I’m not even sure how to start this off as it has been a tough and enduring season for me to say the least.
It all began at the end of summer when archery season was drawing near and a few good bucks showed up on my cams on a mineral site. I had high hopes of shooting a quality buck off of a newly planted foodplot near one of my stands. Season started with a bang with lots of deer and plenty young bucks around on both of my properties. Little did I know it would take until mid Oct to see a decent buck. Big bucks in my areas are few and far between and lots of pressure to boot but I knew there were a couple around but always during nightime hours. Prior to gun season I had an encounter with a 10pt at 25 yrds and even drew on him but let him walk as he just wasn’t what I hoped for and didn’t want to start gun season off without a buck tag.
That brings me to gun season on my third property. Our family is fortunate enough to have friends in NW MN who are big farmers and between what they own and rent equals 1200 acres and they give my brother, father and I a whole farm to ourselves which historically always has some good bucks. After 22 deer and 6 bucks passed I headed back home to my ground where my I was sure I could get it done with shotgun. I couldn’t get it done and was in dissbelief this was the same property I had been bow hunting on. Only 3 younger buck sightings for a 7 day morning/evening hunt and some all day sits. I took a day off from hunting after gun season and jumped back in with bow in hand the following day. After all the men in orange left the neighboring properties things started to pick up again. Plenty of deer still around and finally saw a shooter on Thanksgiving evening.
That brings me to ML season and again my hopes where high but only for awhile after news of a neighbor taking a quality 8pt sometime recent was leaked. On the first Tue of ML season I had an encounter w/ a beautiful chocolate 5×6 who never came closer than 120-130yrds and failed to follow his does a mere 30ft from my stand. As the days wore on the cold set in and it was taking it’s toll on me but the deer movement was one for the books. Lots of does, fawns and an occasional young buck. On the last Sat on ML season I decided to head deeper into the tammarac and sit on my one and only permanent stand. I literally crawled up the tree, hung my pack up and the deer world went crazy. Exactly 20 deer moving in the swamp from all directions kept me entertained until dark. On Sun morning I crept in before daylight and again it started before I could see well enough. There had been a small 8pt I witnessed earlier in the week chasing does with a fairly good limp who showed up and I was going to do my good deed for the year use my tag on him. Before I could get a positive confirmation on him he was off again chasing this morning and I couldn’t get a clean shot. In all I saw 15 deer that morning. It was a no-brainer where my last ML sit for the evening would be. This time it was different, an hour into my hunt and not as much as a twig snap. From my stand I could see 3 people in orange across the crp in the neighbors property and then a bang. My heart sank as it always does hearing that noise, “Was that one I was after?” A short time from then I heard a grunt to my right, I slowly turned my head only to see a furry faced fawn about 65yrds down my shooting lane looking my direction. Hmmm…. “I know that wasn’t was you.” A minute or 2 later I notice movement to my right so I threw up my binocs to look at it’s head, “Nope, just another swamp donkey” but in tow was a bigger deer so again the binocs. I saw one great tine and grabbed for my gun. The doe crossed my shooting lane and as soon as he hit it I let out a “mmmbbbaaaaahhhh.” There he was, 78 days in the stand through the rain, hot muggy, freezing cold, snot producing, ups and downs, bang my head against the wall, all for this moment buck. I took a good aim and squeezed the trigger. The smoke seemed to linger forever as I watched him tear off head down blazing a trail through whatever was in the way. After waiting 5 min I climbed down, reloaded and went to try to find where he was standing. I was having a heck of a time due to all the tracks in the snow but figured the blood would be evident. I found a bit bit of hair amongst the weeds and brush. Huh? no blood? just then I noticed 3 tiny specs. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, or not seeing. 3 little specs of blood at point of impact. Then I started to fall apart, “Was it a bad shot, graze????” It all went through my head. I blew my chance and wounded a great deer was all I could think. I tried to find where he jumped to but all the tracks and weeds made it tough but I was able to follow him for about 30 feet which is about 2 leaps for a deer. Looking up ahead I saw a little better sign but not the kind you would expect for a shot through the boiler room. I marked my spot and quietly left the area.
I made a call as I always do to Gobbler to tell him the news and invite him to help but he had to work. I made my second call to my father who 27yrs ago took me on my first deer hunt on this very family friends property. Well I gave the deer 3 hours and we headed in not knowing what to expect. Needless to say after we got on the trail it was looking much better and I was sure it was a good hit. This deer went a mere 50yrds from point of impact and was dead I’m sure within 2 minutes. My dad grabbed him first and picked up the head, I about fell over because I was sure he was a shooter but not as impressive as he really was. He started counting 1,2,3,4 and so on up to 11. Turns out he is a mainframe 10pt with a sticker on one of his brows. His G-4s and brows are weak but makes up for it with beam length, G-3’s and good mass and an inside spread of 17.5″s.
I had never seen this deer before nor have pics of him from my cams but I’ll never forget my 09 season as long as I live.
I have lived and breathed deer hunting since the opening day of archery season and have gone in the woods with bow, rifle, shotgun, back to bow, and then to muzzleloader and came to the realization that it was just not meant to be for me this year as it has been for awhile and had just become OK with that. Just then I was blessed with an awesome buck and couldn’t be happier.
78 days in a tree, hundreds of scent-free showers, packing and repacking my backpack for the hunt, washing clothes, hanging clothes, passing 100’s of deer and all that goes with trying to beat the odds and I have to say it was all worth it. If you ask my gf, she’ll say different but now I’m going to give her all the TLC for putting up with my quest the the “ONE” Thanks for letting me share my story and best of luck to all who are still on their quest. Trust me, just when you are about to throw in the towel, think back to all the experiences and sights you have witnessed in the stand what could happen on your next outting and it will keep you going! Also a big thank-you to Gobbler who is always willing to come and freeze his fingers off taking pics as it seems my bucks always come during the coldest weather and to the landowner, I wouldn’t be who I am today without deer hunting in my life and I could never repay her in a million years.
Great that your dad could help you track him 
Like they always say.. it ain’t over til its over 
Hunting day after day after day is a discipline and many hunters are not willing to work as hard as you did for a buck. The daily hunting routine becomes part of you and you judge your success not by the deer you see or kill but rather the quality and effort you put into your hunts knowing that any moment it can happen. Good things always happen to someone who hunts consistently as you. 
