HUNTING GUIDES AND HUNTING OUTFITTERS
Bobby Rufo with his 304 pounder bruiser.
Over the past few years I have been fortunate enough to travel to various parts of the country to hunt a variety of species. No matter where I go or what I hunt, my true passion is bowhunting whitetails. For me there is nothing else that even comes close to the thrill of seeing a muscle bound buck, with his head hung low chasing a hot doe by your stand within bow range. Only those of us who enter the whitetail woods in anticipation every fall can truly relate to the myriad of emotions that instantly flow through our bodies when the big one steps into view.
Given this passion, I am always looking for new, seldom heard of places to hunt- and every once in a while I find a place that is truly special. It may be the guides, the hospitality, the scenery, or the quality of herd, but there are some indescribable traits that set some hunting places apart from others.
Last summer I heard of a place known as Briarwood Ranch through a friend. It turns out Briarwood Ranch, located in Plymouth, Illinois, was purchased in 1990 by a whitetail fanatic in hopes of creating a one-of-a-kind monster buck paradise. According to Chad John, the Ranch Manager, the land was selected based on the superior genetics of the local whitetail herd, the outstanding food sources, property layout and topography.
At the time the ranch was purchased, a helicopter survey revealed approximately 90 whitetails on the 1600-acre property, of which only 11 were antlered bucks with the most mature buck being estimated at only 2-1/2 years old. This type of ratio is fairly typical of lands where whitetail management is poor or non-existent.
Shortly after the purchase, a management fence was installed so that the herd could be better managed. For the first few years only does were harvested in an effort to balance the buck to doe ratio. Only after many years of proper management techniques, was the first buck harvested. Since then, three bucks scoring over 200 inches have been harvested on this primarily bow-only property, and quite a few other monsters have been taken. Briarwood is now the home of a strictly native deer herd that has a healthy buck to doe ratio (and that may actually have more bucks than does!)
In the summer of 1999, Briarwood Ranch was purchased by Mr. Don Barry who, along with Chad, continues the tradition of extreme trophy whitetail management on the property. In speaking with Chad, I was ecstatic to hear that they do offer a very limited number of hunts every year to paying hunters fortunate enough to get a slot with them. Briarwood offers both "trophy" and "management" hunts and I was fortunate enough to get a management slot for the 1999 season. (A management hunt is generally described as a hunt for a mature 8-point whitetail).
I literally counted the days, and after waiting for what seemed like a century, I boarded the flight to Illinois to begin my adventure for a Briarwood buck. Accommodations were unexpected with a very nice ranch house featuring a large game room complete with cathedral ceilings, full bar, and dining area. Each hunter had his own room with a down comforter-covered bed. My bathroom even had a whirlpool bathtub. The meals, created by our cook, Cheri, were absolutely second to none. Steaks, shrimp, and pork chops hit the spot every time. We were hardly "roughing" it!
My hunting buddy, Bobby Rufo and I made it in time for an evening hunt the very first day. After a mad scramble to get our bows ready and camo unpacked we each met up with our guides and boarded our electric-powered off-road golf carts (much more quiet than an ATV) to our hunting areas. Chad guided me and we climbed high into a stand overlooking a draw, which led down to a food plot. Chad arranged his stand just above and behind mine. As light faded two bucks made their appearance. The first was a young 8 pointer - one who had the potential to be big in the next few years. Shortly after him came a nice, perfectly symmetrical 10 pointer that would probably score in the 140's. Chad leaned down and whispered, "he's just a baby".
The next few sits in Briarwood's tree stands had me wishing I was on a trophy hunt. I had both a 170"+ 10 pointer walk within 25 yards and also had a mid-160 class buck within 20 yards. Just to see animals of this size, chasing does during the rut was enough to give me buck fever! While I saw quite a few management deer, one stood out. He had been seen a few times in the past two years, but no hunter was able to connect. This "management" buck was a typical 8-point main frame, with two long (4-5 inch) kickers coming straight back off of each G-2, and with a kicker coming down off of each one of those kickers. His antler configuration gave him the nick name "Back Stabber". Unfortunately, while I had the OK from Chad to shoot him, he never came closer than 50 yards. My hunt would go on to the next day.
Saturday morning broke calm with not a cloud in the sky. We decided to setup on a ridge-top stand. At about 9 am we saw a beautiful 145-class 9 pointer. Chad gave me the thumbs up and I prepared for the shot. Unfortunately, I played cat and mouse with the buck for about 15 minutes. And while the buck did stay in range for quite a long time, it seems he picked every bush to stand behind, never offering me a clean shot. My heart sank as he finally made his way down the hill and away from our stand.
At that point Chad thought it best that we go to another stand to hunt until noon. After all, the rut was on and bucks were chasing does throughout the entire day.
We drove to another area and hunted a creek bottom where multiple draws converged. After not seeing any movement in the first hour, we decided to perform a rattling sequence. The rattling got immediate attention from a curious young 8 pointer who came in to check out who was fighting. When he left I hit the antlers again and hung them from my stand. I checked to my left and slowly scanned to the right. When I looked to the right Chad whispered excitedly, "Kill him!" I thought to myself "kill who?"
The deer had come in quickly on the left side and had appeared out of nowhere. He cruised confidently up the creek bottom and I needed to make a decision quickly. He wasn't huge, but definitely old and mature. A perfect deer to harvest for management purposes. He continued his stride up the creek bottom as I drew my Hoyt Striker II. He was so busy, he wouldn't stop for my grunt or bleat. As he stepped out from behind a tree at 24 yards I applied back tension and the arrow flew straight and true, taking the buck through both lungs. He jumped at the shot and ran straight away. Within just a few seconds we heard the crash. He had only gone about 75 yards and wound up in the creek.
The author enjoying the electric "buggies".
It took me a few minutes to compose myself enough to get out of the stand. Chad had caught the whole sequence on video perfectly and we reviewed the footage with great excitement. A few short minutes later I walked up on the old buck which would wind up to be a very, very old 131-inch bruiser weighing in at 245 pounds. I could not have been happier.
Later that evening Chad (who was allowed to take a management deer himself) and I headed for a rifle blind to do some videotaping and to take a doe or two out of the herd if we could get a close enough bow shot.
After talking about hunting, bows, and kids for about two hours the soy fields started filling with deer. A single doe came out across the cart path and I signaled Chad and got the video camera ready. Just as he was about to shoot, a nice management buck in the 140 class came out behind her. The shot was perfect and was caught on camera. Chad was so excited as we reviewed the tape. As we reviewed the tape right after the shot, Chad pointed out a few does just behind the blind on my side. I hurried my Hoyt to the ready and handed Chad the camera. My rangefinder indicated 31 yards to the broadside doe. Chad whispered that he was ready with the camera and I anchored my 30-yard pin a little low behind her right shoulder. She dropped at the sound of the shot and the arrow hit the mark for a picture perfect double lung hit. What a day! Two deer down for me in one day and two deer down that evening inside of one minute!
Bob made out equally as well and took a 304 pound 8 pointer that had every main point broken in one place or another. Even with all the broken tines, he scored above 130 inches - a massive deer to say the least.
As Bob and I drove back to the airport we could not stop talking about the deer we had seen. We had each seen so many bucks we stopped counting. Somewhere between the ranch house and the end of the driveway had already committed to making Briarwood part of our hunting plans for many years to come.
If you think you might be interested in hunting at Briarwood Ranch, please contact Markus Muhlhauser at 860-729-7807.
