourself, I hear. No, man. It's it's been crazy. It just seems like there has been a ton of early season success this year. I've talked to a few people about it. I think it was the dry summer. I think bucks are just so much more reliant.

On feeders and food plot, basically just the food that we're putting out there for them. But there have been a, not only just a ton of bucks, but some good bucks and lots of trash and drop times and stuff. Just a lot of really good deer this year. I agree. That's one thing I was going to say was I feel like Oklahoma is not necessarily known for.

Big drop times and I've seen a lot of big drop 10 bucks killed this year. Yeah, but yeah, I saw one online a few weeks ago. That was a [00:06:00] double drop It looked like something out of a painting, it almost looked fake Yeah, that's a once in a lifetime. Yeah, I work and we're coming up on it.

I called it back this summer. I think that there's a very good chance that the state record muzzleloader buck gets broken this year. Just again, it seems like we're way above average on antler growth because of our good spring rains. And this year muzzleloader sits back a little bit.

It actually goes into November. And so I just think that's a recipe. I think somebody is going to kill an absolute hammer during muzzleloader season. Yeah, I agree. I personally am a big fan of muzzleloader season. I know you are too, but I tend to have a lot of success during muzzleloader season and the fact that it falls into early November now just makes it that much better.

Exactly. Exactly. Cool man. I feel like we just, did half a podcast and I haven't let even let you introduce yourself. So let's back up in just a second here. Court, for those who haven't heard you on here before, why don't you [00:07:00] just tell us a little bit about yourself? My name is Court Travis.

I am currently no more a student at OSU as I was the previous time up on this podcast. , I'm in Edmond at the moment. Working at a law firm and still trying to get out in the woods as much as I can. And I love to do it. And yeah, that's pretty much it. Staying busy now with real work life. You made it at a Stillwater, huh?

One of the few, not one of the few, I shouldn't say that. It's a great school. My brother went there. And yeah, I had a lot of relatives that went there, cool, man. Yeah, like we hinted at you killed another fantastic buck. And so we're definitely going to cover that here in a second, but I have a few little kind of precursors that I want to wake up, work our way up to that.

And you hinted at it a little bit and in case somebody out there listening, doesn't recognize the name you killed a hammer in just outside of a still water, was that [00:08:00] two years ago now? Yes, sir. Two years. Yeah. Yep. Ended up going over 200. Awesome story. Y'all should go back and listen to that one.

And you killed this buck on that same property. And so I want to talk about just, the property in general and one kind of neat thing that you were telling me about is that you still have permission and part of the reason you have that permission is because you do work for the landowner.

So I want to talk about that because there's a, there's a lot of people that listen to this and, maybe they have the dream of owning land, but they can't afford it. Maybe they're not fortunate enough to have family land or be able to afford a lease or whatever. But part of the reason I love you and your stories is that as far as I'm aware, I don't think you've paid a dime really to hunt this place and you're doing things like working.

So just talk about how you get access and permission and just to encourage people that it's still possible to do that. Yeah, it definitely is still possible, like a very possible thing for anybody to [00:09:00] do for that matter. Obviously as a college student, it was pretty easy to drive around and look at places and big deer everywhere and you want to go try to figure out how you can get on those properties and hunt them.

I had a pretty interesting situation that I was in though. I was renting a house from a realtor. And so the one of my friends that lived in that house before I did did some work for that landowner and knew that she had some properties and would goose hunt on the wheat fields there to keep the geese off the wheat.

So whenever he graduated, moved out and I move into that house, I did the same thing and asked if I could put up a trail camera, throw some corn out and all that and got a yes. And Here we are now, three, four years later, and that [00:10:00] has been such a blessing for me to be able to have that opportunity to get on that place, but it definitely is a possibility for everybody.

And for my circumstance, I offer to help work, whether that's help with the cattle or do any type of farm work that is, or wheat, or Whatever it may be I think that's one of the easiest ways to do it because not everybody wants money nowadays. You could always go and ask somebody and offer your work and sometimes turn out to be more successful than offering money that way.

But that's how I came about that and I would definitely say that's a great way to get access to certain areas that you maybe wouldn't be able to get to if you don't have money. It's not everybody that last certain. Yeah, that's awesome. Like I said, whether it's just a younger person or maybe somebody who [00:11:00] doesn't have a lot of spare cash family person or something like that yeah, it's just, it's great to know the stuff.

That is still out there. And I think a lot of, you mentioned the owner was an older lady, I think, and I think especially people like that that work is almost more valuable than money because maybe it's something that they can't get out there and do themselves. Cutting firewood or clearing brush or something like that, something that for a college student, like yourself, isn't that big of a deal.

But for somebody who may be getting up in age is. That could be way more valuable than trying to hand somebody a thousand bucks or something like that. Definitely. And it, it depends on where you're at, obviously, but small town, Stillwater, there's, most of Oklahoma for that matter.

But a lot of farmers and some of those people have lived on properties or for their whole life and they're getting older now. And that's one of the easiest ways to get around and know people is to just go knock on doors, talk to them. Offer work and it can bring some [00:12:00] amazing opportunities as I've learned but yeah, pretty cool.

Yeah. And, another thing, this is something that I learned hunting up in Nebraska, getting in with, one of those people could easily open doors to other places as well, because, like you said, in those small communities, everybody knows everybody. And so if you get a good reputation, yeah, if you get a good reputation going with one person, it, maybe you see a deer or just, it looks good, across the street, one day in casual conversation Hey, who owns that?

Do they hunt and blah, blah, blah. And you just never know what could happen. So yeah, I just thought that was really cool. Wanted you to share your experience with that. Yeah. Very unique situation, but beyond thankful and blessed to be the one to get to go through it. Cool, man. So I want to talk a little bit more about that property, but I think I actually want to go ahead and let you tell your story first. So let's get into it. This is did you say this is your fourth year hunting this property? So [00:13:00] let's see, freshman year. Yeah. So this is my fourth year, fourth season hunting it.

That's great. Gotcha. Okay. Man, let's dig in. Let's talk about this deer and the hunt and And just everything about it. So had a little bit of history with this deer all started last season, I had many encounters with them. I was trying to remember the count. Think it was close to a dozen encounters while sitting in the stand with this buck last year.

But last year he wasn't near the buck he was this year and was definitely young last year, but he had some great potential. Pass them each time. It was awesome to watch a buck like that. And he was basically, he was just a mainframe 10 last year with one inside point that he grew back again this year.

And then his fours split at the end on both sides this year. And one of [00:14:00] those did that last year. And so that was like the ninth point on that other side. And then he had that extra point. But so it all started I think I put cameras out in Washington. Late July, mid to late July, mid to late July.

And I just, I'm the type of person, I love having cameras out as much as I can. It all just fascinates me and I love doing it and watching these deer. And so I put it out earlier than most people, but I didn't mind it because it was pretty cool getting to watch them for that long, but pretty fast.

After putting Gordon camera out started getting these bucks on camera there. And I'd say total, there was probably over a dozen bucks that I had coming in to this one little spot and he was one of them. Immediately I saw him and was just blown away and loved him. And it's that's the one [00:15:00] that's going to be the target.

So yeah, cool. I was able to watch him all summer and into early fall. And so that was pretty cool. So coming a little bit closer to October there he's coming in pretty regularly every night, but with it being so warm, he he wouldn't come in until right there at last light. And so I don't know what it is with this property, but they don't necessarily bet on it.

They bed just off of it, and then they, right at dark, that's when they come on to it. And so right now the wheat field isn't grown up or anything. And I planted a little food plot as well, but obviously that's not up either. But so there's really not a whole lot there to attract them there except for the corn.

I was pretty much expecting it to happen right there close to dark. I didn't hunt him until that first cold front that we had. I don't know exactly what day that was. I think it was around, cause that was pretty much when [00:16:00] I killed my buck. That was like around the 5th. Yeah, it was, I feel like I hunted that Friday or Saturday when that cold front hit.

And it was one of those high pressure days. It was 15 mile an hour North wind, like just, picture perfect for early October. If we could have that all the time in October, early October, that'd be amazing. But I was pretty, pretty confident that he was going to come in that night. And he sure did.

But the thing was, is every single time these deer come in, they always walk in the middle of the field. They come from the North and walk through the middle of the field and loop around. And. then come into the corn basically from the west. And so he was basically straight west of me and that straight north wind and he didn't like something right off the bat.

So I had him right at 40 and I had my bow up ready to shoot[00:17:00] not drawn back yet, but just needing him to turn and it never turned. And Ended up blowing and running to the other side of the field. One of the other mature bucks that wasn't quite yet into the field walked in not long after that.

And he's still standing there. We can see him 150 yards away. And he sees one of those other bucks coming in. And so he comes right back. And this time he was at 30 yards in the same window that I have to shoot through right to the West of me and he's facing me. I've got video proof of all this, but he's facing me and just not turning.

I have my bow up, ready to draw back in my mind. I'm like, all right, when he turns, I'm drawn and shooting like they're on edge. Like I was prepared right for whenever he turned. He didn't turn one of the little spikes that was with them. Just turned and ran for no reason, caused them all to run away again.

And that was my night. And I was pretty [00:18:00] crushed. I was like, you gotta be kidding me. Two encounters. in shooting range and couldn't get a shot off first time hunting them. And so I was like they know we're here now. So I was a little bit worried after that. And he went a little bit more nocturnal after that, just for a few days, still coming in within an hour or two after dark, but It was consistent right there at last shooting light for the longest time.

So that pushed him back a little bit. But we had let's see, on Sunday we had a little bit of a northwest wind and that is really the wind that I need if they're going to swoop around far like that. So me and my friend are in the stand and my friend is working on getting these new arrows set up for his bow and he just started bow hunting last year and Got him his first deer and that was pretty awesome.

So this year he's going after a buck with me out there and so he's there [00:19:00] every time with me, which is pretty cool. And so he brought a crossbow with him that night in case his buck that he's targeting walked out and I got my compound. So it gets, it was pretty windy Sunday and All of a sudden it just died like that 30 minutes right before dark, like it just went from being like 12 to 13 miles per hour to literally nothing like I haven't seen it that calm in a long time.

I was joking around because I was like, Hey, I can literally hear a deer on the other side of the wheat field in the trees walking. And it's 200 yards at least. And I'm like, can you hear that? And he's yeah. And out steps a raccoon. I was like, you've got to be kidding me. That raccoon was making that much noise.

But also, like, how can we hear a raccoon from that far away? I was like, blown away by that. But I was like, that's how calm it was. That puts it in perspective. We had [00:20:00] one of our little half rag bucks come out. And he comes in, and he was on edge from the get go. And we're not moving, making a muscle.

We're not moving a muscle up there. And he just keeps pinning us down and just staring at us and then going back to eating and then one of us would move our arm a tiny bit or whatever and then he'd stare right back at us immediately and I was like, golly, I'm not going to be able to draw back if he comes in.

There's no way with how calm it is. It's these clothes are just too loud. And I was like, hey, if he comes in I'm thinking I might have to hang my bow up and you pass the crossbow over. He's yeah, let me know. So it's getting down to the wire and the little half rack book walked off just a hair and I put the, I went ahead and put my bow up.

I just had a feeling. And it's three minutes of legal light left and literally here he [00:21:00] comes and he just comes on a string and he ends up not swooping around as far as he typically does. He didn't swoop as far down to the west and then come in from the south of the corn. He just walked right into it from the north.

And when he walked in, he came in perfectly broadside and was able to get him with that crossbone and shoot and he runs and we heard it whack him and he turns, runs into the field. And it was pretty cool. It was hazy out, like right there at last light, how it'll get and dead calm.

And. It's been dry here for a little while. And so that plowed wheat field was very dry. So him, I hit him perfectly right in the crease on the lower one third on the entry side, and it came out on that offside shoulder. And so it broke that offside shoulder. So when he's running off, he's plowing, basically nosedive and just [00:22:00] plowing.

Through that wheat field and basically making a trail of dust, just a big old dust cloud as he's running off and was able to follow that dust. And then I was like, I don't see it anymore. I was like, did he go down or did he just turn a little bit and is behind the dust cloud? I was like, I can't tell.

It was like, almost like when you shoot a muzzleloader and you're like, huh, can't tell what's happening after you pull the trigger. But was pretty confident that he was down right there. So we're pretty pumped and then we get down and go over there to him and he was already laying there ready for pictures.

Like I it was pretty funny how he was like, how he died. He literally was propped up perfectly for a picture. I just went up and lifted his head up and was just ecstatic. Tickled to death, killed him on the second set, going after him and playing it really smart. Definitely boogering them too bad and playing that wind and watching that.

That pressure really helped. [00:23:00] Awesome. Yeah, man, that's a heck of a story. Yeah I've been pretty fortunate. I'm trying to think of I've seen my target buck and, not gotten them killed, like seeing them at a distance or something. I'm not sure I've ever had one in shooting range that I was unable.

Get shot and then have to hunt him down again. Man, that's, yeah that's a challenge, cause every time you go in there, you're educating them, especially if you're there when they're there, just that hurts your chances even more. So that's pretty sweet. Yeah, really three encounters with them over the course of one weekend.

That's pretty dang awesome. Yeah. So I was pretty, or so that was, it was a week apart, but, oh, gotcha. I'm sorry. I thought it was the same. Yeah. Definitely helped not messing with it for that week too. Cause like I said, that wheat and stuff has not come up yet. So they really don't have a ton to eat.

And so they just hammer, hammer that corn. But yeah, it was pretty cool. Pretty cool hunting. [00:24:00] I did have to shoot him with the crossbow and I'm not mad about it one bit. I I did want to get a big buck with my bow just because I just got a brand new bow. Yeah, but I do not care one bit that I had to get them with the crossbow because I wouldn't have got them if it was with my compound.

That's for sure. It was the last two minutes of light. And with how quiet it was, there's no way I was going to be able to pull that one off. And I really didn't want to spook them again after spooking them that first time. So it worked out well. That's awesome, man. Yeah. I'm, I think the older I get, the more I get that way.

Like I used to be like bow only and then started killing some bucks with my bow. Man I enjoy now I love the timing of muzzleloader. That's hard to beat. So I've been muzzleloader hunting more lately and then rifle hunting. Like by the time rifle season comes around, just sitting in a nice warm blind and not having to worry quite as much about like your [00:25:00] wind and being so silent, like I'm usually just ready for a break.

And and man, I just, I love killing deer. And yeah, I feel like a lot of people go the opposite way. Like the older they get, the more hardcore bow, into bow hunting they get because they've killed some deer and it just means more and stuff. But man I just, I like looking at them on the wall.

So I don't blame you one bit. I'm I can't agree more now that I've got quite a few deer under my belt. I'm not out there to do it specifically for the bow. I'm out in the woods because I enjoy to be out in the woods and I don't care what it's going to take at the end of the day to get my target book down.

It's still going to be the same result if I shoot him with a bow or a gun. So getting them down is the most important part. That's right. And I know you you described them a little bit earlier, but describe them real quick for us. How many points, all that good stuff. So he was He's basically a [00:26:00] mainframe 10 with an inside point on his left side, in between his brow and G2 that like just comes straight in.

And then he's got a, about a one inch kicker on his left G2. And then up there at his front, I, like I said, on both sides at the front, he splits, he's got these five inch fours that split at the front on both sides. And so he, I got, I've never seen a deer that had done that before, but he then also has another three or four inch kicker off of his right G2.

And so he's a seven by eight, but the crazy thing about them is since he splits at the front like that. The mass on them is just absolutely ridiculous. So the mass measurement, my fourth mass measurement that should be in between [00:27:00] the three and the four. That was my largest mass measurement out of all four mass measurements.

And I've never shot a deer where. It's been like that, but also it progressively got smaller as I worked my way closer to his bases. So he grew and he grew in mass as he was going out to his beam, which I've never seen before but I thought that was really cool. That is sweet.

That is cool. But yeah, he was seven by seven by eight and I scored him. Gross, obviously at a 163 and three eights and tried to do it, tried to do it as good as I can because I really wanted to make sure I got it right. But yeah, so that puts him at my second biggest buck inch wise ever by a couple inches.

So that's pretty cool. Yeah. Pretty pumped with them. Yeah, man, that's awesome. And I just thought of this [00:28:00] question while we were going through that, and that's why I wanted you to ask him to describe him. Cause I've had people on this podcast who have killed giant deer, you being one of them, a few years ago.

And I feel like I ask all these people how do you think this will affect your future hunting? But I think you're the first person that I've had on that has, I've got to talk to you a couple of years after they've done that. Now that it's been a few years, did killing that, 200 inch deer, does that change how you think about hunting?

Do you feel like your standards raised? Are you still happy with just a good solid, one 40, if that's what you have to hunt? Just talk about how your mindset is now after killing a big deer like that. So me personally I don't necessarily do it for inches or anything like that.

I do it because I love to do it. I love to chase and I love putting in the time in the summer and putting in the hours in the stand and hoping that it comes together and that's why I do it. I don't necessarily do it for the inches. [00:29:00] Now circle back to yes, I did. I did a really big butt or and I worked my butt off for him, but shooting that was, I'm never going to top that, but it did not in my mind, change the view that I have on on

trying to get a big buck or anything. To me getting a big buck is getting an old mature one. That's. Hit his mark. And I will say last year I shot, I killed two bucks last year. One was a 136 inch 10 point. And that was my, I will also say this last year was maybe the toughest deer season I've ever had in my life.

So of course. The year after I killed a big one, I knew that was going to happen. I'm the best deer season of my life. And then probably [00:30:00] going highest of the highs, and I was in the lowest of lows last season. I missed, I skinned the belly of one, I missed two with my muzzleloader. I'm really throwing myself out there on this, aren't I?

Hey, that's good. I'm being honest. Yeah. I missed two with the muzzleloader. One was because of the limb, one was... because I was free handing it and it was my fault. But so after that, after three close encounters and it being my fault, I was just down in the dumps last season. So it's the week before rifle season and this buck comes in.

I actually grunted him in and blind calling and he came in all bristled up looking for a fight and I was just. I couldn't pass them up. He had some really good mass too. So it made him look a little bit bigger, but also he came in bristled up looking for a fight and I could not pass a deer like that up.

So I got [00:31:00] that one with my bow. Then opening day of rifle season was that Saturday. So I shot that deer on Tuesday and then that Saturday was opening rifle. And on Friday I was out feeding the cows and I was on this property that I never see deer on. And sure enough, I see a good buck with a doe literally just off the property, bedded bedded in some mesquite brush.

I was like, that was a good deer. I think I'm going to come back here in the morning. So that's what I did. And it's this open kind of rolly hills piece of property, Just cattle pasture and I go and I sit on the top of the hill under the one tree that's on it and I'm sitting there with the rifle and I got there a little bit late and I'm facing one way of what I thought looked good and I'm sitting there for two minutes and it's cold and windy and I'm it's I'm facing north and I just I literally am [00:32:00] crying my eyes are watering so bad from that cold wind so I was like all I'm turning around or I was like I got to go over the hill just a little bit to get off of this wind.

Thank you. And as I'm walking up over that hill, like I literally walked like 10 yards. I can see that buck that I saw the previous day walking right towards me on the property that I'm hunting. And I first saw him at about 150 yards and he walks right at me. And I actually laid down and the grass was too tall, so I was like, crap.

So I stood up and then he went behind a big Greenbrier patch. And I was like, all right, when he pops out, I'm going to shoot him. So I stood up so I could actually see, and I forgot the shooting six, of course. And free freehanded, he walks out, I gave him the ma and shot him at 70 yards and he ran probably 40 yards and piled up.

And that was, he wasn't anything crazy either. He was a nine point with short, [00:33:00] literally like one inch browse. His his G four on that one side was really short too. But was a good deer got me excited. And if that happens, if I like the deer and it gets me excited, then I'm a more than likely take them every time.

That's what it's about. It's not about the inches or anything. It's if you like the deer and it gets you excited, then that should be all that it takes to make your decision. Amen, man. That's awesome. Yeah that's really cool. I'm glad, glad a cool person like you tagged that buck.

So yeah, so I, two quick stories on that, on those same lines. One of my good buddies who actually just recorded an episode with they had this lease in a very unsuspect, unsuspecting spot. But his brother, who was not near as big of a hunter as he is in back to back years killed two monsters one went just over 200, one went just under [00:34:00] 200 and yeah.

And so my buddy who's a, like I said, a much bigger hunter, he was out there all the time and he sent me a video of this massive eight point, like the king of all eights. Probably had 12 inch, 12 to 13 inch G2s, really nice deer. And he just sent me this video of it, like walking away.

And I was like, what was wrong with that one? It probably would have been maybe his biggest deer ever. But he was like, man, like hunting here, like that's just not one you shoot. And so even though he hadn't killed one, just knowing that those deer were out there totally changed, how he hunted that property, which I always thought was interesting.

And I don't blame him either. Knowing that there was that possibility, it'd be hard for me to use that tag. And then just as an encouragement to you, you said you'll never kill a buck like that in your life. I killed my biggest buck in, I don't remember if it was 17 or 16, somewhere in there.

And he went 175. And I sent it, the picture to a couple of buddies and all of them [00:35:00] like, man, buck of a lifetime, buck of a lifetime. And my first thought was like, man, I hope not. Like I ain't quitting hunting, like I'm always going to be chasing something bigger. And maybe that is the biggest buck I'll ever kill.

But I guess what I'm saying is don't give up. Yes, you killed a monster, but you never know they're out there. Yeah. And that is a buck of a lifetime and that does make it. Pretty awesome to be able to continue to hunt and chase your goal. And once you beat that goal, bump it up and try to beat that one.

That's just the fun aspect of it. I say, I guess I set that a goal a little high for me. You did, but Hey, that just gives you more time to beat it and like you were saying, since I killed that, oh, you broke up for a second. Go ahead.

I was going to say, I am a sucker for some big eight points. So that'd be a tough task for your buddy there. Yeah. [00:36:00] Yeah. And I was going to say, since I killed that big deer, I've killed, I think two that like, maybe went one 20, with my bow, like old bully, eight, like one of them was like eight years old and stuff.

And so I'm like you, man. I just, I love being out there. So just to get a lesson for all of you. That's an accomplishment in itself, shooting a deer that old. Cause. Yeah, they don't get that old being stupid. That's for sure. That is right. That is absolutely right. Man we're actually we're coming up on time here pretty quick, but I do have one more quick question for you.

And I'm going to relate it back to, what we talked about with getting access and everything. So this property you're hunting, you don't own it. You mentioned you had a food plot, so it sounds like you're able to, maybe do a little bit of, manipulation, we'll call it that.

But I just want to talk about basically being able to hunt the same property for multiple years. And just what you've learned about it, how I guess what I'm getting at is like using historical data to your advantage to make [00:37:00] up for you not owning it and you not being able to just do whatever you want.

And so let's talk about what it's been like just learning the property and learning how the deer use it and stuff like that. Yeah, definitely. That first year was definitely a learning curve. Previous properties that I've hunted had plenty of those on it and not a ton of bucks on it.

Right from the get go that first year I was hunting it, I got a lot of bucks on camera and literally no does. And so that was a big a big learning curve there was. It's come right come mid October could be early October. These bucks are going to start getting out of there. But it definitely definitely makes makes it tough if you're not going to be able to hunt that property very much or for a continuous amount of years.

I will say each property is different, but this particular property, it's just. It's just a bubble and a bubble of good genes in the middle [00:38:00] of nothing. And it it is pretty cool to be able to hunt it for four seasons and watch these deer that keep coming back and watching them grow and learning exactly what they're going to do.

Now, hunting it this past weekend, I could have told you exactly what they're going to do when they were exactly going to do it. And that's just how it is after hunting it for this long. And knowing that just comes from putting in the time in the stand and getting the intel and learning from stakes, whether it's being out there or not.

But it can be very beneficial to know what you have intel wise. I'm not joking right now. I have one doe on camera there right now and probably about 10 consistent bucks coming in. So that was another thing I kept in the back of my mind was that I wasn't sure how long this buck was going to stay there.[00:39:00]

So I was trying to get them pretty soon cause I knew that, but it also depends on I learned pretty fast that the deer were not bedding on me. That first year was different because that field was. They let it grow up in the CRP and so deer were actually bedding in that. And that was huge.

That was awesome for me. Cause there's not a ton of bedding there, but they cut that. Now we're planting it. And that was a learning curve as well, because I was like, dang where are they betting? What are they going to do now? Just learning from sitting in the stand and watching them every single night come from the same exact spot.

Learning, okay, these deer stay here all night long, maybe they're feeding around in the field while it's early and then right at sun, sunrise, they leave to go bed. That's what I learned pretty fast was that I was not ever going to be able to hunt this spot in the morning. This is an afternoon only type of thing.

It's like when you [00:40:00] learn little aspects like that having discipline is pretty important to to for being successful hunting specific big wins that are not going to blow everything out of there or that are going to put the odds in your favor as best as they can. But yeah, but managing the property for that many years, it's pretty cool to look at all the different deer grow and be A little bit picky on which ones that you wanted to get, because yeah, we've gotten a few different and new ones showing up every year there's a couple different ones since I've hunted it, but it's a lot of the same deer, and so that's another promising thing to know is okay, if I pass this one, more than likely, if he doesn't get killed by somebody else, which there are hunters surrounding it, but, If they don't get shot by somebody else, there's a great chance.

They're going to be right back in here this year. And that's exactly what happened with my book. Watched them all last year and he made it through. And this year was even [00:41:00] bigger. And he's doing the same exact thing he was doing last year. So it's just you can manage in a place for that long. You can learn a lot from it and each place is going to be different.

And figuring it out for the first time is pretty fun as well. Like a new fresh property. It's. It's pretty cool trying to figure it out. And once you do figure it out, it's pretty rewarding what can come from it. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. And that's one thing that I've been fortunate enough to learn.

Sorry, excuse me. So the property that I used to hunt that we sold a couple of years ago, we owned that property for, I think, seven years. So I got to hunt it seven years straight and it was a bigger property. And by the time we got to year, probably six. I had that place so dialed in and, my, I had figured out all my access and my wind and how the deer used it, that if you gave me like five days in the entire [00:42:00] archery season, like I could probably kill a mature buck on that place just cause I knew it so and I knew, when to hunt and how to hunt and everything.

The place that I'm hunting now much more challenging. My access honestly is terrible. I talk about it all the time, it's a working cattle ranch. So even though we own the property, I still can't just necessarily do whatever I want. I'm always fighting the cows. I'm always having to build more fences or fix fences or something.

And it's, I just always have stuff working against me. And so even though this is, I think my fifth year. I still can't necessarily say, I've learned a lot, but I still don't necessarily have it dialed. But like you said the more you hunt a place and again, especially with you, it being a permission type place having that historical data can make up for a lot of that, not getting to, turn the entire thing into a deer sanctuary or a food plot or whatever like that.

Yeah, I was just curious. Or just want to give you a chance to let people or to teach people that it is still possible. [00:43:00] So sometimes all it takes is some time and some patience. Yes, sir. That is for sure. Cool, Court. I don't want to keep you too long. And but before I let you go, I want to give you a chance to shout some people out.

Go for it. If people want to follow you and your hunting stuff, where should they go? My page on Instagram and Facebook is Court underscore Travis 83. I'm also a Pro Staff member with Hype Outdoors OK. And I'm doing a lot of... Social media stuff with them and posting all, basically all my stuff with them.

So you can go check them out and give them a follow. I also just dropped my buck off at Oklahoma trade taxidermy with my good friend, Carson. He's new to taxidermy this year and he's up in the Tulsa area and he has already done some amazing work for a great price. And he said that I was going to get my buck back by Christmas, which is pretty amazing turnaround, which is [00:44:00] awesome.

Yeah, but yeah, that's about it. Awesome, man. Court, I appreciate you coming on again. Fantastic young man, great individual. So I always love having you on and man, hopefully you still got another tag. Maybe you'll get another one this year and in the bright future to come. So we'll definitely have to have you on again sometime.

And thank you for joining us today. Thank you for having me back. I appreciate it. Yes, sir. We'll talk to you later. And there we go. Thank you court for coming on great story as always really good guy so yeah, thank you court for coming on and thank you to all the listeners Thank y'all for bearing with me during these last few weeks where i've been just running and gunning and huffing and puffing and blowing and going so I hope the episodes weren't too bad.

Yeah, I just did my best with the time that I had So thank you guys for tuning in as always. Like I said, next week we should be back to our regularly scheduled program. I should hopefully have a ton of stuff to [00:45:00] cover and go over. Hopefully at least like at least one buck, potentially two bucks on the ground over these next couple of weeks.

And I think that's all I have for you guys. So huge shout out to y'all, the listeners. Thank y'all for allowing me to do this and come and talk into this microphone every week. Yeah, we got a lot of season left, a lot of good content coming up, but that is going to do it for this week. So huge shout out to all you guys and until next week, I will see y'all right back here on the Oklahoma Outdoors podcast.[00:46:00]

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