When I was young, had someone called me a neophile, I would have taken great offense. A neophile is described as “a personality type characterized by a strong affinity for novelty.” In other words, one who likes strange stuff. When it comes to big game animals, that describes me to a “T.”
For decades I’ve been drawn to unusual antlers and horns, like a sailor who’s drawn to the sea. Trashy whitetails, nontypical mule deer, gnarly old bull elk, pronghorn with crazy horns, you name it. I even once shot the only “non-typical” Dall sheep ram anybody – sheep biologists included – have ever seen. So when we first laid eyes on a buck we called The Big Six, I immediately knew that this was going to be all all-or-nothing week.
In many ways, The Big Six reminded me a lot of myself. He was older, and a loner. And though he moved slowly and cautiously, like
