Deer may be largest ever taken in Milwaukee County
Oct. 13, 2010 |(15) Comments
Kim Acker of Waterford was in her deer stand, feeling a bit fortunate to be fastened to the big old oak tree.
Pushed by strong south winds, the mercury had topped 80 degrees on this late September day.
Now, as the sun started to drop toward the horizon on the Franklin farm, the breeze was still strong enough to waggle some of the sturdy oak limbs and buffet nearby rows of corn.
The experienced bowhunter knew the wind direction, though, was perfect for her quest.
A trail camera had detected a big buck using an adjacent trail; Acker would be downwind of the animal if it took the same route this evening.
Acker, 36, assumed her customary position in the stand: She hung her bow within arm’s reach and waited for the wildlife cinema to unfold.
“I don’t do a lot of thinking,” Acker said. “I just like being out in nature, watching everything that goes on.”
The first two hours on stand had yielded little of note. The wind made it nearly impossible to hear footfalls on the trail; the whipping vegetation made it harder to see wildlife.
But nothing could have obscured the image that appeared minutes before 7 p.m.
As Acker shifted her vision to the left, she was met by the living form she had seen on the trail cam.
“I remember thinking it’s the biggest deer I’ve ever seen,” Acker said. “Then I tried to tell myself to not look at the antlers, just focus on the target.”
A West Allis native, Acker didn’t hunt until she met her husband, Kurt, who introduced her to gun deer hunting 15 years ago.
She has taken to hunting like color to the October woods. She especially likes bowhunting for deer.
“I really like being in nature, watching everything from the stand,” Acker said. “The deer are in their natural movements. And you see so many other things.”
Acker has seen a badger, a fisher and a wolf while bowhunting in Wisconsin.
“How often do people in Wisconsin see a badger?” Kim said. “I would have never seen it if I hadn’t started hunting.”
Over the years Kim had taken three bucks, including a 140-class 8-pointer that hangs in the couple’s basement. She can often be found practicing archery in the family’s Waterford yard.
Solid support system
Acker is a stay-at-home mom when she’s not away from home hunting. The couple has two girls – Lauren (7) and Mikayla (5).
On many days when Kurt, 38, comes home from his job at KS Energies in East Troy, Kim goes hunting.
“He’s real supportive,” Kim said. “He knows I love it.”
Such was the case Sept. 23, the day the buck of a lifetime walked under her stand.
Acker took just one glance at the buck’s headgear – its non-typical rack was high and full of points.
“He was walking with his head down the whole time,” Acker said, anxious that it might have smelled her boots, the pair she had painstakingly tried to rid of the “new leather” smell.
The deer though, didn’t spook – it kept walking on the trail, under the oak. When it passed beneath one of the big limbs, she grabbed her bow.
As the buck was quartering away, she drew.
With her practice mantra in her head, Acker released the arrow. The distance was about 15 yards.
Acker was confident the shot found its mark. The entire sequence – from seeing the deer to shooting – was over in less than 30 seconds, Acker said.
The buck bounded away. Acker caught her breath and called her husband.
“He was like, what are you calling me now for, it’s prime time,” Acker said. “I told him I think I got it.”
Kurt arranged to take the kids, who have an 8 p.m. bedtime, to his mother’s house in Waterford.
He went to the hunting site and the couple made a cursory look for a trail. There was no arrow, no blood.
Rather than push it, they decided to wait for daylight. It was a night without sleep for Kim.
Early the next morning, assisted by Kurt’s brother, Erich Acker of Big Bend, they resumed the search.
At noon they found the buck. It had been shot in the liver, a wound that often leaves little or no blood trail.
“I was so relieved,” Kim said.
Coyotes had found the deer overnight and had eaten away much of the hindquarters.
The rest of the deer was in good shape, said Acker, including the head, which sported 16 points. The non-typical rack has what Acker called an additional main beam on its left side. It’s inside spread is 18 inches.
An impressive trophy
An unofficial green score put the rack at 202 3/8 inches. Official scoring can’t take place until after 60 days.
The deer could be the largest ever taken in Milwaukee County by any method. According to records kept by the Wisconsin Buck and Bear Club, the largest non-typical buck in the county scored 172 2/8 inches; it was registered in 1985 by George Kruppe of Oconomowoc.
The non-typical state record taken with a bow scored 243 6/8 inches; it was killed by Wayne Schumacher in Fond du Lac County in 2009.
Regardless, Kim’s deer is a trophy in any household. As you might have guessed, it’s the biggest in Acker family history.
The couple is planning to have a shoulder mount made of the deer. And where might it be displayed?
“Kurt doesn’t really get too involved in interior decorating,” Kim said. “It just might make the living room.”
That’s it, I give up! 
One lucky gal. 
