[{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/blog\/taylor-gates-buck-massive-missouri-monarch\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/blog\/taylor-gates-buck-massive-missouri-monarch\/","headline":"Taylor Gates Buck: Massive Missouri Monarch","name":"Taylor Gates Buck: Massive Missouri Monarch","description":"Not every buck of Legendary status has a legendary story to go along with it, and if you ask Taylor...","datePublished":"2016-12-01","dateModified":"2018-06-12","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/author\/hagosto\/#Person","name":"Hector Agosto","url":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/author\/hagosto\/","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7bfedbdc5ef3ed8f8df91eb37e1ffbe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7bfedbdc5ef3ed8f8df91eb37e1ffbe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Legendary Whitetails","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"http:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/logo-legendary-whitetails.png","url":"http:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/logo-legendary-whitetails.png","width":522,"height":226}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/T2.jpg","url":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/T2.jpg","height":960,"width":720},"url":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/blog\/taylor-gates-buck-massive-missouri-monarch\/","about":["Hunting"],"wordCount":836,"keywords":["Deer","Hunting"],"articleBody":"Not every buck of Legendary status has a legendary story to go along with it, and if you ask Taylor Gates, that\u2019s just fine with him.\u00a0 Heck, it\u2019d be fine with any hunter if they came home with a buck of this size too.\u00a0 While the stories of the Jordan Buck and Del Austin Buck are full of twist, turns, and sheer excitement, the story on the Taylor Gates buck is quite simple and refreshing \u2013 he went hunting and shot an unbelievable buck!As the story goes, there was no prior knowledge of this buck whatsoever . . . no trail camera photos, no sheds, not even a whisper amongst neighbors.\u00a0 In this day in age, for a buck this big to remain a ghost is simply unheard of.\u00a0 Certainly, it\u2019s a testament to just how wise this old whitetail was . . . at least up until that fateful day in October.As the alarm sounded that Saturday morning, Taylor debated going hunting or sleeping in. He went back and forth for five minutes, then finally decided he might as well go hunting because the chance of falling back asleep was unlikely.\u00a0 He rolled out of bed and headed to the woods.Taylor with his giant Missouri buck.He made the trek\u00a0to one of his stands deep in the timber that was overlooking a tiny little hidey-hole food plot.\u00a0 Taylor described the plot as a small opening in the woods, just big enough to let some\u00a0sunlight through to the forest floor.\u00a0 The sunlight gave growth to a food plot mix of alfalfa, turnips, and clover.\u00a0 Hunting 220 acres of nothing but CRP and timber, this little food plot turned out to be just the right ticket.Taylor was up in his stand well before light.\u00a0 As the sun started to cast the faintest lumens through the dense timber, Taylor thought he heard something walking through the small food plot. \u00a0He wasn\u2019t sure if it was a buck or not until the deer started working a scrape and racking his antlers in the overhanging licking branch.With each passing minute, the woods got brighter and brighter, and Taylor was finally able to get a decent look at the buck through his binoculars.\u00a0 He immediately knew it was a shooter, but didn\u2019t have a clue as to how big the buck really was.\u00a0 After working the scrape for what seemed like an eternity, the buck walked through the plot and presented Taylor with a 30-yard shot. He set his pin and let the arrow fly.\u00a0 Next thing he knew, the buck was racing through the timber with the lighted nock illuminating its route.\u00a0 Eventually, the buck made it down a ravine and disappeared out of sight.After settling down and waiting in his stand for an hour, anxiety finally overcame Taylor and he went\u00a0to go look for the big buck.\u00a0 Taylor got to the spot where he shot, but no blood was to be found.\u00a0 Obviously, Taylor knew he hit the buck because of the lighted nock, so he decided to walk over to where he last saw him.\u00a0 Sure enough, once Taylor could see into the ravine, the white belly was laying at the bottom.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t until he walked up to the buck, that he realized just how big and massive the buck was.Taylor will get the buck officially scored on December 22,2016 following the 60-day dry time.\u00a0 If rough scores are at all close, Taylor will have joined the 200\u201d club at the young age of 21.\u00a0 The buck was shot near Princeton, Missouri.The moral of the story is to JUST HUNT.\u00a0 In this day and age, hunters rely on technology to provide all the answers as to when and where to hunt.\u00a0 Trail cameras, weather apps, etc. all influence our decisions daily, and a lot of times, if we don\u2019t have a good buck on camera in a specific area, we don\u2019t hunt there.\u00a0 The story of Taylor\u2019s buck is a great reminder to JUST HUNT sometimes.\u00a0 You never know what Legendary buck might be walking around your neck of the woods."},{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/#breadcrumbitem","name":"Legendary Whitetail's Blog"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/blog\/taylor-gates-buck-massive-missouri-monarch\/#breadcrumbitem","name":"Taylor Gates Buck: Massive Missouri Monarch"}}]}]