October 21, 2007:
Sunday morning started out different than any other day of hunting in my life. It had really started the day before on my way to hunt that evening over an Imperial Clover food plot. I decided to check my camera to see what had walked by in the past week. It was a good thing I did because it happened to capture the biggest racked deer that has ever walked past the camera on this particular piece of property.
That night as I sat in the stand all I could think about was the big 12 pt. I had set the camera up by 2 very big rubs and a scrape and with this picture I finally knew who had been making the rubs. He had been there at least 3 times in the past 3 weeks and this was the first and only picture of a buck. Anyway, the evening hunt had come and gone without seeing a deer. Never the less it was time well spent envisioning what the big boy might be doing.
Sunday morning I woke up still dreaming of a chance to see the big buck. I went through the same rituals I always do. Turn on the tube to the weather channel, pour a bowl of cereal, wait for the local on the 8’s, and look at the picture on the computer to try and estimate what he might score. After seeing the conditions and determining which stand to sit I take a scent killing shower, put on some warm-ups, and head out the door.
On my way to the property in the morning I like to shine a few fields when I get within a mile or two to see if there is any action going on. Within 30 seconds I spot my first deer, it’s a doe. A minute later I see 4 more, 2 does and 2 fawns. I take a left and have 1 mile to go to where I park and think to myself deer are really moving this morning. I shine the last field before I park and see 3 deer along the cornfield edge where I never see deer and think this could be the morning.
I park and do the same thing I always do. Get out of the truck get my clothes on and spray down with scent killer. I put my knee-highs on, head to the river, climb down the steps and I’m on my way. At this moment I could tell something was different. The river was flowing faster than normal and I could tell it had risen. Usually, I can walk the quarter mile without getting a drop in my boot but not this morning. I didn’t make it 20 yards when my right boot filled with water. Good thing it was 50 degrees out because if it wasn’t, I probably would have turned around. The only thing that kept me going was the thought of the holding onto the big buck.
After sitting for 2 hrs it’s 8:30 and I say to myself; “I need to get down and look around a little bit and move a stand to the tip of the woods where the picture of the buck was taken.” Plus, with two boots full of water I wasn’t the happiest hunter. I got down and walked across my food plot and through the cornfield for the first time all year. I didn’t walk the river because I would just get more soaked. On the way to the truck I kick up a deer and pray that it’s not the big buck. I walk slowly and make my way to the truck and see a doe 50 yards ahead of me. She eventually takes off and I get to my truck and decide to keep my hunting clothes on because it’s only a 5 minutes to the stand that I’m going to move.
I get the stand and drive to within 40 yards of where the picture was taken. I go over to the camera and grab the memory card and plug it into my computer to see that 3 different 1.5 yr old bucks had walked by during the night. I proceed to look for the perfect tree and set it up. After the stand is in place I clear 5 different shooting lanes, make a mock scrape using Active Scrap & #304, and finalize it by putting a dripper up. It’s now 12:00 and I’m thinking that I need to get out of here because I’m scenting everything in the area.
I decided to move my camera out of the area to another place on the way out about a quarter mile away to see if I could catch the buck coming or going from that direction. I make 2 more mocks’ and set the camera up. On my way home I head by Coppertops house to see if he’s around to show him the picture of the buck but he’s not around. I get home 10 minutes later and try to take a nap from 1:30 to 3:30. I get about a half hour in because all I can think about and look at is the buck. At this moment I could tell he was becoming an obsession and it had not even been 24 hrs. I had made up my mind that I was going to hunt this buck exclusively for the next 2 weeks. I was already thinking of the gun season and how I would hate to see someone shoot him with a gun.
I don’t want people to take this the wrong way because I have nothing against gun hunting for deer. I just personally have chosen since 2000 to only hunt deer with a bow. Anyway, on with the story, I get off the couch with 1 minute to play in the half of the Vikings game and grab my other hunting boots and head out the door. It’s now 4:35 and I have a 15-minute drive ahead of me. I get to where I park and look at the buck one more time. I walk to my stand, which I put up 5 hours earlier and hope that I get a glimpse of the buck. After a slow 10-minute walk I’m at the base of the tree and slowly climb up. I’m sitting for about 20 minutes and decide to rattle, grunt a few times, and give out a big snort wheeze. It’s now 5:55 and I haven’s seen a thing. I take out my spotting scope and start looking in all directions. I think I spot a deer about 700 yards away in some brush. It turns out that it wasn’t a deer but, while looking at whatever it was I see a deer about 20 yards behind it in the woods running up the ridge. I couldn’t tell what it was but, it looked small and I didn’t see any antler.
So, time goes on and I see nothing. It’s now 6:30 and there’s only 20 minutes of legal shooting left. I look around and slowly stand up. I can’t really explain other then I always feel more prepared and ready when standing for the last 20-30 minutes. It’s just a ritual I guess.
It’s now 6:45 and 5 minutes left to go. That’s when I hear something coming on my left and look down to see the BIG BUCK 10 yards away. He had walked through the open CRP, around the cornfield, and right to the tip of the woods and was headed directly to my dripper that I set earlier. He stops when he’s straight down wind of me. I reach for my bow and hadn’t realized that I didn’t even have an arrow knocked all night. Then it happened. I had moved my feet and some dirt that had dried fell down and hit the leaves and he immediately jumped back the way he came about 10 yards and looked up at me. I couldn’t believe it. I started to pull an arrow out of my quiver while he was looking at me. He settled down and started to head left to right again. I reached for my bow and the moment I grabbed it he looked up at me again. I stood motionless saying to myself; “he doesn’t see me, he doesn’t see me.” Well, he did and he started walking directly away from me. I try to knock my arrow and finally get it on the 3rd try. He’s now 20 yards away at 1:00 and I’m about to make a noise to stop him when he stops and turns to look back at me again. That’s when I say to myself it’s now or never and pull straight back, put the pin behind his rib cage because of the angle, and let it fly. He tries to duck the arrow as it is flying through the air but he doesn’t get low enough as the 100 grain Thunderhead makes impact with his spine and drops him on the spot.
For the next 10 minutes I sat in disbelief and stared at him with my binoculars. I couldn’t believe that I had seen the big 12 pt, let alone have a shot at him. After I calm down, I climb down the tree and walk toward the buck. He starts to try and get up but can’t because his hind legs won’t work. At this point I knock another arrow and double lung him. I start walking away toward the truck and realized that he’s not a 12 pt but a 13. I’m 100 yards from where he’s laying down and I drop to me knees and point to the sky. I’m on cloud nine and I feel like I’m walking on water. It’s an indescribable feeling that will only happen when a hunt like this happens. I get back to the truck and head to the landowner’s house and tell him that I shot the big buck from the picture that I showed him the day before and tell him that he’s a 13 pt. I shake his hand and express how thankful I am that I get to hunt on his property and never take it for granted.
To top the night off I had a very good friend of mine come and take pictures for me. Also, I was able to stop at Coppertop’s on the way home and show him this amazing buck and tell him how it all went down.
I would like to thank my lovely fiancée Amber, and great friends Randy, Danny & Crew for always being there for me. I know that as some things change, some things will always be there. The memories with my good friends are what life is all about. There are 2 things that need to be said about shooting this buck. It’s going to be very different the next time I hunt on that property knowing the big boy is gone. Also, to the new beginning which will bring new challenges and experiences.
Don’t forget to take a kid hunting when you have a chance.
GOOD HUNTING!!
Looking forward to the pictures. 
Congrats on the buck let’s see this bad boy! 
