Behind the Buckle

For NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity® Open Champion Nick Dowers, it’s not about the size of the buckle but rather the meaning behind it.

By Kelsey Pecsek Hruska Photos by Kate Bradley Byars

When 2013 National Reined Cow Horse Association Snaffle Bit Futurity® Open Champion Nick Dowers rides into an arena, spectators may expect to see one of a variety of buckles the accomplished horseman has won in the reined cow horse arena. Instead, something a little more modest catches their eyes.

The small gold and silver buckle Dowers sports most often means just as much to him as the one he earned for his Futurity win. Received as the gold Kit Carson Award in Nevada for the first place 2019 non-typical mule deer, the buckle represents a culmination of the avid hunter’s extensive conservation efforts on the land he loves at home in Nevada.

“My passions are hunting and wildlife and horses,” Dowers said. “In a lot of ways, winning that buckle is like winning the futurity of the hunting world. It’s like the [Snaffle Bit] Futurity buckle; not many people have them, so I’m pretty fortunate. We hunted 14 days in a row for that thing, and I’m proud of the work that went into getting it.”

Nevada issued 16,868 mule deer tags for the 2019-2020 season. Dowers’ kill scored an incredible 2412/8 on the Boone and Crockett Club scale, likely ranking the buck in more than one record book.

“For him to be the biggest one for the year is pretty awesome,” Dowers said of the buck he nicknamed “Shredder.” “I think he’s going to fall in the top 20 of all time in the state of Nevada, too. That’s really cool because there’s probably been millions of deer tags in history.” Dowers said he is getting a full-body mount of his once-in-a-lifetime buck, but what makes his Kit Carson buckle so special is that he bagged Shredder on a property he leases that he’s worked hard to restore.

“I love the conservation aspect of hunting,” he said. “Where I run my cows is where I killed the buck. That ranch sat vacant for a long time, so a lot of the springs weren’t operable and a lot of them weren’t making water anymore when I took the lease. Even on my days off, I like to go out and work on the springs to help develop the waters for the habitat. It’s really cool to see the deer bounce back and start to use the springs they haven’t used in years.”