Forget the Score! by Travis Roundy, Oct 2013 Huntin' Fool

Forget the Score!
by
The quest for oversized racks and horns
Travis Roundy is an obsession driven by many reasons.
Hunting Hunters love the challenge of outwitting
Consultant and outlasting an older age class animal
Meet Travis that has survived numerous seasons and has
in next
grown oversized headgear. Conversations
month's Issue!
at hunting camp almost always turn to
tales of big bucks or bulls that were taken
earlier in the fall or in previous years. Old
timers talk of the “good ol’ days” where big bucks and bulls
were plentiful, hunters were few, and access to prized
hunting ground was as easy as asking. Times have changed
with increasing human populations, decreasing acres of
habitat, and more demand for tags to hunt wild game. It’s
no wonder we all want to make the best of our hunting
opportunities and take home the biggest and best animal
we can possibly find.
With this quest comes the question of how big is big enough?
That’s a hard question to answer. I believe that each of us
fall into different stages during our hunting lifespan. Some
of us have a desire to take all of the big game animals
available, while others just want a small variety. Some
want only giant animals, and others just want to hunt.
Young hunters are often elated to tag any size animal. Most
of us would rather go home with an average sized animal
than no animal at all. So what size animal does it really
take to make you happy? That all depends on you!
A few years ago my wife, Colette, and my two oldest
daughters, Nicole and Heather, drew Utah general season
deer tags for an area near our home. Prior to the season
each member of the family had contracted the swine flu
during the big epidemic that was sweeping the country. I
was the only one who didn’t get it, so I was in charge of
Afton, McKenna, Nicole, Ethan, Heather,
and McClain with the Swine Flu Buck
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trying to take the family on the hunt while they
were all sick and miserable. We had hopes of
finding a big mature buck, but the reality of it
was that time was running out and we didn’t
have the health or the energy to really get
serious about it.
One evening after work at the taxidermy
shop I loaded the family up in the Suburban,
or the “burb” as the kids called it. We
headed out for an area that holds plenty of
deer but is very popular with other hunters.
After driving some of the roads and glassing
a few likely areas we decided to call it a day
and head home. Just as we pulled onto the
main road someone spotted a lone buck about
400 yards up the hill. I quickly showed him to
the girls, and the two teenagers decided that
it just wasn’t big enough for them. Colette
looked at it and announced that if it wasn’t big
enough for them, then it wasn’t big enough for
her either! I became a little anxious because
it looked like a good buck for the area and
especially for the circumstances. I told them
that someone needed to get serious here and
go after this buck!
Afton with the Swine Flu Buck
Colette took the hint, and she and I quickly
closed the distance to 180 yards where she
took careful aim with her 25-06 and squeezed
off a perfect shot. The kids were all watching
from the “burb,” and they were all excited
to start tracking the “monster” buck! We got
our backpacks and gear and headed up the hill
to find the tracks. The kids were first to find
the tracks and quickly headed after the buck,
following an ample blood trail in the sand.
Dark was approaching, and by the time the kids
shouted that they had found it we could barely
see the grey outline of the buck under the
trees. This meant high fives and happy times
for the Roundy family! Mom had made a great
shot, and the kids had done a good tracking job.
Now it was time for photos. We took a lot of
photos, and during the session Colette decided
we should call this buck “The Swine Flu Buck.”
The kids took care of the cleaning job on the
deer with a little coaching from me, and we
took turns dragging the buck through the soft
sand back to the “burb.” At the “burb” we
decided that instead of getting Mom’s suburban
all dirty and bloody we would hoist the buck up
on top of the cargo rack and tie it down. The
Travis, Ethan, and Afton
435-865-1020
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kids all thought it was crazy
to have a buck strapped
to the top of the “burb!”
Colette saw a truck coming
down the road just after we
tied the buck on, and she
said, “I hope those people
don’t know us.” I guess she
was a little embarrassed to
be seen with a buck on top of
the vehicle.
For our family this buck is the most
talked about and most remembered buck
we have ever hunted. It’s far from the biggest and
probably doesn’t even score enough to measure it to find
out where it stands in the world of score, but what does
matter is that our family had a great experience out in the
mountains hunting deer. The kids got to see Mom make a
clean shot, and they got to track the buck down and take
care of the photos and the cleaning and transporting of
it back to the truck. It was a team effort, and it will go
down in our history as one of our most cherished hunting
memories of the Roundy family.
Nicole and Travis on the "Burb"
again where a client will
shoot a big buck and be
elated until someone pulls
out a tape and, to our
dismay, the buck is 7/8" shy
of the magical benchmark,
and then our happy client
turns into a disappointed
client that didn’t get what
he was hoping for. As a hunter
I feel that sometimes we allow
our satisfaction to be determined
by someone or something other than
ourselves. It would be nice if we could enjoy
the hunt for what it is and appreciate the animals
for what they are, instead of letting a tape measure
determine how big our smile is. I have had hunts where I
put too much pressure on myself to find a big animal and
it has ruined the fun for me. I resolved years ago to go on
a hunt with the attitude that I will hunt hard and try to
take the best animal that I can find but to not let the size
of the animal determine whether my hunt was a success or
not. There is too much in the equation that makes a hunt
successful to let a couple of inches of antler ruin it for me.
So did it matter what size the buck was? Would the
memories have been any better if the buck was 10" bigger?
20" bigger? I doubt it. I really believe that we hunters
sometimes let the size of the antlers or horns determine
our happiness. As an outfitter I’ve seen it time and time
My philosophy is this: Do your research, scout the unit,
take a friend or your family on the hunt, give it all you’ve
got while the season is open, and enjoy every minute of
the hunt. Sometimes the best hunts are finished up with
average animals.
Travis and Colette with the Swine Flu Buck
Nicole with the Swine Flu Buck
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