6 Photos
Some of you have probably read the article about the buck called "Baby 8" in the December 2014 issue of North American Whitetail or you may have even watched the hunt on Whitetail Properties last fall, but I want to give this story the homewtown twist that it deserves. I originally wrote an article on this site about this buck over a year ago, but had to pull it out of respect for it being covered by the 2 entities aforementioned.
Roanoke native Mark Taylor(not of the roaoke times) owned the 300 plus acre farm in Decatur County Iowa where baby 8 lived it's life. Mark is an avid deer hunter that desired a tatste for hunting the biggest whitetails known to us in North America so he invested in some southern Iowa hunting property in 2008.
Taylor quickly got to work on his property by planting beans, turnips and corn in order to create favorable big buck habitat. It was in the fall of 2010 that he first layed eyes on baby 8 while bowhunting. The buck came well within bow range, but Taylor sensed this young 2yr old 135 class 8 pointers potential and let him walk. By the way baby 8 gained his name because there was a bigger 8 pointer roaming the property that was called big 8.
Trail cam pictures in August of 2011 justified Mark's decision. Baby 8 had now blossomed into a healthy 3 year old that was carrying over 160 inches of headgear with a few more points and split brow tines. It was at this point that Mark knew he had a true genetically blessed animal on his property and he decided to reach out to neighboring property owners to see if they would also be willing to pass on this buck. Fortunately for Mark most landowners in this county are out of state hunters who practice QDM. With all neighbors on board now it was up to mother nature, coyotes, automobiles, poachers, disease etc.. as to whether this buck known as baby 8 would reach it's full potential.
In 2012 baby 8 was no where to be seen, but this wasn't totally alarming to Taylor because the buck usually didn't show up for his photo shoot till sometime in August. Just like you and I, Mark is subject to the lottery drawing in order to draw an Iowa tag to buck hunt his property. The drawing rendered this Roanoke native a late muzzleloader tag and he flew out to Iowa for a pre Christmas hunt. On Taylor's first evening in the stand baby 8 came within 50 yards and it was with great restraint that he allowed the buck that was now approaching 200 inches to walk.
The plan all along was to allow this buck to fulfill it's true potetential which couldn't happen until the buck was at least 5.5 yrs old. Some may say this is a roll of the dice, but given the non existent hunting pressure and ample food plots I definitely support Mark's plan. This buck had basically lived most of it's life in a 90 acre core area on this 300 acre farm, so it was the perfect management storm.
As sure as the sun in 2013 baby 8 showed up on the trail camera in August sporting more than 200 inches of non-typical antler looking as healthy and mature as a buck possibly could. Baby 8 was now 5 1/2 yrs old and officially on the hitlist. Mark put in for a bow tag in hopes of hunting baby 8 in early October while he was still in his regular bed to feed pattern. Taylor was fortunate enough to secure his bow tag and headed out for a 3 day hunt in eary October. Surprisingly the 3 day hunt turned up no sightings of this Iowa monarch and Taylor flew home in hopes of heading back out a little later in the month depending on the weather.
This is the part of the story that shows Mark Taylor's true generosity. Before he could make it back out to Iowa to hunt baby 8, Mark received an inquiry from Whitetail Property land specialist Gabe Adair (whom helped Mark find this property) asking to bow hunt this buck with one of his cameramen. Gabe was well aware of this bucks existence as he had not only assisted Mark with the purchase of the farm but also some of the up keep, plantings and stand placements on the property.
So without hesitation Taylor gave Gabe limited permission to hunt baby 8. Gabe made a few trips to the farm and witnessed baby 8 at some distance. Gabe decided to take a more aggressive appoach and went into the property during mid day October 25th to position a stand very close to where baby 8 was entering the bean field. Later that afternoon with his cameraman in tow they climbed into the new set and waited anxiously. Like clock work, baby 8 appeared a full hour before dark and even though he was on the move the buck presented Gabe with a 12 yard broadside shot. The hunter released the arrow and it appeared to be a deadly pass through behind the front shoulder.
The buck ran a short distance and stopped. Gabe and his cameraman could see blood coming out of the entry hole and thought the monarch would drop any second. To their amazement the buck gathered himself and ran out of sight. After reviewing the footage it appeared that the shot was a bit low, but with the blood that they witnessed coming out of the buck they both felt it was a quality hit. Hunter and cameraman made the choice to back out and come back the next morning to recover the heralded animal.
The next day Gabe assembled a 12 person party to grid search the property. After an exhausted search the party ended up jumping the buck some 500 yards from where he had been shot. Only sparse blood was found along the way and once jumped baby 8 bounded off with a healthy gate as if he was alive and well.
A decision was made to vacate the property all together and let things settle down. On November 3rd Mark flew back to his Iowa property for a 5 day hunt. During this time Mark passed up a dozen Pope & Young bucks in hopes that baby 8 would magically appear. Taylor not only had no sightings of baby 8, but none of the trail camera's on the property had any pictures of the buck.
On the final day of his hunt Mark decided to take a 165 class 10 point buck because he firmly believed that either baby 8 was dead or had left the property all together. Although Taylor didn't leave Iowa empty handed his dreams of taking one of North America's biggest whitetails with a bow had crumbled.
On November 25th(exactly 1 month since baby 8 was shot) Mark received a phone call from a neighboring Iowa property owner saying he saw baby 8 the evening prior with a doe. It was at that same time the buck started showing up on trail camera back on Mark's property. Baby 8 had lost approximately 30 pounds, but otherwise looked healthy. Baby 8's resurrection revived Taylor, but now he had already used his 2013 hunting tag and would have to hope that the buck survived the remaining hunting season as well as Iowa's harsh winter.
This roller coaster buck story came to a bitter sweet ending on Christmas day(exactly 2 months from the day he was shot). Mark received a call that the neighboring property owner named Teddy had shot baby 8 at 125 yards with his muzzleloader. On Teddy's behalf he had seen baby 8 and passed up shooting the buck in years past given their mutual management agreement so his harvest of baby 8 was well deserved. A tough pill to swallow for anyone, but I can tell you that Mark has taken this experience in stride and continues to own land in Iowa and also continues his management program.
The lesson to take from this story is...."even the best layed plans can come with dissapointments, but it's best to stick to a plan than to not have a plan at all". The deer management game has no guarantees... it's like a tomato, if you want the best one you must wait till it's ripe. No different than managing bucks, you must wait till the buck has reached it's potential before you harvest it. Baby 8 was an 8pntr at 2 1/2 years and 2 years later he had 22 scoreable points and had added even more character to his rack by the ripe age of 5 1/2.
Baby 8 scores 215 3/8 as a non-typical
Here is the video of Gabe's hunt on October 25th
Below you will find pics of Baby 8 as he progressed from 2.5 to 5.5 years old..
Pictured is Teddy the hunter that harvested Baby 8 and Gabe Adair alongside him.
Final pic is of Mark Taylor and his 2 sons with Baby 8.
Hope you enjoyed the story!
Jeff Phillips
Some of you have probably read the article about the buck called "Baby 8" in the December 2014 issue of North American Whitetail or you may have even watched the hunt on Whitetail Properties last fall, but I want to give this story the homewtown twist that it deserves. I originally wrote an article on this site about this buck over a year ago, but had to pull it out of respect for it being covered by the 2 entities aforementioned.
Roanoke native Mark Taylor(not of the roaoke times) owned the 300 plus acre farm in Decatur County Iowa where baby 8 lived it's life. Mark is an avid deer hunter that desired a tatste for hunting the biggest whitetails known to us in North America so he invested in some southern Iowa hunting property in 2008.
Taylor quickly got to work on his property by planting beans, turnips and corn in order to create favorable big buck habitat. It was in the fall of 2010 that he first layed eyes on baby 8 while bowhunting. The buck came well within bow range, but Taylor sensed this young 2yr old 135 class 8 pointers potential and let him walk. By the way baby 8 gained his name because there was a bigger 8 pointer roaming the property that was called big 8.
Trail cam pictures in August of 2011 justified Mark's decision. Baby 8 had now blossomed into a healthy 3 year old that was carrying over 160 inches of headgear with a few more points and split brow tines. It was at this point that Mark knew he had a true genetically blessed animal on his property and he decided to reach out to neighboring property owners to see if they would also be willing to pass on this buck. Fortunately for Mark most landowners in this county are out of state hunters who practice QDM. With all neighbors on board now it was up to mother nature, coyotes, automobiles, poachers, disease etc.. as to whether this buck known as baby 8 would reach it's full potential.
In 2012 baby 8 was no where to be seen, but this wasn't totally alarming to Taylor because the buck usually didn't show up for his photo shoot till sometime in August. Just like you and I, Mark is subject to the lottery drawing in order to draw an Iowa tag to buck hunt his property. The drawing rendered this Roanoke native a late muzzleloader tag and he flew out to Iowa for a pre Christmas hunt. On Taylor's first evening in the stand baby 8 came within 50 yards and it was with great restraint that he allowed the buck that was now approaching 200 inches to walk.
The plan all along was to allow this buck to fulfill it's true potetential which couldn't happen until the buck was at least 5.5 yrs old. Some may say this is a roll of the dice, but given the non existent hunting pressure and ample food plots I definitely support Mark's plan. This buck had basically lived most of it's life in a 90 acre core area on this 300 acre farm, so it was the perfect management storm.
As sure as the sun in 2013 baby 8 showed up on the trail camera in August sporting more than 200 inches of non-typical antler looking as healthy and mature as a buck possibly could. Baby 8 was now 5 1/2 yrs old and officially on the hitlist. Mark put in for a bow tag in hopes of hunting baby 8 in early October while he was still in his regular bed to feed pattern. Taylor was fortunate enough to secure his bow tag and headed out for a 3 day hunt in eary October. Surprisingly the 3 day hunt turned up no sightings of this Iowa monarch and Taylor flew home in hopes of heading back out a little later in the month depending on the weather.
This is the part of the story that shows Mark Taylor's true generosity. Before he could make it back out to Iowa to hunt baby 8, Mark received an inquiry from Whitetail Property land specialist Gabe Adair (whom helped Mark find this property) asking to bow hunt this buck with one of his cameramen. Gabe was well aware of this bucks existence as he had not only assisted Mark with the purchase of the farm but also some of the up keep, plantings and stand placements on the property.
So without hesitation Taylor gave Gabe limited permission to hunt baby 8. Gabe made a few trips to the farm and witnessed baby 8 at some distance. Gabe decided to take a more aggressive appoach and went into the property during mid day October 25th to position a stand very close to where baby 8 was entering the bean field. Later that afternoon with his cameraman in tow they climbed into the new set and waited anxiously. Like clock work, baby 8 appeared a full hour before dark and even though he was on the move the buck presented Gabe with a 12 yard broadside shot. The hunter released the arrow and it appeared to be a deadly pass through behind the front shoulder.
The buck ran a short distance and stopped. Gabe and his cameraman could see blood coming out of the entry hole and thought the monarch would drop any second. To their amazement the buck gathered himself and ran out of sight. After reviewing the footage it appeared that the shot was a bit low, but with the blood that they witnessed coming out of the buck they both felt it was a quality hit. Hunter and cameraman made the choice to back out and come back the next morning to recover the heralded animal.
The next day Gabe assembled a 12 person party to grid search the property. After an exhausted search the party ended up jumping the buck some 500 yards from where he had been shot. Only sparse blood was found along the way and once jumped baby 8 bounded off with a healthy gate as if he was alive and well.
A decision was made to vacate the property all together and let things settle down. On November 3rd Mark flew back to his Iowa property for a 5 day hunt. During this time Mark passed up a dozen Pope & Young bucks in hopes that baby 8 would magically appear. Taylor not only had no sightings of baby 8, but none of the trail camera's on the property had any pictures of the buck.
On the final day of his hunt Mark decided to take a 165 class 10 point buck because he firmly believed that either baby 8 was dead or had left the property all together. Although Taylor didn't leave Iowa empty handed his dreams of taking one of North America's biggest whitetails with a bow had crumbled.
On November 25th(exactly 1 month since baby 8 was shot) Mark received a phone call from a neighboring Iowa property owner saying he saw baby 8 the evening prior with a doe. It was at that same time the buck started showing up on trail camera back on Mark's property. Baby 8 had lost approximately 30 pounds, but otherwise looked healthy. Baby 8's resurrection revived Taylor, but now he had already used his 2013 hunting tag and would have to hope that the buck survived the remaining hunting season as well as Iowa's harsh winter.
This roller coaster buck story came to a bitter sweet ending on Christmas day(exactly 2 months from the day he was shot). Mark received a call that the neighboring property owner named Teddy had shot baby 8 at 125 yards with his muzzleloader. On Teddy's behalf he had seen baby 8 and passed up shooting the buck in years past given their mutual management agreement so his harvest of baby 8 was well deserved. A tough pill to swallow for anyone, but I can tell you that Mark has taken this experience in stride and continues to own land in Iowa and also continues his management program.
The lesson to take from this story is...."even the best layed plans can come with dissapointments, but it's best to stick to a plan than to not have a plan at all". The deer management game has no guarantees... it's like a tomato, if you want the best one you must wait till it's ripe. No different than managing bucks, you must wait till the buck has reached it's potential before you harvest it. Baby 8 was an 8pntr at 2 1/2 years and 2 years later he had 22 scoreable points and had added even more character to his rack by the ripe age of 5 1/2.
Baby 8 scores 215 3/8 as a non-typical
Here is the video of Gabe's hunt on October 25th
Below you will find pics of Baby 8 as he progressed from 2.5 to 5.5 years old..
Pictured is Teddy the hunter that harvested Baby 8 and Gabe Adair alongside him.
Final pic is of Mark Taylor and his 2 sons with Baby 8.
Hope you enjoyed the story!
Jeff Phillips
Some of you have probably read the article about the buck called "Baby 8" in the December 2014 issue of North American Whitetail or you may have even watched the hunt on Whitetail Properties last fall, but I want to give this story the homewtown twist that it deserves. I originally wrote an article on this site about this buck over a year ago, but had to pull it out of respect for it being covered by the 2 entities aforementioned.
Roanoke native Mark Taylor(not of the roaoke times) owned the 300 plus acre farm in Decatur County Iowa where baby 8 lived it's life. Mark is an avid deer hunter that desired a tatste for hunting the biggest whitetails known to us in North America so he invested in some southern Iowa hunting property in 2008.
Taylor quickly got to work on his property by planting beans, turnips and corn in order to create favorable big buck habitat. It was in the fall of 2010 that he first layed eyes on baby 8 while bowhunting. The buck came well within bow range, but Taylor sensed this young 2yr old 135 class 8 pointers potential and let him walk. By the way baby 8 gained his name because there was a bigger 8 pointer roaming the property that was called big 8.
Trail cam pictures in August of 2011 justified Mark's decision. Baby 8 had now blossomed into a healthy 3 year old that was carrying over 160 inches of headgear with a few more points and split brow tines. It was at this point that Mark knew he had a true genetically blessed animal on his property and he decided to reach out to neighboring property owners to see if they would also be willing to pass on this buck. Fortunately for Mark most landowners in this county are out of state hunters who practice QDM. With all neighbors on board now it was up to mother nature, coyotes, automobiles, poachers, disease etc.. as to whether this buck known as baby 8 would reach it's full potential.
In 2012 baby 8 was no where to be seen, but this wasn't totally alarming to Taylor because the buck usually didn't show up for his photo shoot till sometime in August. Just like you and I, Mark is subject to the lottery drawing in order to draw an Iowa tag to buck hunt his property. The drawing rendered this Roanoke native a late muzzleloader tag and he flew out to Iowa for a pre Christmas hunt. On Taylor's first evening in the stand baby 8 came within 50 yards and it was with great restraint that he allowed the buck that was now approaching 200 inches to walk.
The plan all along was to allow this buck to fulfill it's true potetential which couldn't happen until the buck was at least 5.5 yrs old. Some may say this is a roll of the dice, but given the non existent hunting pressure and ample food plots I definitely support Mark's plan. This buck had basically lived most of it's life in a 90 acre core area on this 300 acre farm, so it was the perfect management storm.
As sure as the sun in 2013 baby 8 showed up on the trail camera in August sporting more than 200 inches of non-typical antler looking as healthy and mature as a buck possibly could. Baby 8 was now 5 1/2 yrs old and officially on the hitlist. Mark put in for a bow tag in hopes of hunting baby 8 in early October while he was still in his regular bed to feed pattern. Taylor was fortunate enough to secure his bow tag and headed out for a 3 day hunt in eary October. Surprisingly the 3 day hunt turned up no sightings of this Iowa monarch and Taylor flew home in hopes of heading back out a little later in the month depending on the weather.
This is the part of the story that shows Mark Taylor's true generosity. Before he could make it back out to Iowa to hunt baby 8, Mark received an inquiry from Whitetail Property land specialist Gabe Adair (whom helped Mark find this property) asking to bow hunt this buck with one of his cameramen. Gabe was well aware of this bucks existence as he had not only assisted Mark with the purchase of the farm but also some of the up keep, plantings and stand placements on the property.
So without hesitation Taylor gave Gabe limited permission to hunt baby 8. Gabe made a few trips to the farm and witnessed baby 8 at some distance. Gabe decided to take a more aggressive appoach and went into the property during mid day October 25th to position a stand very close to where baby 8 was entering the bean field. Later that afternoon with his cameraman in tow they climbed into the new set and waited anxiously. Like clock work, baby 8 appeared a full hour before dark and even though he was on the move the buck presented Gabe with a 12 yard broadside shot. The hunter released the arrow and it appeared to be a deadly pass through behind the front shoulder.
The buck ran a short distance and stopped. Gabe and his cameraman could see blood coming out of the entry hole and thought the monarch would drop any second. To their amazement the buck gathered himself and ran out of sight. After reviewing the footage it appeared that the shot was a bit low, but with the blood that they witnessed coming out of the buck they both felt it was a quality hit. Hunter and cameraman made the choice to back out and come back the next morning to recover the heralded animal.
The next day Gabe assembled a 12 person party to grid search the property. After an exhausted search the party ended up jumping the buck some 500 yards from where he had been shot. Only sparse blood was found along the way and once jumped baby 8 bounded off with a healthy gate as if he was alive and well.
A decision was made to vacate the property all together and let things settle down. On November 3rd Mark flew back to his Iowa property for a 5 day hunt. During this time Mark passed up a dozen Pope & Young bucks in hopes that baby 8 would magically appear. Taylor not only had no sightings of baby 8, but none of the trail camera's on the property had any pictures of the buck.
On the final day of his hunt Mark decided to take a 165 class 10 point buck because he firmly believed that either baby 8 was dead or had left the property all together. Although Taylor didn't leave Iowa empty handed his dreams of taking one of North America's biggest whitetails with a bow had crumbled.
On November 25th(exactly 1 month since baby 8 was shot) Mark received a phone call from a neighboring Iowa property owner saying he saw baby 8 the evening prior with a doe. It was at that same time the buck started showing up on trail camera back on Mark's property. Baby 8 had lost approximately 30 pounds, but otherwise looked healthy. Baby 8's resurrection revived Taylor, but now he had already used his 2013 hunting tag and would have to hope that the buck survived the remaining hunting season as well as Iowa's harsh winter.
This roller coaster buck story came to a bitter sweet ending on Christmas day(exactly 2 months from the day he was shot). Mark received a call that the neighboring property owner named Teddy had shot baby 8 at 125 yards with his muzzleloader. On Teddy's behalf he had seen baby 8 and passed up shooting the buck in years past given their mutual management agreement so his harvest of baby 8 was well deserved. A tough pill to swallow for anyone, but I can tell you that Mark has taken this experience in stride and continues to own land in Iowa and also continues his management program.
The lesson to take from this story is...."even the best layed plans can come with dissapointments, but it's best to stick to a plan than to not have a plan at all". The deer management game has no guarantees... it's like a tomato, if you want the best one you must wait till it's ripe. No different than managing bucks, you must wait till the buck has reached it's potential before you harvest it. Baby 8 was an 8pntr at 2 1/2 years and 2 years later he had 22 scoreable points and had added even more character to his rack by the ripe age of 5 1/2.
Baby 8 scores 215 3/8 as a non-typical
Here is the video of Gabe's hunt on October 25th
Below you will find pics of Baby 8 as he progressed from 2.5 to 5.5 years old..
Pictured is Teddy the hunter that harvested Baby 8 and Gabe Adair alongside him.
Final pic is of Mark Taylor and his 2 sons with Baby 8.
Hope you enjoyed the story!
Jeff Phillips
Some of you have probably read the article about the buck called "Baby 8" in the December 2014 issue of North American Whitetail or you may have even watched the hunt on Whitetail Properties last fall, but I want to give this story the homewtown twist that it deserves. I originally wrote an article on this site about this buck over a year ago, but had to pull it out of respect for it being covered by the 2 entities aforementioned.
Roanoke native Mark Taylor(not of the roaoke times) owned the 300 plus acre farm in Decatur County Iowa where baby 8 lived it's life. Mark is an avid deer hunter that desired a tatste for hunting the biggest whitetails known to us in North America so he invested in some southern Iowa hunting property in 2008.
Taylor quickly got to work on his property by planting beans, turnips and corn in order to create favorable big buck habitat. It was in the fall of 2010 that he first layed eyes on baby 8 while bowhunting. The buck came well within bow range, but Taylor sensed this young 2yr old 135 class 8 pointers potential and let him walk. By the way baby 8 gained his name because there was a bigger 8 pointer roaming the property that was called big 8.
Trail cam pictures in August of 2011 justified Mark's decision. Baby 8 had now blossomed into a healthy 3 year old that was carrying over 160 inches of headgear with a few more points and split brow tines. It was at this point that Mark knew he had a true genetically blessed animal on his property and he decided to reach out to neighboring property owners to see if they would also be willing to pass on this buck. Fortunately for Mark most landowners in this county are out of state hunters who practice QDM. With all neighbors on board now it was up to mother nature, coyotes, automobiles, poachers, disease etc.. as to whether this buck known as baby 8 would reach it's full potential.
In 2012 baby 8 was no where to be seen, but this wasn't totally alarming to Taylor because the buck usually didn't show up for his photo shoot till sometime in August. Just like you and I, Mark is subject to the lottery drawing in order to draw an Iowa tag to buck hunt his property. The drawing rendered this Roanoke native a late muzzleloader tag and he flew out to Iowa for a pre Christmas hunt. On Taylor's first evening in the stand baby 8 came within 50 yards and it was with great restraint that he allowed the buck that was now approaching 200 inches to walk.
The plan all along was to allow this buck to fulfill it's true potetential which couldn't happen until the buck was at least 5.5 yrs old. Some may say this is a roll of the dice, but given the non existent hunting pressure and ample food plots I definitely support Mark's plan. This buck had basically lived most of it's life in a 90 acre core area on this 300 acre farm, so it was the perfect management storm.
As sure as the sun in 2013 baby 8 showed up on the trail camera in August sporting more than 200 inches of non-typical antler looking as healthy and mature as a buck possibly could. Baby 8 was now 5 1/2 yrs old and officially on the hitlist. Mark put in for a bow tag in hopes of hunting baby 8 in early October while he was still in his regular bed to feed pattern. Taylor was fortunate enough to secure his bow tag and headed out for a 3 day hunt in eary October. Surprisingly the 3 day hunt turned up no sightings of this Iowa monarch and Taylor flew home in hopes of heading back out a little later in the month depending on the weather.
This is the part of the story that shows Mark Taylor's true generosity. Before he could make it back out to Iowa to hunt baby 8, Mark received an inquiry from Whitetail Property land specialist Gabe Adair (whom helped Mark find this property) asking to bow hunt this buck with one of his cameramen. Gabe was well aware of this bucks existence as he had not only assisted Mark with the purchase of the farm but also some of the up keep, plantings and stand placements on the property.
So without hesitation Taylor gave Gabe limited permission to hunt baby 8. Gabe made a few trips to the farm and witnessed baby 8 at some distance. Gabe decided to take a more aggressive appoach and went into the property during mid day October 25th to position a stand very close to where baby 8 was entering the bean field. Later that afternoon with his cameraman in tow they climbed into the new set and waited anxiously. Like clock work, baby 8 appeared a full hour before dark and even though he was on the move the buck presented Gabe with a 12 yard broadside shot. The hunter released the arrow and it appeared to be a deadly pass through behind the front shoulder.
The buck ran a short distance and stopped. Gabe and his cameraman could see blood coming out of the entry hole and thought the monarch would drop any second. To their amazement the buck gathered himself and ran out of sight. After reviewing the footage it appeared that the shot was a bit low, but with the blood that they witnessed coming out of the buck they both felt it was a quality hit. Hunter and cameraman made the choice to back out and come back the next morning to recover the heralded animal.
The next day Gabe assembled a 12 person party to grid search the property. After an exhausted search the party ended up jumping the buck some 500 yards from where he had been shot. Only sparse blood was found along the way and once jumped baby 8 bounded off with a healthy gate as if he was alive and well.
A decision was made to vacate the property all together and let things settle down. On November 3rd Mark flew back to his Iowa property for a 5 day hunt. During this time Mark passed up a dozen Pope & Young bucks in hopes that baby 8 would magically appear. Taylor not only had no sightings of baby 8, but none of the trail camera's on the property had any pictures of the buck.
On the final day of his hunt Mark decided to take a 165 class 10 point buck because he firmly believed that either baby 8 was dead or had left the property all together. Although Taylor didn't leave Iowa empty handed his dreams of taking one of North America's biggest whitetails with a bow had crumbled.
On November 25th(exactly 1 month since baby 8 was shot) Mark received a phone call from a neighboring Iowa property owner saying he saw baby 8 the evening prior with a doe. It was at that same time the buck started showing up on trail camera back on Mark's property. Baby 8 had lost approximately 30 pounds, but otherwise looked healthy. Baby 8's resurrection revived Taylor, but now he had already used his 2013 hunting tag and would have to hope that the buck survived the remaining hunting season as well as Iowa's harsh winter.
This roller coaster buck story came to a bitter sweet ending on Christmas day(exactly 2 months from the day he was shot). Mark received a call that the neighboring property owner named Teddy had shot baby 8 at 125 yards with his muzzleloader. On Teddy's behalf he had seen baby 8 and passed up shooting the buck in years past given their mutual management agreement so his harvest of baby 8 was well deserved. A tough pill to swallow for anyone, but I can tell you that Mark has taken this experience in stride and continues to own land in Iowa and also continues his management program.
The lesson to take from this story is...."even the best layed plans can come with dissapointments, but it's best to stick to a plan than to not have a plan at all". The deer management game has no guarantees... it's like a tomato, if you want the best one you must wait till it's ripe. No different than managing bucks, you must wait till the buck has reached it's potential before you harvest it. Baby 8 was an 8pntr at 2 1/2 years and 2 years later he had 22 scoreable points and had added even more character to his rack by the ripe age of 5 1/2.
Baby 8 scores 215 3/8 as a non-typical
Here is the video of Gabe's hunt on October 25th
Below you will find pics of Baby 8 as he progressed from 2.5 to 5.5 years old..
Pictured is Teddy the hunter that harvested Baby 8 and Gabe Adair alongside him.
Final pic is of Mark Taylor and his 2 sons with Baby 8.
Hope you enjoyed the story!
Jeff Phillips
Some of you have probably read the article about the buck called "Baby 8" in the December 2014 issue of North American Whitetail or you may have even watched the hunt on Whitetail Properties last fall, but I want to give this story the homewtown twist that it deserves. I originally wrote an article on this site about this buck over a year ago, but had to pull it out of respect for it being covered by the 2 entities aforementioned.
Roanoke native Mark Taylor(not of the roaoke times) owned the 300 plus acre farm in Decatur County Iowa where baby 8 lived it's life. Mark is an avid deer hunter that desired a tatste for hunting the biggest whitetails known to us in North America so he invested in some southern Iowa hunting property in 2008.
Taylor quickly got to work on his property by planting beans, turnips and corn in order to create favorable big buck habitat. It was in the fall of 2010 that he first layed eyes on baby 8 while bowhunting. The buck came well within bow range, but Taylor sensed this young 2yr old 135 class 8 pointers potential and let him walk. By the way baby 8 gained his name because there was a bigger 8 pointer roaming the property that was called big 8.
Trail cam pictures in August of 2011 justified Mark's decision. Baby 8 had now blossomed into a healthy 3 year old that was carrying over 160 inches of headgear with a few more points and split brow tines. It was at this point that Mark knew he had a true genetically blessed animal on his property and he decided to reach out to neighboring property owners to see if they would also be willing to pass on this buck. Fortunately for Mark most landowners in this county are out of state hunters who practice QDM. With all neighbors on board now it was up to mother nature, coyotes, automobiles, poachers, disease etc.. as to whether this buck known as baby 8 would reach it's full potential.
In 2012 baby 8 was no where to be seen, but this wasn't totally alarming to Taylor because the buck usually didn't show up for his photo shoot till sometime in August. Just like you and I, Mark is subject to the lottery drawing in order to draw an Iowa tag to buck hunt his property. The drawing rendered this Roanoke native a late muzzleloader tag and he flew out to Iowa for a pre Christmas hunt. On Taylor's first evening in the stand baby 8 came within 50 yards and it was with great restraint that he allowed the buck that was now approaching 200 inches to walk.
The plan all along was to allow this buck to fulfill it's true potetential which couldn't happen until the buck was at least 5.5 yrs old. Some may say this is a roll of the dice, but given the non existent hunting pressure and ample food plots I definitely support Mark's plan. This buck had basically lived most of it's life in a 90 acre core area on this 300 acre farm, so it was the perfect management storm.
As sure as the sun in 2013 baby 8 showed up on the trail camera in August sporting more than 200 inches of non-typical antler looking as healthy and mature as a buck possibly could. Baby 8 was now 5 1/2 yrs old and officially on the hitlist. Mark put in for a bow tag in hopes of hunting baby 8 in early October while he was still in his regular bed to feed pattern. Taylor was fortunate enough to secure his bow tag and headed out for a 3 day hunt in eary October. Surprisingly the 3 day hunt turned up no sightings of this Iowa monarch and Taylor flew home in hopes of heading back out a little later in the month depending on the weather.
This is the part of the story that shows Mark Taylor's true generosity. Before he could make it back out to Iowa to hunt baby 8, Mark received an inquiry from Whitetail Property land specialist Gabe Adair (whom helped Mark find this property) asking to bow hunt this buck with one of his cameramen. Gabe was well aware of this bucks existence as he had not only assisted Mark with the purchase of the farm but also some of the up keep, plantings and stand placements on the property.
So without hesitation Taylor gave Gabe limited permission to hunt baby 8. Gabe made a few trips to the farm and witnessed baby 8 at some distance. Gabe decided to take a more aggressive appoach and went into the property during mid day October 25th to position a stand very close to where baby 8 was entering the bean field. Later that afternoon with his cameraman in tow they climbed into the new set and waited anxiously. Like clock work, baby 8 appeared a full hour before dark and even though he was on the move the buck presented Gabe with a 12 yard broadside shot. The hunter released the arrow and it appeared to be a deadly pass through behind the front shoulder.
The buck ran a short distance and stopped. Gabe and his cameraman could see blood coming out of the entry hole and thought the monarch would drop any second. To their amazement the buck gathered himself and ran out of sight. After reviewing the footage it appeared that the shot was a bit low, but with the blood that they witnessed coming out of the buck they both felt it was a quality hit. Hunter and cameraman made the choice to back out and come back the next morning to recover the heralded animal.
The next day Gabe assembled a 12 person party to grid search the property. After an exhausted search the party ended up jumping the buck some 500 yards from where he had been shot. Only sparse blood was found along the way and once jumped baby 8 bounded off with a healthy gate as if he was alive and well.
A decision was made to vacate the property all together and let things settle down. On November 3rd Mark flew back to his Iowa property for a 5 day hunt. During this time Mark passed up a dozen Pope & Young bucks in hopes that baby 8 would magically appear. Taylor not only had no sightings of baby 8, but none of the trail camera's on the property had any pictures of the buck.
On the final day of his hunt Mark decided to take a 165 class 10 point buck because he firmly believed that either baby 8 was dead or had left the property all together. Although Taylor didn't leave Iowa empty handed his dreams of taking one of North America's biggest whitetails with a bow had crumbled.
On November 25th(exactly 1 month since baby 8 was shot) Mark received a phone call from a neighboring Iowa property owner saying he saw baby 8 the evening prior with a doe. It was at that same time the buck started showing up on trail camera back on Mark's property. Baby 8 had lost approximately 30 pounds, but otherwise looked healthy. Baby 8's resurrection revived Taylor, but now he had already used his 2013 hunting tag and would have to hope that the buck survived the remaining hunting season as well as Iowa's harsh winter.
This roller coaster buck story came to a bitter sweet ending on Christmas day(exactly 2 months from the day he was shot). Mark received a call that the neighboring property owner named Teddy had shot baby 8 at 125 yards with his muzzleloader. On Teddy's behalf he had seen baby 8 and passed up shooting the buck in years past given their mutual management agreement so his harvest of baby 8 was well deserved. A tough pill to swallow for anyone, but I can tell you that Mark has taken this experience in stride and continues to own land in Iowa and also continues his management program.
The lesson to take from this story is...."even the best layed plans can come with dissapointments, but it's best to stick to a plan than to not have a plan at all". The deer management game has no guarantees... it's like a tomato, if you want the best one you must wait till it's ripe. No different than managing bucks, you must wait till the buck has reached it's potential before you harvest it. Baby 8 was an 8pntr at 2 1/2 years and 2 years later he had 22 scoreable points and had added even more character to his rack by the ripe age of 5 1/2.
Baby 8 scores 215 3/8 as a non-typical
Here is the video of Gabe's hunt on October 25th
Below you will find pics of Baby 8 as he progressed from 2.5 to 5.5 years old..
Pictured is Teddy the hunter that harvested Baby 8 and Gabe Adair alongside him.
Final pic is of Mark Taylor and his 2 sons with Baby 8.
Hope you enjoyed the story!
Jeff Phillips
Some of you have probably read the article about the buck called "Baby 8" in the December 2014 issue of North American Whitetail or you may have even watched the hunt on Whitetail Properties last fall, but I want to give this story the homewtown twist that it deserves. I originally wrote an article on this site about this buck over a year ago, but had to pull it out of respect for it being covered by the 2 entities aforementioned.
Roanoke native Mark Taylor(not of the roaoke times) owned the 300 plus acre farm in Decatur County Iowa where baby 8 lived it's life. Mark is an avid deer hunter that desired a tatste for hunting the biggest whitetails known to us in North America so he invested in some southern Iowa hunting property in 2008.
Taylor quickly got to work on his property by planting beans, turnips and corn in order to create favorable big buck habitat. It was in the fall of 2010 that he first layed eyes on baby 8 while bowhunting. The buck came well within bow range, but Taylor sensed this young 2yr old 135 class 8 pointers potential and let him walk. By the way baby 8 gained his name because there was a bigger 8 pointer roaming the property that was called big 8.
Trail cam pictures in August of 2011 justified Mark's decision. Baby 8 had now blossomed into a healthy 3 year old that was carrying over 160 inches of headgear with a few more points and split brow tines. It was at this point that Mark knew he had a true genetically blessed animal on his property and he decided to reach out to neighboring property owners to see if they would also be willing to pass on this buck. Fortunately for Mark most landowners in this county are out of state hunters who practice QDM. With all neighbors on board now it was up to mother nature, coyotes, automobiles, poachers, disease etc.. as to whether this buck known as baby 8 would reach it's full potential.
In 2012 baby 8 was no where to be seen, but this wasn't totally alarming to Taylor because the buck usually didn't show up for his photo shoot till sometime in August. Just like you and I, Mark is subject to the lottery drawing in order to draw an Iowa tag to buck hunt his property. The drawing rendered this Roanoke native a late muzzleloader tag and he flew out to Iowa for a pre Christmas hunt. On Taylor's first evening in the stand baby 8 came within 50 yards and it was with great restraint that he allowed the buck that was now approaching 200 inches to walk.
The plan all along was to allow this buck to fulfill it's true potetential which couldn't happen until the buck was at least 5.5 yrs old. Some may say this is a roll of the dice, but given the non existent hunting pressure and ample food plots I definitely support Mark's plan. This buck had basically lived most of it's life in a 90 acre core area on this 300 acre farm, so it was the perfect management storm.
As sure as the sun in 2013 baby 8 showed up on the trail camera in August sporting more than 200 inches of non-typical antler looking as healthy and mature as a buck possibly could. Baby 8 was now 5 1/2 yrs old and officially on the hitlist. Mark put in for a bow tag in hopes of hunting baby 8 in early October while he was still in his regular bed to feed pattern. Taylor was fortunate enough to secure his bow tag and headed out for a 3 day hunt in eary October. Surprisingly the 3 day hunt turned up no sightings of this Iowa monarch and Taylor flew home in hopes of heading back out a little later in the month depending on the weather.
This is the part of the story that shows Mark Taylor's true generosity. Before he could make it back out to Iowa to hunt baby 8, Mark received an inquiry from Whitetail Property land specialist Gabe Adair (whom helped Mark find this property) asking to bow hunt this buck with one of his cameramen. Gabe was well aware of this bucks existence as he had not only assisted Mark with the purchase of the farm but also some of the up keep, plantings and stand placements on the property.
So without hesitation Taylor gave Gabe limited permission to hunt baby 8. Gabe made a few trips to the farm and witnessed baby 8 at some distance. Gabe decided to take a more aggressive appoach and went into the property during mid day October 25th to position a stand very close to where baby 8 was entering the bean field. Later that afternoon with his cameraman in tow they climbed into the new set and waited anxiously. Like clock work, baby 8 appeared a full hour before dark and even though he was on the move the buck presented Gabe with a 12 yard broadside shot. The hunter released the arrow and it appeared to be a deadly pass through behind the front shoulder.
The buck ran a short distance and stopped. Gabe and his cameraman could see blood coming out of the entry hole and thought the monarch would drop any second. To their amazement the buck gathered himself and ran out of sight. After reviewing the footage it appeared that the shot was a bit low, but with the blood that they witnessed coming out of the buck they both felt it was a quality hit. Hunter and cameraman made the choice to back out and come back the next morning to recover the heralded animal.
The next day Gabe assembled a 12 person party to grid search the property. After an exhausted search the party ended up jumping the buck some 500 yards from where he had been shot. Only sparse blood was found along the way and once jumped baby 8 bounded off with a healthy gate as if he was alive and well.
A decision was made to vacate the property all together and let things settle down. On November 3rd Mark flew back to his Iowa property for a 5 day hunt. During this time Mark passed up a dozen Pope & Young bucks in hopes that baby 8 would magically appear. Taylor not only had no sightings of baby 8, but none of the trail camera's on the property had any pictures of the buck.
On the final day of his hunt Mark decided to take a 165 class 10 point buck because he firmly believed that either baby 8 was dead or had left the property all together. Although Taylor didn't leave Iowa empty handed his dreams of taking one of North America's biggest whitetails with a bow had crumbled.
On November 25th(exactly 1 month since baby 8 was shot) Mark received a phone call from a neighboring Iowa property owner saying he saw baby 8 the evening prior with a doe. It was at that same time the buck started showing up on trail camera back on Mark's property. Baby 8 had lost approximately 30 pounds, but otherwise looked healthy. Baby 8's resurrection revived Taylor, but now he had already used his 2013 hunting tag and would have to hope that the buck survived the remaining hunting season as well as Iowa's harsh winter.
This roller coaster buck story came to a bitter sweet ending on Christmas day(exactly 2 months from the day he was shot). Mark received a call that the neighboring property owner named Teddy had shot baby 8 at 125 yards with his muzzleloader. On Teddy's behalf he had seen baby 8 and passed up shooting the buck in years past given their mutual management agreement so his harvest of baby 8 was well deserved. A tough pill to swallow for anyone, but I can tell you that Mark has taken this experience in stride and continues to own land in Iowa and also continues his management program.
The lesson to take from this story is...."even the best layed plans can come with dissapointments, but it's best to stick to a plan than to not have a plan at all". The deer management game has no guarantees... it's like a tomato, if you want the best one you must wait till it's ripe. No different than managing bucks, you must wait till the buck has reached it's potential before you harvest it. Baby 8 was an 8pntr at 2 1/2 years and 2 years later he had 22 scoreable points and had added even more character to his rack by the ripe age of 5 1/2.
Baby 8 scores 215 3/8 as a non-typical
Here is the video of Gabe's hunt on October 25th
Below you will find pics of Baby 8 as he progressed from 2.5 to 5.5 years old..
Pictured is Teddy the hunter that harvested Baby 8 and Gabe Adair alongside him.
Final pic is of Mark Taylor and his 2 sons with Baby 8.
Hope you enjoyed the story!
Jeff Phillips
Some of you have probably read the article about the buck called "Baby 8" in the December 2014 issue of North American Whitetail or you may have even watched the hunt on Whitetail Properties last fall, but I want to give this story the homewtown twist that it deserves. I originally wrote an article on this site about this buck over a year ago, but had to pull it out of respect for it being covered by the 2 entities aforementioned.
Roanoke native Mark Taylor(not of the roaoke times) owned the 300 plus acre farm in Decatur County Iowa where baby 8 lived it's life. Mark is an avid deer hunter that desired a tatste for hunting the biggest whitetails known to us in North America so he invested in some southern Iowa hunting property in 2008.
Taylor quickly got to work on his property by planting beans, turnips and corn in order to create favorable big buck habitat. It was in the fall of 2010 that he first layed eyes on baby 8 while bowhunting. The buck came well within bow range, but Taylor sensed this young 2yr old 135 class 8 pointers potential and let him walk. By the way baby 8 gained his name because there was a bigger 8 pointer roaming the property that was called big 8.
Trail cam pictures in August of 2011 justified Mark's decision. Baby 8 had now blossomed into a healthy 3 year old that was carrying over 160 inches of headgear with a few more points and split brow tines. It was at this point that Mark knew he had a true genetically blessed animal on his property and he decided to reach out to neighboring property owners to see if they would also be willing to pass on this buck. Fortunately for Mark most landowners in this county are out of state hunters who practice QDM. With all neighbors on board now it was up to mother nature, coyotes, automobiles, poachers, disease etc.. as to whether this buck known as baby 8 would reach it's full potential.
In 2012 baby 8 was no where to be seen, but this wasn't totally alarming to Taylor because the buck usually didn't show up for his photo shoot till sometime in August. Just like you and I, Mark is subject to the lottery drawing in order to draw an Iowa tag to buck hunt his property. The drawing rendered this Roanoke native a late muzzleloader tag and he flew out to Iowa for a pre Christmas hunt. On Taylor's first evening in the stand baby 8 came within 50 yards and it was with great restraint that he allowed the buck that was now approaching 200 inches to walk.
The plan all along was to allow this buck to fulfill it's true potetential which couldn't happen until the buck was at least 5.5 yrs old. Some may say this is a roll of the dice, but given the non existent hunting pressure and ample food plots I definitely support Mark's plan. This buck had basically lived most of it's life in a 90 acre core area on this 300 acre farm, so it was the perfect management storm.
As sure as the sun in 2013 baby 8 showed up on the trail camera in August sporting more than 200 inches of non-typical antler looking as healthy and mature as a buck possibly could. Baby 8 was now 5 1/2 yrs old and officially on the hitlist. Mark put in for a bow tag in hopes of hunting baby 8 in early October while he was still in his regular bed to feed pattern. Taylor was fortunate enough to secure his bow tag and headed out for a 3 day hunt in eary October. Surprisingly the 3 day hunt turned up no sightings of this Iowa monarch and Taylor flew home in hopes of heading back out a little later in the month depending on the weather.
This is the part of the story that shows Mark Taylor's true generosity. Before he could make it back out to Iowa to hunt baby 8, Mark received an inquiry from Whitetail Property land specialist Gabe Adair (whom helped Mark find this property) asking to bow hunt this buck with one of his cameramen. Gabe was well aware of this bucks existence as he had not only assisted Mark with the purchase of the farm but also some of the up keep, plantings and stand placements on the property.
So without hesitation Taylor gave Gabe limited permission to hunt baby 8. Gabe made a few trips to the farm and witnessed baby 8 at some distance. Gabe decided to take a more aggressive appoach and went into the property during mid day October 25th to position a stand very close to where baby 8 was entering the bean field. Later that afternoon with his cameraman in tow they climbed into the new set and waited anxiously. Like clock work, baby 8 appeared a full hour before dark and even though he was on the move the buck presented Gabe with a 12 yard broadside shot. The hunter released the arrow and it appeared to be a deadly pass through behind the front shoulder.
The buck ran a short distance and stopped. Gabe and his cameraman could see blood coming out of the entry hole and thought the monarch would drop any second. To their amazement the buck gathered himself and ran out of sight. After reviewing the footage it appeared that the shot was a bit low, but with the blood that they witnessed coming out of the buck they both felt it was a quality hit. Hunter and cameraman made the choice to back out and come back the next morning to recover the heralded animal.
The next day Gabe assembled a 12 person party to grid search the property. After an exhausted search the party ended up jumping the buck some 500 yards from where he had been shot. Only sparse blood was found along the way and once jumped baby 8 bounded off with a healthy gate as if he was alive and well.
A decision was made to vacate the property all together and let things settle down. On November 3rd Mark flew back to his Iowa property for a 5 day hunt. During this time Mark passed up a dozen Pope & Young bucks in hopes that baby 8 would magically appear. Taylor not only had no sightings of baby 8, but none of the trail camera's on the property had any pictures of the buck.
On the final day of his hunt Mark decided to take a 165 class 10 point buck because he firmly believed that either baby 8 was dead or had left the property all together. Although Taylor didn't leave Iowa empty handed his dreams of taking one of North America's biggest whitetails with a bow had crumbled.
On November 25th(exactly 1 month since baby 8 was shot) Mark received a phone call from a neighboring Iowa property owner saying he saw baby 8 the evening prior with a doe. It was at that same time the buck started showing up on trail camera back on Mark's property. Baby 8 had lost approximately 30 pounds, but otherwise looked healthy. Baby 8's resurrection revived Taylor, but now he had already used his 2013 hunting tag and would have to hope that the buck survived the remaining hunting season as well as Iowa's harsh winter.
This roller coaster buck story came to a bitter sweet ending on Christmas day(exactly 2 months from the day he was shot). Mark received a call that the neighboring property owner named Teddy had shot baby 8 at 125 yards with his muzzleloader. On Teddy's behalf he had seen baby 8 and passed up shooting the buck in years past given their mutual management agreement so his harvest of baby 8 was well deserved. A tough pill to swallow for anyone, but I can tell you that Mark has taken this experience in stride and continues to own land in Iowa and also continues his management program.
The lesson to take from this story is...."even the best layed plans can come with dissapointments, but it's best to stick to a plan than to not have a plan at all". The deer management game has no guarantees... it's like a tomato, if you want the best one you must wait till it's ripe. No different than managing bucks, you must wait till the buck has reached it's potential before you harvest it. Baby 8 was an 8pntr at 2 1/2 years and 2 years later he had 22 scoreable points and had added even more character to his rack by the ripe age of 5 1/2.
Baby 8 scores 215 3/8 as a non-typical
Here is the video of Gabe's hunt on October 25th
Below you will find pics of Baby 8 as he progressed from 2.5 to 5.5 years old..
Pictured is Teddy the hunter that harvested Baby 8 and Gabe Adair alongside him.
Final pic is of Mark Taylor and his 2 sons with Baby 8.
Hope you enjoyed the story!
Jeff Phillips
