Story of “TANK” 9/17/12 (150 3/8″ Gross) - Deer Hunting - Deer Hunting

Story of “TANK” 9/17/12 (150 3/8” Gross)

First, I have to say this buck was for my son Nolan. He’s a 9 month old bundle of joy and I can wait for the day we get to share time in the woods or on the water. He was with me a handful of times during August glassing deer and even saw Tank a couple of times through the binocs. Well, I would like to think he did. I love you little man.

Tank… Tank… Tank… Where do I begin? I can’t believe that it’s been 22 months since the first time I laid eyes on Tank while in stand. He was a solid 2.5 yr old 8 point and I was looking for any excuse to shoot a deer in MN during the 2010 archery season. I remember telling myself (as he walked past me at 16 yards) “Dang! He will be a dandy in a couple of years.” Tank already carried some good Mass in his Antlers and his body was built like a fire hydrant. I had just scored on a great buck named “Rocket” in Buffalo County, WI two weeks earlier and was hoping to put the smack down on a MN Bruiser to top off the 2010 season.

Well, the 2010 MN archery season ended with Tag Soup for me. However, there were plenty of nice “up n’ comers” to look forward to the following fall, including Tank.

Fast forward to July 2011. I had put out several cameras during late spring and early summer on 4 different properties hoping to catch a picture of a good buck (140”+). I finally was rewarded with confirmation of a nice wide 9 pt on one of them. After getting him on camera, I pulled a few cameras from other properties that didn’t have any good bucks on them and positioned them about a quarter mile away in every direction to see where my best opportunity would be to have a shot during daylight. With about 2 weeks before season, the wide 9, also known as “Crabby” started making a pattern by one of the cameras right at last light. A lot of you know how that turned out…

So, with my 2011 MN Archery buck tag filled early, I had 3.5 months to play around with cameras on multiple properties. Also, I live in an area of MN that offers Management and Intensive Deer Licenses which means I can continue to hunt and shoot up to 5 deer. It was a good month before I actually hit the tree stand again. I was driving around glassing fields on Oct. 23 and spotted what looked like a Mature Buck about a mile from where I had permission to hunt. As I watched the buck make scrapes and scent check from the road, I wanted a better look. The next day I knocked on 3 different doors asking permission to archery hunt. Finally, at the 3rd farm, the owner gave me permission. It was 3:30 and I headed straight to the spot where I saw the buck the night before. I sat on the ground and made a natural blind next to a big oak and cedar tree. I didn’t have intentions of shooting this buck; I just wanted to see if I could get an opportunity. Well, it ended up being a buck I named “Homeboy”. Homeboy came out again that night and believe it or not, walked within 5 yards of where I was sitting on the ground. He was a main frame 10 pt that scored about 115”. I called a good friend of mine, Danny, that hasn’t shot a good buck before and asked if he was interested in going after this buck. He said; “Oh yeah. When can we go?” We spent the next 3 nights hunting Homeboy and on the 3rd night I rattled and snort wheezed as the sun hit the tree tops. Not 20 minutes went by and I heard a squirrel barking. I turned and looked to see Homeboy 35 yards away staring at us, we were pegged. Although Danny didn’t get a shot, he said; “It was awesome seeing a nice buck while hunting.” I was thinking something a little different. I was already thinking about the fall of 2012 and what this spot could produce.

Nov. 10, 2011. I was hunting about a mile away from where we set up on Homeboy a couple weeks earlier. I’ve had permission to hunt this spot the past 9 years and the deal is I can’t hunt there until after the 1st weekend of firearms season, which I don’t mind because it seems to be a good post rut spot. Tank was on the move as I sat in stand that morning and was chasing a doe. Tank ended up running past me in the exact same spot from the year before at 16 yards. I was pumped to see him again. It had been almost a year and he had grown significantly. I hunted in that same spot again on Nov. 18 and ended up jumping Tank as I walked into stand that afternoon. He stood broadside at 30 yards for 20-30 seconds and it was like he knew I couldn’t shoot and ended up slowly trotting away. To top that night off, I watched 7-8 does and fawns come out to the field along with another buck. I was even more pumped to see it was Homeboy. That confirmed 2 good bucks made it through the firearm season in that area.

Bring on 2012. I again found myself putting out cameras and knocking on doors during late spring. After talking to and confirming permission for all the properties from the year before, I set up a camera or 2 on each of them. Doing the same thing that I have for the past several years, hoping to get a pic of a good buck and narrow down his habits. It wasn’t until July 10th that I finally had a pic of a buck that I felt would make the hit list. You guessed it; it was on the property that I just got permission for the year before and only hunted 4 times (includes the 3 hunts with Danny).

There’s one issue with the property, it’s small and every time I would check the camera, I was blowing deer out. Plus, the spot on the spot is butted up to the neighbors and I didn’t want to put my stand in an open area for them to see where I was hunting. So, not only did I have to fool the deer, I had to camouflage my stand from the neighbors. I elected a specific tree by viewing aerial photos on Bing Live Maps and Google Earth. It was approximately 55 yards from the neighbor’s property line and gave me enough cover that the tree stand couldn’t be seen. The best part, it put me in the location of a major funnel/pinch point and with a NW wind, I knew it would be deadly.

I started seeing some buck activity around the beginning of August out in a bean field across the road. It seemed every night that a bachelor group of bucks would make their way out right before dark to feed on beans for the night. This continued throughout the entire month of August and I had heard from a few people that there was a Monster Buck out there. I didn’t want to draw any attention to what I already had confirmed by glassing and wanted in the worst way to put a camera up on what I felt was the main trail but again, it was basically 5 yards onto the property I had permission to hunt and a very visible area. Plus, the one time I did head in there to set up a camera, I jumped 11 deer, including Tank. It sucked but also confirmed my suspicions as to how my tree stand was set up.

Sept 4, 2012: I see Tank out in the field with 4-5 other bucks. He is clearly the best buck of the group and I sit and glass them from my truck for a good 7-8 minutes. This is the day that I started to get excited for the opener. Tank hasn’t left the area and I can confirm which buck he is. I end up seeing Tank 6 times in the 10 days leading up to season out on the bean field right at last light. The new issue I faced; Tank was heading out to the bean field from 3 different areas and I only have permission to hunt 1 of them. I had made up my mind that I would only hunt in that spot with an N/NW wind and didn’t want to chance kicking up a deer on the way in which meant walking a good quarter mile out of the way and staying as quiet as possible on the final 20 yard approach into my stand.

Archery Opener: I hunt on a different property because of the warmer conditions and South wind. I head out for the evening hunt and end up passing on a 2.5 yr old 8 pt, 2 does and 4 fawns. I was just happy to be in the woods again. However, it was hard for me to sit there knowing I didn’t have a Mature Buck on camera for that property. Honestly, unless I know there is a Mature Buck running around on the property, I usually will not hunt it.

Round 1: Sunday September 16th. As I park the truck, I think to myself; “I should put a camera on that trail.” I look behind the driver seat and see an extra Cuddeback Capture and brand new batteries. On the walk in, I set the camera up on the trail I’m hunting and hope to get pictures of all the bucks I’ve been watching the past few weeks.

I get set-up and feel very confident about my situation. The conditions are perfect and I know I have a good shot opportunity at Tank. Its 7:00 and I look out into the field and see 3 bucks. I instantly put my binocs up and see it’s 3 of the smaller bucks. I wasn’t disappointed or anything, I was just hoping one of them would be Tank. After they are on the field for about 30 minutes, 2 of them head my way and run through the area that I expected them to. Both gave me 15-20 yard shot opportunities and put on a little sparring/chasing show. Plus, each had to rub a few little trees before heading out for the night. That was how Sunday ended.

Round 2: Monday September 17th. I’m heading back to the stand after work. The wind is still out of the N/NW and there is a minor cold front moving in. I switch cards out of the camera I put up the night before and as I’m doing that I look behind me to see a doe and fawn watching me 35 yards away…. “Crazy.” I try to stay quiet as I walk into stand and watch as the doe and fawn run into the woods making a ton of noise and taking any attention off of me. I get into my stand at about 6:15 and instantly hear something. Whatever it was would make noise a couple times then would stop. This went on for about an hour and was only 20 yards from my stand. It’s so thick that I couldn’t see what it was. Finally about 7:05, a 2.5 yr old 8 pt steps out. He had been bedded by me the entire time and didn’t spook out of there. As I was watching him walk by at 20 yards and head north, I lost sight of him for about 10 minutess. Then out of nowhere, he was 80 yards away eating on the alfalfa field and didn’t have a care in the world. I started thinking about this spot and in my 1st two sits, I had passed 3 bucks, kicked up a doe and fawn, saw another buck the night before and things were too good to be true.

After the buck was on the field for 5 minutes or so, he looked up and was staring at something. I looked in the same direction and could see a deer heading toward him from North to South. To my surprise, it was Tank. I sat and watched Tank for a good 5 minutes at 90-100 yards through some tree branches. The entire time, I was praying that he would walk my way and go on the trail that offered the only shot from this set-up. Tank started to head my way and I grabbed my video camera and set it up for where I thought I would make the shot. After watching and praying for almost 15 minutes, the time had come and the realization that Tank was going to walk in my shooting lane at 40 yards. He was very cautious as he went from the field into the cover and stopped 2 times in a span of 5 yards before I pulled back on my bow. I don’t remember much about what happened on the shot. I put my 40 yard pin on him and said to myself: “make it count”. I watched as the arrow flew and felt I made a great hit. He bounded straight right and headed almost directly at me. He stopped 15 yards from me but again, it was so thick that I couldn’t even see him. This went on for almost 2 minutes and I knocked another arrow just in case I had another opportunity to shoot. He started to slowly walk from my right to left and I was given 1 tiny opening to get another shot on him. He was at about 10 yards and I pulled back and let my 2nd arrow fly. This time he bucked like a Mule and kicked his hind legs and took off through the thick brush. I heard him stop 50-60 yards away, fall over, start thrashing, and then a minute later give out a couple of spine tingling long grunts. He was down!!

Right after, I called my wife and said I got him. I texted some friends and said; “you wouldn’t believe it”. I got down and started calling a few other people, I was on cloud nine. It was 7:31 when I shot him and I always wait 2-3 hours before going after them to give them time to expire.

Randy, Charles, and Dan all met up at my house between 10-10:30 that night and helped in the recovery. Of course, they all had to give me some crap and tell me; “you’re so lucky, that it’s only me that can get away with 2-3 shots on every deer, and a few other things I can’t mention.”

As it turns out, the 1st shot was only a flesh wound and barley skimmed his belly. The 2nd shot however, was a heart shot and it’s a good thing that I decided to shoot again otherwise he would still be running around and you wouldn’t be reading this story. To top off the entire story, I checked the SD card from the 1 night, that’s right, 1 night that I had the camera up on that trail and I was blessed to get 8 pictures of Tank. It was like he was a model for a photo shoot.

My first thank you goes to Tank. Tank, you have been running around on properties I have permission to hunt and in my head since last fall/winter when I knew you made it through the season. You are a part of my memory bank for the rest of my life.

Next, I feel compelled to say a big “THANK YOU” to my wonderful wife Amber. Amber, without your understanding and often times well deserved frustration with me, none of this would be possible. You have put up with countless hours of hunting talk, videos, chitter chatter, and hunting mess around the house. I love you and thanks for your understanding.

Randy, Charles, Dan, Danny, and many others. You guys are what makes moments like this enjoyable. When one of us gets a good one, we all get a good one. We stop doing what we are involved with and help with the recovery, take pics, and even gut for one another from time to time… Charles. Haha.

I would also like to thank Absolute Outdoor Inc. for asking me to be Hunting ProStaff this year and believing in me and letting me put your products to the test. I was wearing your under garments, pants, and light-weight jacket during this hunt and it is an exceptional system. Believe me, I will be wearing Arcticshield and X System for every hunt from here on out.

To top it off, thanks IDOHunting.com for asking me to be on the Hunting ProStaff Team. I am honored to accept.

Good Luck this fall!!!