In 2007 I was lucky enough to draw one of the best tags in the state of Nevada––a Sheldon muzzleloader deer tag. I was extremely lucky because I only had two bonus points when I drew the tag! Terry, a friend of mine, suggested that I hire a guide and so, that very night, I called Tony Diebold. As luck would have it, he had an opening and I booked it immediately.

During the next six weeks, I spent a lot of time shooting my muzzleloader. I’d had muzzleloader tags in the past but unfortunately those hunts had ended unsuccessfully. I was determined that wasn’t going to be the case this year, and by the time my hunt rolled around, I had never felt more comfortable. However, even with all the confidence, I had no idea of just exactly how good the hunt would turn out to be.

On the second morning of the hunt, Tony and I were driving and saw a 20 to 22 inch four-point at about 90 yards. My blood instantly got pumping and I told Tony that buck would do. His response was, “It’s only the second day, let’s wait and see what tomorrow will bring.” I was persistent but with Tony finally having to sit on me, I forfeited my stance and said, “Okay.” (I was kind of excited, just ask Tony.)

The next day, Tony glassed up a good buck feeding on a ridge a half mile away. As I looked through my spotting scope, I could not believe my eyes. This buck was awesome; it looked like he had a ton of points with a big a dropper on one side! Tony looked at me and said, “That’s why you do not shoot the smaller bucks.” The rest of the morning Tony evaluated the lay of the land, and after getting a game plan for the next morning, we went back to camp.

When I woke up on Friday, I was filled with a lot of excitement. Almost instantly, we found the buck feeding with two other bucks 700 to 800 yards below us. We watched him for four hours; the whole time Tony was devising a game plan to get me a shot. Tony told me that the deer would all lay down after feeding on the rim and with the wind in our favor so we walked up to the other side of the canyon. Once there, I saw a buck lying under a mahogany tree. Tony put his glasses up and whispered, “The big non-typical was laying with him, be looking close.” A few moments later, we had the big non-typical found and my heart stopped as Tony ranged him at 153 yards. I had a good shooting rock fifteen yards in front of me so I slowly crawled up to it and set up.

When I was ready, Tony started tossing rocks into the canyon to make the deer stand up. It didn’t take long for the big non-typical to stand and with my sights on his shoulder, I shot. All I could see was his head fall, and all I could hear was Tony yelling, “Great shot! You got him!” I was shaking so bad that I could not even reload my muzzleloader.

When we walked up to the great buck, I could not believe my eyes. He had points everywhere; nineteen points on the right and eleven on the left! He also had ten inches bases, a double drop on the right, and a single drop on the left. I told Tony that I was so happy I don’t think I will ever kill another deer like this one. Tony said, “You have a one in a million buck, kid.”

I would like to personally thank Terry for mentioning Tony; Gary for all the shooting advice; Ardien, (Tony’s better half), for cooking all the meals and keeping a wonderful camp; and last but not least, Tony, for a hunt and a buck of a lifetime. Not only is Tony the best guide in the country, but more importantly, I gained two true friends––Tony and Ardien. I look forward to our new profound friendship now and in the future.