Whitetail365: The Deer Hunting Blog From Field & Stream

Carl Lipke apologizes for not getting a better photo of the buck he killed last month (below). But Carl—a devout Iowa bowhunter who’s studying for his Master of Divinity degree—had a story that trumps even the best picture, so I couldn’t resist sharing it with my BuckTracker friends.

“I hunt my father-in-law’s farm in eastern Iowa,” Carl says. “He only owns 40 acres, 25 of which are wooded, but it sits in the middle of a giant ridge system. There’s a secluded little field in there, and during the rut there are just a lot of deer moving through that little chunk of land. I’ve had some great bowhunts there and just treasure the place. 

Think you need a sprawling spread to tag a world-class whitetail? Dave Emken doesn’t. The Illinois taxidermist and whitetail fanatic shot the buck below—a main-frame 8-point with enough junk to push it over the 200-inch mark—on a 94-acre farm near his home. “I just bought the farm last winter,” Dave says. “I spent the late winter and early spring walking it, hanging stands and figuring out how I was going to hunt it come fall. And then I stayed out of there until late October.”

Emken knew this goliath was living on his parcel. “My son had seen him in each of the last two seasons, and so had a couple of other guys,” he notes. “But I couldn’t lay eyes on him for anything. But I had scored his sheds and knew he was a monster. Finally, on an evening sit in late October, I watched him head to a corn field. He cut my boot tracks on the way, and I could just see him thinking ‘Oh man, I shouldn’t be out here.’ So he followed his own trail back into the timber.”

On the morning of November 3, Dave watched the buck chase a hot doe into a corn field. “I never thought I would get a shot,” he notes. “They were just out there for about a half-hour and too far to shoot. Finally, a group of five does came by, chased by a young buck. They came right by my stand, and eventually the doe came in off the cornfield. The big buck followed her, and eventually he worked in close enough for a 15-yard shot. I got a great hit and watched him go down.”

This tremendous Midwest giant was 7-1/2 years old and field-dressed 255 pounds. “I’ve been lucky enough to kill some great deer in this area,” Dave says. “But nothing like this. I love to hunt funnels and put in my time during the rut. This buck proves that it just pays to be out there, putting in your time!” Amen to that…and hearty congrats to a devoted bowhunter!

Buck Tracker Stats
Date: November 3, 2007
Location: Knox County, Illinois
Weight: 255 lbs, field-dressed
Points: 17
Green Score: 209” B&C (gross)
Weapon: Hoyt bow
Shot Distance: 15 yards
Method: Tree stand

OK, folks. Let's take a break from monster antlers and refocus on what's really important about deer hunting: That first buck--or doe--that got you started. Mine fell 35 years ago and it plays in my head like a live tape. And with two kids only four years away from getting their first chance, I hope I get to relive another huge First Deer experience when my twins take up hunting.

This story comes to us from F&S Executive Editor Mike Toth:

Scott:
This may not be a trophy in terms of points and mass and inches, but to me it’s the absolute best whitetail buck of the year.

This is my son’s very first deer, a three-pointer that he got on November 17, New Jersey’s Youth Firearms Deer Day. The state created this one-day season to get more kids interested in hunting by giving them a crack at a deer before any other firearms hunters hit the woods. That means you can scout, pattern, and hunt whitetails with your son or daughter before heavy hunting pressure disrupts feeding and travel routines. But like any deer hunt, you have to do your homework, and Joe did.

Today’s BuckTracker profile is special to me on a couple of levels. Like most of my entries, it features a great big deer. But this hunting tale also features a close friend of mine who is facing one of the toughest trials of his life. Bob Briggs is my former dentist (now retired), who also owns a gorgeous farm near my home in southeastern Minnesota. Bob has allowed me to bow hunt his place for several years, and wandering this wildlife paradise is a privilege I hold dear. And I have plenty of company; Bob lets several of his close friends hunt there, and his generosity is appreciated by us all.

Late this summer, Bob was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The prognosis was not good, but Bob was one of the lucky few with this particular form of cancer that could at least be treated. He was operated on shortly after diagnosis, and spent several weeks recovering. Bob missed the entire archery season, but rebounded in time for Minnesota’s first gun season.

Five days into the hunt, he scored on this incredible whitetail, a 165-inch monster that he shot with his muzzleloader. It is his largest buck ever, and he shot it from a ladder stand that we placed together this summer. The stand was also near a waterhole my hunting partner and I dug for our friend.

You’ll note the greenery in the buck’s mouth. This was placed there by Bob’s friends from Germany, who annually hunt with him in Minnesota. The European tradition of placing greenery in the mouths of the game they kill is one the entire group observes as they trade hunts in their respective countries each year.

Shortly after I write this, Bob and his wife Sue are leaving for Seattle, where he will undergo nine weeks of highly aggressive chemo-therapy, followed by a series of radiation treatments. As so many of us know, cancer is not a disease that respects the good, the kind, or even those who lead a healthy lifestyle, and my friend is an example of that. I know no one I’m prouder to call my friend, and I hope all Buck Tracker readers will join me in wishing Bob the best of luck in the weeks ahead.

BuckTracker Stats:
Date: November 8, 2007
Location: Winona County, Minnesota
Weight: 220 lbs, field dressed
Points: 10
Green Score: 165-1/4” B&C
Weapon: Muzzleloader
Shot Distance: 25 yards
Method: Ladder stand

It’s mid-November, the rut is on, and great photos keep finding their way to my computer. I can’t imagine the pictures we’ll get to see in the weeks to come, since the firearms season has yet to open in many top whitetail states. Stay tuned!

Every year I think the number of great bucks being shot will level off, but each fall it seems more record-class whitetails are tagged than the year before. So here’s a poser for you Buck Tracker folk: What’s causing this amazing run? Are more folks practicing the QDM principle of letting small bucks walk? Have habitat and nutrition improved markedly over the past? Are hunters simply shooting more deer now, thus elevating the statistical probability of B&C and P&Y candidates? Or has it always been this way, but modern technology (email, blogs, magazines, etc.) just has helped us find out about bucks that would have previously gone unnoticed? I’m interested to hear your thoughts!

Today’s great buck comes to us from Tim Walmsley, a whitetail expert who enjoys hunting with his wife on their property in west-central Illinois. The buck below is a trophy that Tim had seen on two other occasions before the deer offered him a shot. Here’s his story. “I hunt my farm 100 days a year, so I know most of the bucks on it,” Tim says. “But I rarely go into the timber in October, I just hunt the edges of fields because I don’t want to let bucks know they’re being hunted. And I hardly ever hunt mornings until I know the bucks are starting to run. On an evening hunt I’d watched this buck badger all the does in a field, so I knew the time was right to get deeper in the woods. On November 5th, the winds were blowing really hard and, in my experience, this is one of the best times to hunt rutting bucks. I think they’re more active in a high wind because they can smell does better and because they feel safer then. Anyway, I got into the timber that windy day and sure enough, this buck showed up, tailing a doe. They bedded down by me for a long time, and then left before I could get a shot.”

Three days later, Tim went to the same area and sat a stand near a wheat field. “It was an amazing night, because almost every buck I knew on that part of the farm was on that field,” he says. “Then a 4-1/2 year old buck came in tailing a doe that was in estrous. A few minutes later, this buck—a 5-1/2 year old that would never have tolerated the younger buck—showed up. I was able to grunt him in and get the shot. It was just lucky timing; if he’d showed up just a few minutes earlier, he’d have taken that doe and I probably wouldn’t have had a chance.”

Not only is this a great buck, but a good story, full of practical advice on how to approach the pre-rut and rut time periods. Congratulations, Tim!

Buck Tracker Stats
Date: Nov 8, 2007
Location: Adams Co. Illinois
Weight: 220 lbs field dressed
Points: 10
Green Score: 162 gross
Weapon: Bow
Shot Distance: 25 yards
Method: Tree stand