Ron Halfords 2009 232" Non-Typical

In the summer of 2009 I got called by Ron Halford. Ron has been a family friend for many years so when he told me he drew 13B I couldn't have been happier for him. We commenced our usual summer scouting. Over the course of the summer many great bucks were found and refound but a certain non-typ that we have had knowledge of for the last few years was looking like his number was about to be drawn. Another good friend had drawn the bow hunt in 13B the same year and came mighty close to killing this buck but it was not to be. My partner Bryon and I were able to refind this buck in October and keep track of him sporadically leading up to opening day. Once the hunt commenced we were briefly distracted by another giant buck that showed up in the country we were hunting. This 35+ inch heavy pig tempted even the most determined among us and truth be known we made one unsuccessful attempt to kill him. The trees swallowed him up and we turned our focus back to this one. After several days of sighting the buck briefly in the thick trees he finally made his fatal mistake on day 5. We swung wide around the thicket he was bedded in and got in position at 300 yards. We waited for several hours for him and his does to move. Finally in the late afternoon we glassed up a lion slinking into the back of the thicket. After a few short minutes of intense waiting while hoping the lion didn't kill our buck before us, the deer exited the thicket right were we needed them to be. Ron pounded the old non-typ twice in short order ending the hunt. Ron's old warrior of a buck grossed 232" and that was a pleasant surprise because we were thinking he was around 220" Ground growage only happens on the Strip. Thank you to Ron, Clint, Johnny and Bryon for an awesome end to the 2009 season.