Twas the night before rifle season. I loaded all my gear into my F250 and headed north to our property for some much need time in the condo blind. The condo blind is a 10 x 10 cabin on stilts. It is equipped with a loveseat, heater, and urinal. Roughing it as one might say. Back to the story, I was making good time, had the cruise set on 70 and images of large whitetails running through my head, when suddenly my wife starts screaming "deer, deer, deer" and then boom. Yes, I landed my first whitetail of the season with the right front corner of my truck. The damage was minimal but my pride was hurt.

Now for the hunting story.

Saturday morning started off perfect. We had a real thick frost with no wind, for sure going to be a productive morning. To the right the condo blind over looks a 200+ acre river bottom that was planted in corn, to the left is the base of a cedar thicket, and straight out in front is two draws with a bean field in between. Last year I missed a huge buck that was between the draws ~250 yards away. The morning started of slow, the sun had risen and I had not made eyes on any creature yet. My hopes were high so I continued to concentrate on the river bottom.

At about 7:20 I looked to my left and saw legs. I grabbed the Nikon binocs and found that there were three does headed right for me. I had the video camera set up on a tripod so I thought I would try to get some footage. In the process on moving the tripod I knocked my flashlight over which made a loud "thud". The does heads popped up and the lead doe stomped her front foot a couple times then turned and walked up the ridge which I cannot see much of. They did not spook or blow, but I grabbed the grunt call and hit it a few times to try to keep them in the area. I watched them walk up the ridge, so I continued to watch the bottom and bean field in front of me.

At 7:30 I looked over where the does were standing, and there he stood. By far the largest whitetail I had seen while hunting. Of course I usually say this about most bucks I see while hunting, but I knew this was a once in a lifetime buck. He started up the ridge following the does. I knew if I didn't do something he would be gone so I grabbed the grunt call and blew it once. He made a 180, put his nose to the ground and was ready to defend his territory. I had the 7mm mag rested and the cross hairs on him. He gave me a perfectly broadside shot at 63 yards. I pulled the trigger, and watched him run away. I was in complete dis-belief. My dad had always told me that if you hit a deer with a 7 mag, "they ain't goin run".

I set in the blind a few more seconds and couldn't take it any longer. I had to go look at where he was standing, because I knew I hit him. I left all my gear in the blind and nervously ran over to where he was standing and sure enough, I had hit him, drilled him actually. There was good sign that this buck would expire quickly.

I immediately headed back to the cabin, which is about 100 yards away, hopped on the utility vehicle and headed for dad’s blind which was about 1 mile away. I got to the highest point near his stand and radioed to him that I shot a monster. He said he would meet me back at the cabin in 5 minutes. He showed up just as excited as I was so we walked over the hill to capture my trophy. We walked to the spot where he was standing and followed the trail that he ran. I walked around the bend looked up and saw my trophy lying in the trail.he made it about 100 yards or less. Now it was picture time.

This is by far the biggest buck I have ever harvested. This hunt was much like my good friend Steve Bemke. From the time I laid eyes on him to when I pulled the trigger could not have been more than 10 seconds.

Here are a few measurements:
6" brows
24" main beams
5" diameter bases
18" inside spread
8.5" G2
9" G3
Gross -160
Net - 156