200 plus buck
Mike HicksEven at a distance of 350 yards, Mike Hicks knew this white-tailed buck was extraordinary.
“I saw him in the corner of my eye at 350 yards on my range finder,” Hicks said. “There was no mistaking those antlers. … I had heard of him, but I had never seen him.”
Hicks, a veteran deer hunter from Dallas who has hunted in Shackelford County for at least six years, was hunting alone on the Merrick Davis Ranch on Sunday. And by the second day of the 2009-10 season, Hicks had his trophy buck.
The ranch is operated by H&M Cattle Co., primarily a cattle operation, with a focus on conservation to benefit both cattle and wildlife on the ranch.
“Big Jim,” as Hicks calls the deer in memory of his friend and former hunting and fishing partner Jim Thomas, was running with other bucks and does on a flattop ringed with mesquite trees. “He was in and out of the mesquite for about 15 minutes,” Hicks said. “I had no good shot at him. I thought, ‘I’m going to have to stalk him.’ MORE
