Bucky Barber

From Colorado

Dear John,

I would like to thank you for the service you provide at MAHA. My brother and I joined the club in the spring of 1999. We joined for the turkey and whitetail deer hunting.

I did not know what to expect from the club at first. I had many concerns: Would the areas be over hunted? Would there be interference by other hunters? Are these going to be high quality land plots? Was it really going to be as good as the advertisements said it would be? Would the club owners be sincerely interested in my hunting success after I joined the club? Coming in from out of state, would I be able to get into quality hunting right away or would it take me years of learning the areas before I would know success?

I have been a member for a year now, and can honestly say that my experience has far exceeded my expectations and I no longer have these concerns. My brother and I went 100% on spring turkeys. We had excellent undisturbed property. And, by the way the turkeys responded I would be surprised if they had ever been hunted that spring.

My father joined in the fall of 1999 for the deer hunting. We hunted in [deleted] first, taking 3 bucks. The hot weather and personal time constraints made it tough to be very selective. But, we took one five point and two 8 point bucks. On this trip we also met another club member from Alabama who had just joined. Since then we have developed a friendship which was an added plus I had not even though of! He is coming to Colorado this fall to hunt with me.

We then went to [deleted] where I saw 23 bucks on opening morning. Nine of these were whitetails, which was what I had a tag for. After passing on several small bucks and having a real respectable 8 point bed down 50 yards from me , along came a huge deer with a drop tine along the side of his face. I harvested this buck, he had nine points and weighed 284 pounds. He aged out at 9.5 years! Wow, that is what I hoped to get out of the club! My brother passed on several 8 points and decided on a nice 18-20 inch buck. Unfortunately, the shot went sour. We know where he will be next year! Our dad did not get his his deer permit in on time so he pheasant hunted. He got into some of the best hunting of his life.

I can't thank you enough for the service you provide. You have allowed us to make some memories and that is what it is all about!

Sincerely, Bucky Barber

An interesting note about this hunter is that in his early years with the Association he, his brother and father achieved some moderate success. During a subsequent season the landowner informed us that Bucky harvested a trophy deer with a rack reported to have scored 201. We were surprised to hear of this as Bucky was hunting without reservations. We later found out he was also hunting without license and that his father that had declined to renew his membership the previous year was also hunting with them. This was all late information after the season had closed. We sat on this and waited until the coming season when in combination with landowner, conservation agent and the sheriff prepared to respond we waited and sure enough the Barber family appeared on the same farm. Our earlier check with the conservation department proved they had only antlerless licenses and this was opening morning of buck season. Once daylight arrived the sheriff was requested to assist and did so. Between the landowner, his family and hired hands motivated by the $100 bounty surrounding the property the Conservation agent, sheriff and MAHA staff entered the property to find the Barbers.

By this time the Barbers apparently caught on to what was going on and abandoned their vehicle and deer stands and ran to a second vehicle parked on the other side of the property and left to town. The sheriff ran the license plates of the first vehicle and found the vehicle not to be registered and had it towed. He then surveyed the local motels and after finding Bucky issue a citation for the illegal vehicle. As the Barber's would not admit to having been on that farm that morning, the conservation agent only having seen their vehicle on the road and not the property and no evidence of shooting any racked deer the conservation agent could do nothing.

The $100 bounty remains in effect for prosecution for each of the Barber family for any trespass or game laws violations. To date the landowners and hired hands who assist with patrolling that portion of the county have yet to see any of the Barbers again. This being a small area the local motel owners, who are also frequently the 24 hour desk clerks, would have notified our landowners, their friends, had the Barbers reserve a room.