Liv4Rut
Active Member
Some of you may remember a picture of a large double drop tine deer my dad got a trail cam picture of in 2009. Well we finally have some closure on this buck as I got to hold the rack today. Thought I would share the story.
2008. In 2008 my dad and surrounding neighbors hunted our place hard and never layed eyes on any real big ones in the neighborhood. This includes hunting, preseason scouting etc. We we were all shocked when the neighbors kid found the shed below that scored 101 and change.
It is an absolutely horrible photo however it was officially scored at the classic.
2009 In 2009 there were no sighting of this buck in the summer as far as glassing and trail cameras go. He was a ghost and it was thought he may have just been in the area during late season the year before. In Early November my dad got the picture below. He about had a heart attack when he was flipping through his photos and that one came up.
We found out that a bowhunter had hit the deer but never recovered him. I actually believe this bowhunter is on this site now after seeing his screen name pop up. I actually met him over on archerytalk when he had his avatar pic of the pic below. There were a few sightings of this buck when spotlighting and one of the neighbors who wasn't hunting at the time seen him cross his crp twice in one morning.
My dad hunted him hard but never layed eyes on him. Once he was wounded we didn't know if he would make it or not but there were a few sightings of him just before gun season. They all claim he was limping very bad. His sheds were never found that year but I do believe he was in his prime as it would have been his largest rack.
2010 In 2010 there were no sightings of this deer in the summer via glassing, shining and trail cameras. We all thought he was dead from his wounds in 2009. During early muzzleloader there was a rumor that a bowhunter found a large drop tine buck by our place but it was never confirmed. My dad hunted hard hoping he would show up but it was a horrible year for the neighborhood with very little buck sightings.
During shotgun season we heard rumor that this buck was confiscated by the DNR. It turns out the bowhunter didn't get a salvage tag and was bragging this buck up he found and someone eventually told the DNR about it and they came and took it for investigation. No charges were pressed. Nobody knows how he died but he was just laying in a creek supposedly. There are naturally a few rumors flying around but since no charges were pressed we can only assume it was a legitimate find.
After the investigation, the DNR returned the rack back to the landowner which I thought was pretty amazing. I figured it would never be seen again. The buck had gone downhill from the year before but still grossed 202 inches with a 25 and change inch inside spread.
Here is my Dad holding his dream buck. In the years my dad has owned the place there has been nothing like this buck out there. I guess every once in awhile a big one will show up.
2008. In 2008 my dad and surrounding neighbors hunted our place hard and never layed eyes on any real big ones in the neighborhood. This includes hunting, preseason scouting etc. We we were all shocked when the neighbors kid found the shed below that scored 101 and change.
It is an absolutely horrible photo however it was officially scored at the classic.
2009 In 2009 there were no sighting of this buck in the summer as far as glassing and trail cameras go. He was a ghost and it was thought he may have just been in the area during late season the year before. In Early November my dad got the picture below. He about had a heart attack when he was flipping through his photos and that one came up.
We found out that a bowhunter had hit the deer but never recovered him. I actually believe this bowhunter is on this site now after seeing his screen name pop up. I actually met him over on archerytalk when he had his avatar pic of the pic below. There were a few sightings of this buck when spotlighting and one of the neighbors who wasn't hunting at the time seen him cross his crp twice in one morning.
My dad hunted him hard but never layed eyes on him. Once he was wounded we didn't know if he would make it or not but there were a few sightings of him just before gun season. They all claim he was limping very bad. His sheds were never found that year but I do believe he was in his prime as it would have been his largest rack.
2010 In 2010 there were no sightings of this deer in the summer via glassing, shining and trail cameras. We all thought he was dead from his wounds in 2009. During early muzzleloader there was a rumor that a bowhunter found a large drop tine buck by our place but it was never confirmed. My dad hunted hard hoping he would show up but it was a horrible year for the neighborhood with very little buck sightings.
During shotgun season we heard rumor that this buck was confiscated by the DNR. It turns out the bowhunter didn't get a salvage tag and was bragging this buck up he found and someone eventually told the DNR about it and they came and took it for investigation. No charges were pressed. Nobody knows how he died but he was just laying in a creek supposedly. There are naturally a few rumors flying around but since no charges were pressed we can only assume it was a legitimate find.
After the investigation, the DNR returned the rack back to the landowner which I thought was pretty amazing. I figured it would never be seen again. The buck had gone downhill from the year before but still grossed 202 inches with a 25 and change inch inside spread.
Here is my Dad holding his dream buck. In the years my dad has owned the place there has been nothing like this buck out there. I guess every once in awhile a big one will show up.
