It all started with the simple wish to hunt with his son and have him take his first deer. The end result was Bryan O’Neal taking the buck of a lifetime on a modest Wood County Texas property. The beautiful 400 acre family place has always yielded successful hunts, but this was something different. And downright unexpected. The O’Neal buck ended up grossing 186 5/8, as scored by the Texas Big Game Awards. After the official drying period, the massive buck ended up with a net score of 178. A legend was born. To give some perspective, O’Neal’s buck ranks as the second largest low fence typical of all time for East Texas. The state of Texas is known for producing an impressive number of trophy whitetails each year, but they typically come from much larger ranches – often under high fence. But not always. Amazingly, there are always occasions when remarkable bucks are taken on smaller tracts, keeping the dream alive for many hunters.
Harvesting this giant didn’t come easy though. This story has twists and turns and you can’t help but smile thinking of it’s path and result. The size of the buck is matched only by the chain of events leading up to its demise.
Adversity and Missed Opportunities
Bryan and 9 year old son Nicholas first encountered the buck on the morning of Nov. 6 of the 2016-2017 season. Deer had started to move during mid-morning and after a legal 8-pointer appeared, O’Neal quickly prepared Nicholas for a shot. Then he noticed a larger buck farther off on a ridge. He had no idea just how big he was. The deer eventually made his way closer and O’Neal reached for his rifle. Nicholas promptly reminded him that it was his buck to shoot. O’Neal didn’t hesitate. “He said he wanted to shoot, so I let him,” O’Neal said. The younger O’Neal then aimed and squeezed the trigger. A clean miss ensued. “I couldn’t believe it when the buck didn’t run,” O’Neal said. “Instead, he just stood there looking around.” O’Neal reached for his rifle a second time, but his son still wanted to shoot him. “He wanted to try again so I let him,” he said. The buck was around 60 yards out by the time he had another shell chambered. Again, the young man’s shot missed it’s target. This time, the buck disappeared into the brush. After failing to find any blood, O’Neal was convinced of the miss. Still, while searching, he spotted him once again in the brush. He attempted a stalk to no avail. The buck disappeared.
The Madness Continues
The O’Neals weren’t able to return until the morning of Nov. 13. When they did, the fiasco continued. “I overslept that morning big-time because we didn’t get in until pretty late the night before because of my daughter’s softball games,” O’Neal said. “I really didn’t want to go hunting that morning, but Nicholas did so we went ahead made the 45-minute drive. It was way after daylight before we got in the stand.” O’Neal said they weren’t in the blind for long before they saw a few does. However, the hunt was cut short when the youngster got cold and wanted to go back to the truck to warm up. “I checked the corn feeders at both mine and my wife’s stands, grabbed camera cards and headed home for a quick lunch and nap,” O’Neal said. “I told my wife Kylie that I wanted to be back at the lease and in the stand by 3 p.m. that afternoon, but that didn’t work out either. It was nearly 4 p.m. before we got back out there. I dropped Kylie off at her stand and then Nicholas and I headed to mine.”
O’Neal heard his wife shoot about 45 minutes into the hunt. A text message confirmed that she had shot a hog and wanted help finding it. “We looked for it for 15-20 minutes with no luck, so then we headed back to the truck,” O’Neal said. “It was getting pretty late by then, but Kylie said she wanted to go back to my stand with me and Nicholas. By then, dusk gradually started to set in and Kylie starts talking about wanting to leave,” O’Neal said. That’s when I saw something move. The big buck had made another appearance and was standing behind a cedar tree about 100 yards away. Nicholas was behind us playing games on the phone, but once he heard the big buck was back he wanted to shoot at it again. He crawled into Kylie’s lap and then he bumps his gun on the blind as he’s getting it outside the window.” Unfortunately, once again the youngster’s shot missed it’s mark. Luckily, O’Neal was ready this time and was able to drop the buck.
O’Neal knew that the buck sported especially large antlers. However, It was only after a good friend vehemently encouraged him to show his buck around that he started to understand the magnitude of it. “To be truthful, I initially had no idea what I had. Deer hunting has always been more about the outdoor experience than antlers.”
This was a proper ending for a man that values our outdoor legacy and future – and wants to share it with his son and family. It’s no coincidence that O’Neal leads the local Whitetails Unlimited chapter, which actively promotes hunting and outdoor opportunities for kids. “Our kids are the future of our sport,” he said.
“Nobody I tell this story to can believe that I let Nicholas shoot at this deer a third time,” O’Neal said. “When I heard him say ‘Daddy, please let me shoot my first deer,’ that’s all I heard. That was what mattered to me more at the time. I wanted to give him that chance. I really appreciate that I got the opportunity to take a deer like this, but I’m more appreciative of the fact that I got to hunt him with my son.”
The O’Neal family no doubt has a story that will live on forever and you can bet that Nicholas’ future as an outdoorsman has been firmly established.
