The buck of my lifetime!

All my life I have been wondering if I would ever get a chance to harvest a “buck of a lifetime”. Each fall I diligently spend up to 60 days in a tree (in two different states) waiting and hoping that I would lay my eyes on a true trophy whitetail.

This year my excitement was at an all time high because some hunting buddies and I were able to secure a new lease in the coveted Buffalo County, WI area. This particular property had a long history of harvesting many mature bucks over the years including a monster last year that scored 184 3/4 inches!

Numerous days in the spring and summer, I spent trying to figure out the lay of the land and the deer patterns. We hung 15 stands on the property in various locations (some for the early season and others for the rut). Many of those early summer days’ temperatures hit in the high eighties and I remember the land owner telling me that I was crazy. The other buddies of mine are also out of state and live much farther away than I do, so I ended up doing a lot of the stand hanging myself trying to get it ready and productive when they come back in the fall to hunt a 10 day stretch.

The season started out with a bang and by the end of the opening weekend I had ended up passing on five bucks. One was a potential shooter, but I could not tell how wide he was so I let him walk by me at 20 yards. Two other bucks were 2.5 year olds and needed one more year.

Things calmed down a little bit from there until I was able to capture a very wide buck on camera after a mock scrape set up. I posted this picture on IDA and it raised a lot of interest in guessing how wide the buck actually was. I recall one member (TheguN) said he was probably pushing 26 inches and stated there was only one way to find out – get him on the ground!

The time of the picture was 7:41pm on Sept. 30th and he was on a trail that headed for the pond. My guess he was bedded up on the ridge and wanted to come down for drink of water before going out for the night.

About 17 hours earlier (2:46am) on this same mock scrape, I captured another picture of a buck running on my camera and didn’t know for sure if it was the wide one or a different buck. For a long time, I originally thought that it was a different buck, but later decided that it was the same wide one.

This area had some potential but I did not have a stand hung up yet. I immediately pulled the camera not wanting to spook him even though my camera was a no flash set up. I waited for about a week until there was a rainy day. I quietly snuck in late that morning with all of my scent lock clothes on and was finally able to hang a stand on this “side hill”. About three days later, the wind was finally blowing from the north and I was able to set up in this stand. The night was uneventful and I never saw a deer.

On the opposite side of the pond there was another good looking spot where the deer were traveling through. I quietly did some scouting and found a decent rub line in a pretty thick area. The rubs were on both sides of the trees and it looked to me that this particular buck was making these rubs at different times of the day. I remember wondering if they were made by the wide buck. I decided to find out and put up another mock scrape. About 4 days later I checked the camera and I soon had answered my own question. I got another picture of “the wide one” pawing the very scrape that I made. This picture was captured 16 days later from the other ones and the time was 12:19am on Oct. 16th. Once again he was going down towards the pond.

The very next day I got a break and it was raining again. I hung up another stand in this thick area hoping to catch him coming down towards this side of the pond. In between these two stands, there was yet another stand that one of my buddies had hung early in the summer. This particular stand was in a huge gnarly oak tree right at the end of the ravine. The three stands were only 150 yards apart. However, each covered a different trail and they were all between a different bedding area and the pond. That night I hunted this new “rub stand” in the rain and did not see a deer. I was really disappointed because I knew I could not hunt now for the next five days.

On Monday – October 22nd, I was able to hunt again in the evening. I decided to go to the side hill stand because the wind favored it. A small 6 pointer came through around 5pm and to my surprise he did not come from the bedding area above me. Instead he was walking the side hill and ended up a mere 10 yards away from my stand. He hung around for over 20 minutes and it was fun to watch him make a small rub. I kept on watching that same trail hoping maybe the big wide one would do the same thing. This trail also faced in the general direction of the gnarly oak tree stand. I remember looking at my cell phone and it was 6pm. As I looked at the trail where the little buck had come from, I caught movement down below about 125 yards away right by the gnarly oak stand. Right away I could tell it was a doe. But I thought, what the heck, let’s pull out the binoculars just in case there was something behind her. As I looked through my Swarovski’s, I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was him – “the wide one” in front of the doe!!! I only saw him for 2 seconds as he was heading towards the pond and most certainly not coming my way. I decided to do some soft rattling to entice him. My rattling sequence lasted about a minute and I anxiously waited. My eyes were now glued on that small little opening through the timber below (covering only 2 degrees of my 360 degrees circle). About 15 minutes later, I saw him again heading back on the very same trail and he walked right by the gnarly oak stand. He even stopped one time and shook himself maybe to get rid of the flies. Then he must have walked up towards the ridge and that was the last time I saw him that evening. As darkness fell, I had to thank the little buck for walking by earlier because if it wasn’t for him I would have paid attention to that area where I saw the wide one. I was very excited and thrilled to death to see this buck with my own eyes and especially at 6pm! I was kind of bummed out that I was in the wrong stand, but I knew that this buck was perhaps predictable and he was moving during the daylight hours.

The next morning – Tuesday Oct. 23rd, I really wanted to hunt in that area but I decided it was just too risky. I reluctantly sat in a different stand on top of the ridge top and never saw a deer.

That morning I was supposed to head back home but thanks to my very understanding loved one (Tina) she supported me in staying that night too. I told her “THANK YOU” for understanding my obsession and told her that in all my life I was never as excited as I was to hunt on this very night!

The bad news was the wind was very strong (15-20 mph) that evening and it was blowing crossways for the gnarly tree stand. I thought about not even hunting it, but my excitement won me over. It was now 3:30pm and I settled in for the evening hunt with high anticipation. Numerous times I checked the wind with my bottle full of baking soda. It was really swirling and I did not like the conditions at all. As I waited and waited, I envisioned where the big wide one would come from. There were three different trails all leading past my stand. The tree was never trimmed out and there were not a lot of places to get an arrow through. The trail to the west of me only had two little shooting lanes. The trail to the east of me was the best one and I had a clear broad side shooting opportunity at 15 yards. The other trail went right underneath the stand and I had absolutely no approaching shooting opportunities. This was the one trail that I did not want to see him on.

About 5:30pm, I finally heard a deer moving down from the ridge top above me. I grabbed my bow with high anticipation. About a minute later it finally appeared and it was on old doe with a single fawn. They stayed in the brush and soon came down wind of me to the east. Shortly thereafter, I got busted! The old doe’s head came up and she pointed her nose high up in the air. She stomped out her warning sign and decided enough was enough. After two leaps she stopped and let out the worst noise in the woods a hunter could hear. She blew at me three times and then finally bounded off with her fawn behind her. Now I was really disappointed that I even hunted this stand in the questionable wind. I knew I was most certainly done for the night and maybe even for good on this particular set up. The frustrating evening finally ended and I never saw another deer.

I headed home late that evening and once again thanked Tina for letting me have another night away from home. She makes a lot of sacrifices for me because of hunting and I don’t take that for granted. We have the most special relationship where we are certainly true companions. That night I didn’t sleep much and was pretty restless. I was kicking myself about hunting in the suspect wind.

Wed. night (Oct. 24th) I could not hunt and again it was a sleepless night. I eventually got up at 2:30 am and washed my scent lock clothes again.

Thursday Oct. 26th I was back at it and this time the wind (a light 5 m.p.h.) was in my favor! My hunting buddies from Michigan were leaving that night and would be there before dawn the next morning.

I got in the gnarly oak stand around 4 pm and set up. Once again, I anticipated where the wide buck would come from. I ranged all of the shooting lanes and tried to remember the distances once again. About 5:30 pm, I spotted a doe and a fawn walking down the middle trail and heading right towards my stand. I was confident that they would not smell me because of the north wind. The doe veered off and took the trail to the west and her fawn walked down the middle trail to within one yard from my tree. They slowly made their way to the pond behind me which was about 75 yards away. After a short drink, they casually walked over the dam and out into the alfalfa field. This time I was very happy that I did not get busted!

I looked at my cell phone and it was now 5:45pm. I put my cell phone away and decided to hang on to my bow until dark. About 15 minutes later I looked up the ravine from me and I caught some movement. I soon realized right away – IT WAS HIM – THE WIDE ONE!!! He was coming down the middle trail and was only 50 yards away! I was begging and begging to the lord above that we would veer off and take either trail that went around me. However, he stayed on the middle one and continued walking right at me. The only shot opportunity was right by my feet and only one yard from my tree. There was a limb preventing me to pull back my bow and then aim down. I decided to point my bow down at the opening and tried pulling it back in that position. I was struggling to do this without making a lot of movement. He quickly was in the little opening directly underneath me. I decided to let him continue walking without pulling back fearing that he would see me. After he passed, I quietly pivoted around and pulled back my bow. The trail angled towards a 2 foot opening in between the oak limbs about 8 yards away. If he decided to stay on the trail – this was the spot where I was going to shoot him. If he broke off the trail and headed straight, I would have to wait until he was at least 15-20 yards out so I could shoot over the top of the limbs.

Fortunately, he stayed on the trail and headed for the small opening. When he arrived there, he actually stopped offering an easy 8 yard quartering away shot! My blood was pumpin and I said to myself “I am going to kill you”. As I was about to release, I then said NO – SETTLE DOWN! I paused for a second… and then slowly arched my back just like in practice. The release finally went off and hit exactly where I was aiming. The wide buck bounded off and he groaned each time his front hooves hit the ground. I’ve never heard this type of sound before. He ran in front of the pond and I last saw him heading towards the pines about 75 yards away. I listened for a crash but I did not hear anything.

As I collected my thoughts, I looked around and to my amazement I saw another deer approaching me exactly where the wide one came from. It was another buck – a decent nine pointer that I also have pictures of on the same side hill mock scrape set up. This buck stopped and knew something was up. Most likely he either saw the whole event or heard the wide buck run off. After staring in my direction for about two minutes, he slowly turned around and headed back up the ridge.

I waited in my stand for about 30 minutes, marked the spot where I shot, marked the path where I last seen him run and then decided to finally get down. I looked for my arrow hoping I got a clean pass through but did not see it. I walked about 5 yards and quickly saw some blood. Another five yards and then I found my arrow. It was laying on the ground and it was soaked with bright red blood. The 3 blade Rage Broadhead was fully intact meaning that most likely I had a good pass through.

At this point, I decided to stop tracking him and walked past the pond, over the dam and eventually out into the field. There were five deer out there including another buck that was walking in my direction about 200 yards away. I hit the deck and brought up the binoculars. It was a 2.5 year old eight pointer about 16 inches wide. He slowly made is way towards me until he got within 40 yards. Finally he spotted me and didn’t like what he saw. He trotted off and made is way back to the woods. My plan was to leave this buck alone for at least two hours and maybe even over night.

The first person I called was my best friend – Tina. Every time whether it’s day or night I always call her and tell her I’m out of the woods and that I’m safe. Every single time that I call, she always asks “did you get one?” I was wondering if she would ask me the same thing tonight! However, Tuesday night she slightly changed her words and asked me “did you get ‘em?” This night was no different and she asked me again if I got him. I told her that I put a good hit on him but have yet to retrieve him. She was as excited as me and it made me feel really good.

After consoling with a couple of other buddies of mine, we decided to go after him because of the high coyote population in the area. We arrived around 8:30 pm and soon after picked up the blood trail. The sign was very good and we quickly tracked him over to the pines where I had last seen him. However, when we got to the pines, the blood was much harder to see and we only went about 10 yards in 10 minutes. Kirk decided to go back and pick up a couple of more buddies who wanted to help out. As he headed away on the four-wheeler, Kirk hit the on/off switch versus the light switch. The big bear Yamaha didn’t like that and ended up back firing really loud echoing up the ravine. It scared the crap out of me.

Bunky started laughing and said “Holy cow, Kirk just shot him!” It was a really funny joke and it kind of made relax and enjoy the moment. After that, we soon continued to track ever so slowly through the pines.

Kirk quickly made his way back to us and walked over the dam right next to the pond. All of a sudden he yells, “HEY – HE”S RIGHT HERE!!! HE’S DEAD AND HOLY #$%@ IS HE WIDE!!!” Bunky and I were only 50 yards away. The buck didn’t stay in the pines after all and died right next to the pond – a mere 20 yards away from where I walked out of my stand.

As I approached him, it kind of felt surreal. I really didn’t even look closely at his rack because I had looked at his picture so many times. I also think I would have acted a little differently if I was by myself. I guess I tried to contain my excitement as each guy congratulated me.

After the high fives were exchanged, I was excited to get on the four-wheeler and get back to Tina who ended up babysitting two toddlers in the process. With a huge smile on my face, I told her that we found him and she gave me a big hug that I will never forget!

“The wide one” ended up being an eleven pointer because he snapped off a small G2 on his left side. The inside spread was just under 26 inches (25 ¾). I decided to do a full body mount of him after Kirk and everyone else told me that they would most definitely do it! Kirk runs and owns Peterson Taxidermy out of Arkansaw, WI and does outstanding mounts on whitetails! He actually took 1st place in WI a few years ago with a buck that he harvested himself!

On Sunday, I finally got a chance to return by myself to where everything happened. As I touched the very spot where he died, I finally broke down. I thought about all the years that I had hunted and fantasized about a buck like this. I thought about all of the stands that I’ve hung in my life hoping that it was the one that was going to pay off. I thought about all of the little bucks that I passed up hoping for a bigger one to come by. I thought about all the times that I washed my clothes in scent free soap while taking a shower before I headed out. I thought about how special Tina is and how she supports me in my hunting. I thought about my children (Chloe and Ian) who put up saws, boots, bows and guns laying around in my truck. And lastly, I thought about the deer itself realizing how special he really is. I paid tribute to the animal and felt very, very fortunate to have crossed paths with him.

I hope this experience will also change me. I’m going to try and slow down a little bit and appreciate all of the preparation rituals that I go through on every hunt. I hope that I find an inner peace with myself knowing that it’s not always about killing a big buck. I guess to me, hunting is what you make it out to be. Looking back, the strategizing, planning and thinking were the best parts of this hunt. Actually pulling the trigger on my release was what I refer to “as the necessary evil”. I hated to do it but knew that was the end result.

Make the most of your hunts. Set a goal that is attainable for you, design a plan and do your best to achieve it. Treat every hunt like it “the one” or perhaps your last one. When you do it that way, it certainly feels the most rewarding when your day finally comes.