The 2% Buck

12/04/23 • 71 min

This is a very special episode for John, and one he wasn't sure he would ever get to record. On this episode of the Oklahoma Outdoors Podcast, John gets to tell the final chapter of an eight and a half year old deer affectionately known as... The 2% Buck. The story goes all the way back to 2017, when John got a trail camera picture of a beautiful clean 10 point 3 year old. Later that year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, he watched that buck work its way through a saddle and happily let him go, knowing he might turn into something special in the future. Little did he know at that moment that this very buck would drive him crazy for the next five years!

After years of obsessing and hunting the big 10 point, on the Saturday after thanksgiving, in the very spot he got that first trail camera picture 6 years before, John was able to catch up with the 2% buck. The name came by accident, when John jokingly gave himself only a 2% chance of killing the buck because of the fact he was so nocturnal and lived on land John did not have access to hunt. However, after years of habitat work and studying the deer, John was finally able to kill the monarch 6 years after first laying eyes on him.

Previous Episode

Midseason Update with Charles Admire

Charles Admire joins John this week on the Oklahoma Outdoors Podcast for a little midseason update. Charles was on right before the opening of archery season to talk about some of his plans for the upcoming year and a few bucks he was hoping to catch up with. Half way through the season he and John were both able to harvest one of their target bucks, with Charles taking a personal best!

Charles talks about how Texas's antler restrictions have really helped the age class on their property, and how the last two years they have seen a big bump in older age class deer. Those older age class bucks have generally also sported larger headgear, which led to Charles being able to shoot his biggest buck to date. The buck managed to elude him during archery season, but a well timed cold front brought some opening day of rifle season success!

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Next Episode

Winning the Late Season

As the calendar turns to December, many deer hunters are either praising sweet November or cursing its very existence. If you think your season is over because the rut has come and gone without tagging out, maybe you need to take a deep breath and listen to this week's episode of the Oklahoma Outdoors Podcast. John believes that the late season is one of the best times to pattern and kill a mature whitetail buck, and in this episode he is going to lay out the foundation of what has made him successful year after year. It's no secret that food is king when the mercury drops, but there is more to it than just waiting till its blistering cold outside.