Washington County hunter Steve Wehring didn’t know exactly what he was looking at on the morning of Nov. 17 at his family ranch between Burton and Lake Somerville.
It was just after daylight, when a buck stepped out that had Wehring a little confused.
“I saw him at barely daylight about 6:15, but didn’t know what hanging from his horns,” Wehring said. “At first thought it was a big drop tine buck. I let him graze, then looking through the binoculars (saw) it was much more.”
Wehring decided to take the buck with one shot from his .223. When he walked up on the downed buck, he couldn’t believe what was around his antlers — hundreds of feet of what appeared to be an electric fence.
“I have seen in the past years of hunting, bucks having round bale twine hung in horns and such, but never this,” he said. “As you can see the before and after on his horns, definitely a
bizarre sight!”
When Wehring cut away the wire, he had a nice buck with 11 points, a 19 1/4-inch spread and a small drop tine. He aged the buck at 4 1/2 years old.
“We’ve had some pretty good bucks over the years of late, and now with the antler restrictions imposed some years back, we are seeing the results,” he said. “We feed year round, but this year I did put in a 2-acre oat patch.”
Wehring said the buck has already been feeding his family.
“I’m making a new lasagna dish with this buck and the kitchen is smelling good tonight,” he added.
