#88 Santa Rosa Island Mule Deer Buck-- Patrick Zummo
#88 PATRICK ZUMMO 207.5 SCI
Pat is holding the buck, while Guide Tim Kelley is next to him. Tim always seemed to get himself in the photos. Maybe that's because his photo-taking skills were less than his guiding abilities. Therefore, the other client, whoever it was, often took better photos than Tim. By the end of our run out there, he did get better. Maybe there was method to his madness! Anyway, Patrick shot this super-heavy beamed buck in one of the best hot spots for trophy hunting of the bucks-- Pocket Field. Though the Pocket was characterizied by fairly open ground (maybe more indicative of pronghorn country), it still took a guide and a client well over a month to find this monster out there.
Back in 1987, I remember seeing a wide, 30+" buck with a distinctive drop tine on Pocket Field, during our first day of scouting that year. I went in that evening and casually told my father Wayne that I had seen my first 30 " buck of the year. That date was in late August. I did not find that buck again until early November, though I spent many days searching for him. He ended up being a 31.5" 3x4 with a 9 inch drop tine on his left side. Roy Towers of California shot that buck. My friend Brian Hodge was also along for that particular hunt For those who think the hunting on the Island wasn't a real hunt, it's apparent they never had the chance to experience it. Have never understood why hunters want to publicly disparage a good hunt. We have few enough hunters out there that we don't need us fighting among ourselves. We have enough outside forces against us!
