Art's Trophy Whitetail Buck

Art's Trophy Buck Taken With Bow

The thought of watching football after eating a big Thanksgiving meal had hardly crossed his mind as "Art's Trophy Whitetail Buck" was still out in the heavy timbered woods somewhere; hopefully dead.

It was the 21st of November, the day before Thanksgiving, 2007. Art was archery hunting a huge whitetail buck he had seen in September of 2006, while bear hunting on a friends heavily timbered land in Northern Minnesota. That year Art had harvested a large "Black Bear" with bow that dressed out at 325 pounds. As Art hunted this remotely wooded area for bear, he was also able to scout for trophy whitetail deer in preparation for the 2006 archery hunting season. He just couldn't get the image of that trophy deer out of his mind he had seen so close while bear hunting. It had come within 25 yards of him. But it was two days before the 2006 Minnesota archery deer hunting season opener. If only...

A Deer Hunter's Passion

Art, being an avid deer hunter, hunted this trophy whitetail deer off and on during the 2006 archery deer hunting season. He was very careful to hunt this area only when wind conditions were in his favor. The last thing Art wanted to do was get busted by this trophy whitetail and educate it about hunters and turn it nocturnal. Art never got another opportunity to see this deer again during the 2006 archery hunting season. He would have to wait till next year. Hopefully, no one would harvest that trophy deer in the rifle or muzzleloader hunting seasons.

A Year Of Waiting For This Deer Hunter

It was now mid 2007. Art knew this trophy deer was still in the area as no one had shot him the year before. In small towns; news travels fast if someone has harvested a trophy whitetail buck of this caliber. The winter of 2006 and 2007 was a good one for Northern Minnesota's whitetail deer. Temperatures were reasonably mild and the snow depths (critical for a whitetails survival) weren't bad. Now hopefully the timber-wolves and coyotes hadn't gotten to this 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 year old trophy deer; Art thought.

Late summer brought on renewed deer hunting passions for Art. He had been practicing all summer shooting his PSE Primos archery hunting bow. He had his deer hunting bow set at 73 pounds, shooting Easton Epic 340 arrows. His deer hunting broadheads were Muzzy 100 grain with 3 blades, they flew exactly like his field tips. He was confident. It was time to scout this area again and look for a great stand site where he could set up his 17 foot ladder stand. Art relocated the last years rub and scrape lines of this trophy deer. Carefully, Art searched a spruce grove overlooking a couple of last years scrapes in hopes of finding a great stand site. Art found a perfect spruce tree that would take advantage of the prevailing winds from the north and offer perfect camouflage. Art made a mental note to return with his ladder stand when the rut was on. It was time to leave this hunting spot. Art knew it would be important not to leave any human scent there. Art was also confident that this trophy whitetail deer would make it through Minnesota's rifle season as his friend's land had very little deer hunting pressure, just a few relatives, in this deep timber. The rifle season had ended and no one had seen this "Big Boy"; yet.

Art's Hunt: A Hunter's Dream

Art now returned to this area after the rifle season and located the trophy buck's scrape line thanks to freshly fallen snow. Art put up his 17 foot ladder stand in the spruce tree that now was overlooking two active scrapes. On November 21, a light Northeast wind was blowing with a light snowfall. Perfect conditions for the ladder stand he had set up. After spraying all his deer hunting equipment with scent killer; he put on his own scent lock camouflage hunting clothes and entered his ladder stand downwind at 2 P.M.; still having almost 3 hours of hunting light left. Art was in his stand only 20 minutes when several deer were spotted. These deer came in to check out the trophy bucks scrape line. None were shooters. In the next two and one half hours he saw 12 more deer within 25 yards; passing on two decent 8 pointer's and others. Then he saw "Big Boy", the trophy whitetail deer he was purposely hunting. As he came towards Art's stand site to check out his scrape's he noticed a big 6-pointer to one side and immediately chased him off. In just a few short minutes (eternity to Art), the trophy buck reappeared. He was now coming in to check out his scrapes. As he cautiously came in, walking behind some brush at 28 yards, Art brought his PSE Primos hunting bow to full draw. He anchored and released his arrow as the buck stepped out into a small opening. Whack! The muzzy broadhead sliced through the trophy buck. Art knew the shot was not perfect, but deadly. He felt the shot was a little back of the lungs, towards the liver. The buck jumped a few feet, looked around in amazement and walked off. The light snowfall had stopped and Art was confident he could track this trophy whitetail with ease, even in the dark as he had done many times before. Art waited an hour before climbing down from his ladder stand. With flashlight in hand Art found his arrow; a pass-through with good blood on the arrow. Art trailed the buck for about a hundred yards; not seeing much blood but fallowing his tracks in the newly fallen fresh snow. Just then; not far off, Art heard the buck get up and run off. The trophy deer had bedded down, leaving a nice pool of blood in his deer bed. Art, being a smart experienced deer hunter, decided to come back the next morning rather then push this deer throughout the night.

Experience Pays Off For This Deer Hunter

The next morning, Thanksgiving day, full of excitement, Art went back to the spot where his whitetail had bedded down to pick up the trail. He picked up the trail in the snow and fallowed it another 200 yards or so. The big buck had bedded down again; more blood. He fallowed the trail, without much blood sign, another 1/4 mile. There he was, piled up in an area of past clear cuttings and pines. The arrow had passed through the trophy buck's liver, causing him to bleed out over several hours. As Art field dressed his 12 point (scoring 161 & 1/2) trophy buck he looked up into sky, giving thanks; this was going to be a great "Thanksgiving Day!"