The "B A S T A R D BUCK" from Minnesota

I know, I know…“B A S T A R D Buck” isn’t a name that should be giving to such a magnificent animal but I just couldn’t help it! The gut wrenching ups and downs this MN buck gave me over the last 3 weeks more than justify the name he was given! I had hunted this buck and only this buck for 18 days before I was finally able to capitalize on the opportunity I was given on November 19th. A huge weight had lifted from my shoulders once I finally wrapped my hands around this deer. I was so exhausted at this point all I could do was kneel next to him and thank God for giving me the opportunity to hunt such a worthy adversary.

You may be asking yourself at this time how and why did he get this name. Here is the how and why. I had placed a trail camera in a shooting lane not 10 yards from my tree to get a better idea on what was in the area. The first picture I got of this deer was on Halloween day at almost 12 o’clock noon. I had hunted the previous three days leading up to Halloween and never laid eyes on him. I was unable to hunt Halloween day and it just so happened that’s when he came through. At that time I made the decision to hunt this buck and only this buck here in Minnesota. I had previously mentioned that I hunted this buck for 18 days. During that 18 day span I was unable to hunt 4 of those days (Halloween day being one of them). That means I was in the stand 14 of those 18 days. As luck would have it 3 of the 4 days I wasn’t there I got pictures of him coming right by my stand!! Every time I would check the camera and see a picture of him on the day I wasn’t there just infuriated me even more. Hence the name “B A S T A R D BUCK”!!

It was now time for me to face reality. Was this buck actually watching me walk into my stand in the early morning hours? Had he winded me on a previous sit without me knowing? Did he have my tree pegged and knew what to look for before he came by? A million things ran through my mind as I began to wonder if this buck actually had me patterned better than I had him patterned! I was now under the strong conclusion that this buck was either the smartest deer I’ve ever hunted or the luckiest. I was on the verge of changing tactics all together before I decided to give it one last try. I felt deep down inside that I was hunting this deer the most effective way possible and that he truly was just getting lucky.

Day 18 (November 19th) in my pursuit of this deer brought something new. Heavy cloud cover and a light mist of rain greeted me at 5am. I figured this change in weather might be all I needed to change my luck. The skies began to lighten and before I knew it legal shooting time was here. I had been watching the woods to my West when I got an eerie feeling inside me that something was approaching from behind me to the East. Just then I caught movement to my left and before I knew it the buck I was after had just walked through my shooting lane at no more than 15 yards! I finally had my chance and he slipped right by me without me knowing he was even there. I quickly grabbed my bow and hit the grunt call. A casual glance my direction and he was back on his way. I hit the grunt call again only to get the same result. I now figured I needed to do something drastic. I quickly grabbed my doe bleat call and gave it a couple turns. He snapped his head back my direction. Just then I hit the grunt call 4 short times to imitate a buck chasing a hot doe. He turned and headed back my direction! A short 30 seconds later and he was at 10 yards and headed for a small shooting lane. As soon as he hit the lane I stopped him, settled the pin and pulled the trigger on my release. The Rage 2 blade found it’s mark and the deer went down 60 yards later. I had finally reached my goal of harvesting the deer known as “B A S T A R D Buck”! He grossed a 152” and will go on my wall with great pride.

Good luck as always to everyone else still pursuing their goals this season!!