A Deer Tale to Top ALL Deer Tales!

First, a little background. Brent is an Ohio native who split the last couple of decades living in either Florida or Colorado. He was first introduced to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation years ago when he saw a copy of Bugle magazine in a relative’s Colorado cabin. “I read and enjoyed it,” said Cutlip. “When I moved to Florida, I ran across the organization and started investigating and realized they had a chapter here in Orlando and I got involved. Obviously, there are no elk in Florida but it’s amazing how many people around here are also involved with it.” 

Brent's Colorado Buck

Through Brent's Scope

Cutlip owns a little piece of property that borders on miles and miles of Pike National Forest land about 25 minutes west of Colorado Springs, Colorado, on the back side of Pike’s Peak. It’s a treasured place where he spends time hunting in the backcountry with his brother-in-law. He put in for a 2012 elk tag but did not get drawn so he focused on deer instead.

It was just before dusk on the second day of his hunt when he saw a nice 5x5 mule deer buck. The buck didn’t pay any attention to the nearby hunters who patiently looked on. In fact, it mated with a doe three times right before their eyes. “To see that right in front of you, they didn’t care if you’re anywhere near,” Cutlip said. “Funny how they are 51 weeks out of the year and then just one week they seem to throw completely no caution to the wind or are virtually brain dead.” Cutlip eventually raised his 7 mm-08 and fired. It was a clean and effective kill shot. He then summoned his energy to drag it out of the forestland to his brother-in-law’s place on private land. They took a few photos and set up a flood light to begin field dressing. Then everything changed. Grunting noises filled the air and things really got wild when another buck wandered out from the darkness into the light.

“I was just laughing. I was so dumbfounded this thing would come anywhere near us,” said Cutlip. “The buck kept coming and sniffing around. When he got close to that buck I told my brother-in-law ‘He’s going to attack this deer!’ Sure enough, he flipped and pushed that thing about 50 to 60 feet down the hill.” (See video below.)

Eventually after a lengthy and very much one-sided duel, and apparently feeling quite victorious, the buck slowly returned into the darkness leaving its victim behind in a crumpled mess with multiple puncture wounds.

“It was a pretty neat experience. And to have such a nice buck, the story and the video to go with it too.” 

"Monster" buck

But the tale does not end there. After taking the meat for processing and visiting a taxidermist, the time eventually came for Brent to pack his bags for his return trip to Florida. Five minutes before departure, his brother-in-law called him to the picture window. Off in the not too far distance they saw a big bodied, 7x9 majestic buck. A real “monster” as Brent put it. 

As the months pass since his never-to-be-forgotten experience, visions of that monster buck remain in Cutlip’s head. Who knows? Maybe around the flames of a campfire next winter, Brent will have a new 7x9 tale to tell. Or better yet, one that involves a nice bull elk.