By Tracy DeLozier

January 4, 2024

October 20, 2022, I was hunting with my daughter Kacy in South Central Washington State during the modern firearm Deer General season. Pickings had been pretty slim while hunting public land in the Southern portion of Benton County since day 1 of the season. That was, until I spotted the biggest mule deer I had ever seen in Washington State. What was later determined to be an 11X7 non-typical monster that had just been spooked out of a draw between 2 winter wheat circles. He ran approximately 70 yards then turned broadside looking back at me at a range of 175 Yards. Since I was in a seated position already, using my shooting sticks, I settled in on my Savage 110 Tactical chambered in 6.5 PRC, loaded with the tried-and-true Hornady Precision Hunter 143 gr ELDX. The buck turned back to his right and took off running, I looked through my Riton X3 Conquer 6-24X50 and pulled just in front of the old buck's front shoulder and sent the rocket to its mark. The old boy dropped and it wasn't until I walked up to the animal that I realized just exactly what I had taken. While the buck later scored just over 185 BC non-typical, it didn't quite make the state record book, but the record isn't what I was looking for. I am anxious to get my shoulder mount back from my taxidermist just so I can gaze at the monster I can say is my buck of a lifetime.