Periodically during deer hunting season, some lucky or skilled hunter bags a big enough buck to make a splash in local newspapers and TV stations and become the talk of the local café. Rarely does the legend trophy buck that alludes the hunter’s arrow and bullet get the media credit he deserves for such a skillful feat.
The legend trophy buck that has Houston County residents talking these days is ‘triple drop tine,’ or TD as nicknamed by the Yucatan Valley residents who knew him well. At 8 ½ years old this buck was found dead from natural causes by Matt Semling on his farm in Yucatan Valley on Feb. 7 after over five years of being observed, studied and hunted by hundreds of locals and a few people traveling from as far as Florida to take a chance at bagging this rare specimen.
Drop tines refer to antler tines that curve downward rather than up. They form a non typical, or non symmetrical, rack. Local residents noticed TD first formed a single drop tine at the age of 3 ½. At 5 ½ years old he grew a second drop tine and finally, at the age of 7 ½ a third, making him a stand out not only for his age and size, but for his unique set of antlers. The rack scored 181 inches on the Boone and Crockett scoring charts.
While this is the only triple drop tine Semling knows of, local Conservation Officer Scott Fritz has come across them before despite their rarity but never ones with such length. “I have a tendency to believe that maybe early in that deer’s life sometime it was injured,” noted Fritz as to potential causes. “A lot of times when an animal is injured, the opposite side will show deformity.” While a past injury is one explanation, he also doesn’t dismiss the possibility it is a genetic deformity.
Antlers are a sign of a buck’s health since growing large antlers requires good nutrition. Large antlers serve as an indicator of the buck’s health and maturity to a prospective mate and also deter competition from weaker rival males.
Local celebrity
Semling, a Winona state graduate, is not originally from the area but decided to move here after falling in love with the landscape and the abundant wildlife during college. It was after the move into his new home three years ago he first saw the buck.
“I moved into the valley and one of the first days I moved into my home I got the opportunity to see triple drop tine. He was a double drop tine at that time but was still kind of impressive,” he said. Eventually he was not only impressed by the rack, but the elusive character of the buck as well. Living in TD’s territory along County 4 gave him and his wife, Tricia, front row seats to what became a local tourist attraction.
“Any day out of the summer, starting right away in June when I was on my way home from work, I would always know when he was in my food plot because there would be between five and fifteen vehicles pulled over on the road,” said Semling. “He’d show himself all the time when not being hunted.”
Soon, it was not only curious locals lining the roadsides but professional camera crews. “Hunting camera crews from Matthews TV and Wild Outdoors came from all over just to video this thing, he was so impressive,” explained Semling.
Although during the summer TD made no effort to shy away from the spotlight, the wise old buck proved too smart to make that mistake in the fall.
Semling recalls, “I went in the week before the bow hunting season and pulled my (trail) cameras out of there. Me being in there 10 minutes was all it took to turn him nocturnal. He must have known the bow hunting season was close. Time after time I’d see him during the hunting season but the only time was when I was in my truck going down the driveway. He was a super smart buck.”
Matt had friends travel from Florida, Georgia, and Alabama to hunt TD but stated, “no matter how good I thought I had him patterned he would slip through the cracks every time.” Time after time, the estimated 20-25 people Semling knew of gunning for the buck the past few years left the woods without the trophy.
Semling is an avid shed collector and estimates he spent 50 to 60 hours searching the woods for TD’s sheds this year. When his search ended fruitless, he feared TD was dead somewhere.
Earlier this month friends and neighbors were gathered on his property to burn an old barn that caved in. While walking around, one of Matt’s friends noticed a shed nearby and called for him.
“‘Matt come over here, There is an antler sticking out of the ground,’ he said. As I walked within twenty yards of the antler sticking out, I knew it was triple drop tine. I was breathless, speechless. I was not sure how to feel.”
Immediately Semling called Fritz in order to obtain a possession permit for the carcass and get his expert opinion on the deer. They did a detailed check over the body but were unable to find any skin punctures or even broken bones. Since TD was found on Semling’s property, and the deer appeared to have died from natural causes and not illegally activity, Semling became the owner of the shed.
Older than average
Rarely does a buck live to be as old as TD. A few different theories on how he managed to live so long exist.
Semling believes the food plots and minerals they made accessible provided nutrients essential for the buck’s health. He also mentioned that TD was not a real aggressive buck in comparison to others, a trait that may have prolonged his life.
Fritz pointed out “we happen to live in an area that is very conducive to raising large bucks. Farming and food plots add to it but the biggest factor are hunters electing to let younger bucks grow to be mature bucks. That’s what hunters love to see.” In addition, the varied river bottoms and woodlands provide areas to escape hunting pressure.
Fritz said the average age of bucks harvested in this area used to be 18 months old. More recently that average has increased to 2 ½ years due to more selective harvesting.
“I would have definitely chose this guy,” Semling answered after I asked which would be a more appealing kill, the famed 30 point buck or the local legend, TD. “I actually had a chance to shoot a lot of bucks that were maybe a little bit bigger than him but I kind of held off. There were a lot of opportunities that I passed up on some pretty nice bucks waiting for this one to fill my tag, but I waited too long.”
Although Semling has received many offers for the rack, for now he is hanging on to the prized possession. Travis Peterson, at Peterson Taxidermy in Houston, is doing the mount.
“A lot of people are interested in getting replicas,” stated Semling. “I don’t have any problem with people making replicas. I’m not the only one that hunted him nor the only one that really enjoyed having him around the area.”
He instructs interested parties to contact Peterson if they want a replica. Enlarged photos of the buck taken from trail cameras may also be made available.
Fritz commended Semling for immediately contacting him upon finding the buck dead. “When people find deer, they do need to contact me to get a possession permit for it.”
Although TD has passed, the memory of this Yucatan Valley celebrity buck will stay with Semling and local residents for years to come as a unique display of the curiosities of nature and challenge it takes to attempt to outsmart even the wisest old buck.
