Dream Buck
Written by Dean Chappell on February 2, 2010 at 01:13PM | Categories Big Game HuntingI have been gun and bow hunting the whitetail deer in Wisconsin for the past 50 years. As a young boy my dream has always been to harvest a real free-ranging trophy whitetail buck with my archery equipment. Over the years I have taken several large bucks (120 – 140 inch racks) and numerous does; however as you know, trophy bucks are extremely rare and elusive.
In the fall of 2008, on a cold November day I was bow hunting on our land behind the house. It was the final days of the fall rut, just prior to the opening of gun season. The weather was clear with a stiff NW wind. I had arrived at my stand before first light. After sitting at this location four hours, I decided to head home. We had friends coming over to watch a Green Bay football game at noon.
It was 10:30 a.m. when I pulled into the yard on my ATV. As I approached the house I noticed a large deer crossing the road about 500 yards to the east. I ran into the house and grabbed my binoculars, from the back porch I could see the deer walking into the woods ¼ mile away. He looked like a good buck. I had permission from the land owner to hunt the woods. Earlier in the year I had placed a 12 foot ladder stand on a north/south ridge.
I told my wife that I should go to my ladder stand for a couple of hours just in case the buck was searching for does and not just passing through. I jumped onto my ATV and rushed down the road to my stand.
Once I had my equipment ready, I began to make soft doe bleats every 5 minutes. After about 30 minutes had past I saw movement under the pine tree branches. It was deer legs, I was thinking; did that buck chase a doe to me, could it be another buck that was moving or is it HIM? The deer was standing north of me facing the east. I still could not see the deer’s head. I gave a very soft doe bleat and the deer turned around and started to walk back up the ridge.
As it did I got a good look at the buck’s rack. OH MY GOD, what a beautiful deer. Will he come my way? He just stood there looking around and checking the wind. After what seemed an eternity the buck faced south and started to move slowly down the trail toward my stand. This was the largest buck I had ever seen in the wild.
The buck was only 15 yards away behind some pine branches. It was at this point when I realized I may actually get a shot at this trophy deer. The steady west wind was in my favor, I had great back cover and the deer trail passes within 5 yards of the stand. I started to make a mental checklist; don’t look at the rack, move slowly, pick a spot, don’t rush the shot; take a deep breath, etc. It was extremely hard to control my rattled nerves.
The buck stood still for several minutes just looking south past my stand. When he took the first step in my direction, I drew the bow and waited. He walked slowly toward me and turned to his right, giving me a broad side shot at 8 yards. All I could see in the sight was brown hair. My mind must have been on autopilot because the bow went off by surprise. Because of the steep angle the arrow hit high near this spine and exited low in the ribs. The buck fell over on the spot and began thrashing the brush with his rack. I knocked another arrow and shot him again through the boiler room.
I sat down in shock looking at this beautiful trophy buck on the ground in front of me. I could hardly believe my eyes. My Dream Buck hunt has finally come true. It was 11:15 a.m. when I climbed down and hurried home to get my wife. She returned with me to retrieve the buck and take pictures. The buck had 13 points and a gross score of 171 inches. This was the most exciting and rewarding bow hunt of my life.
More of pictures of my successful hunts can be seen on my website: ArcheryProStaffWI.com
Dean Chappell
You must be a member to post comments. Please sign in, or sign up.
I wish every bow hunter could harvest the buck of their dreams. It is a life experience that you will never forget. GOOD LUCK.
Congrats on the bruiser buck of a lifetime Dean, great story!!!
Cool story and nice buck!
Just goes to show that the big ones are cruising at all hours. Some of the biggest bucks are killed from 10am to 2pm when everyone else is IN THE HOUSE!! Great story!
That is a true trophy! What a great story.
That thing is a pig. Anyone would be proud to get that. Great Job.
I had a similiar experience this fall while bow hunting except that, left during the Packer, Tampa Bay game thinking the Pack would have no problem finishing things out and I saw a very nice buck only to have to settle for a small six for meat!
what an awesome adreliene filled hunt...
Thats cool you could cut him off like that. I bet your glad you looked down the road that day!
great buck!!!
Very cool story!
Very cool story!
Dream buck for sure. good story.
Nice buck.
Awesome Awesome Deer!!! Can't beat that Predatro camo either, way to go!
There's nothing like locatio-location-location. I've got the woods out my back door also..Many of us 'seasoned' hunters wait a long time for mister big! Dandy buck. Great read!
It's examples like yours that makes bow hunting such a great sport. thebowbarn.com