By Dan Infalt
It all started on a cold February day when a hunting buddy, Jamie Martin, and I were on a scouting mission in Waukesha County Wisconsin. While looking at a buck bedding area on the top of a thick ridge, Jamie found a nice 5 point shed. It was pretty obvious that the buck was spending a lot of time bedding there, at least late in the season. We took the time to study that bedding area inside and out. I looked at exactly how that buck was traveling in and out and where he was staging.
Later that summer, I glassed and shined the nearby fields watching for the buck. I also watched other areas where I had access to hunt and located several good bucks including a monster 9 pointer. By the end of August I had the 9 pointer patterned real well and felt confident I could get him, if I waited for a day when the wind was perfect.
Shortly after the season started in September, Andrae D'Acquisto, good friend, and owner of the Lone Wolf treestand company, called me to tell me he had glassed a wide 10 point in one of the areas I was hunting. He told me where he saw it and said, now go git er done.
I went and glassed the area a few times and finally saw the deer. He was very wide, one of the widest, I had ever seen. I set up on him a couple times while I waited for the right wind to go after the monster 9 point. Either buck would make an awesome trophy, but the 9 pointer's massive size haunted my dreams. So the hunt for the wide buck took a backseat. I wished I could take them both.
Finally, one day in late October after glassing the 9 point in a bedding area a couple days in a row, I got a break with a wind change and was able to arrow the beast. (See article: The 400 Pound Slob)
My bow season was done.
When opening morning of gun season arrived, I hung my Lone Wolf stand on the edge of the bedding area where Jamie had found the shed antler. About a 1/2 hour before legal shooting light a deer came slowly crunching through the leaves heading to the ridge to bed down. When he got right underneath me I could make out his wide rack, but it was just too dark to shoot. A couple hours later, two hunters walked right through the middle of the bedding area. Now my chances of tagging this buck, this year were dwindling. I moved around trying the other bedding areas, sitting in new spots each sit, but was unable to find the wide buck.
Towards the end of our 9 day gun season, Andrae called again. He said, listen, I seen that buck in the field again in legal shooting light. You either get your butt over there and whack that thing, Or when bow season opens back up, I will (Andrae only bowhunts). I said, "Yes Sir!"
My Wide Buck has 15 scorable points and a spread of just over twenty-four inches. The next morning I hung a stand in the darkness on the edge of a bedding area near that field and sat until 11:00am... nothing but a little guy. I got in the truck and headed home. As I passed the field where Andrae kept telling me he was seeing the wide buck I stared out into the field. Suddenly movement caught my eye. I hit the brakes, and grabbed my binoculars. There he was standing in a treeline browsing in the middle of the day. I quickly drove past so as not to spook the buck. I got about a 1/2 mile past him and turned around. I drove right back past glancing over for just a second making sure he was still there. I went back to my parking spot, got my shotgun and headed out.
I hurried until I got close then started sneaking up to the field. I crawled through some trees to a fence line that was on the edge of the overgrown field that held the buck. As I got to the fence, I wondered if he would still be there. I slowly eased up into a shooting position using a tree to steady myself. There he was staring at me 50 yards away broadside. I knew he was going to bolt at any minute, some how he had sensed my approach and was at full alert. I struggled for a moment to get the wobble out of the crosshairs. Then they seemed to just lock in behind his shoulder and the 12 gauge fired. The buck wheeled and ran for the thick cover, but he didn't make it.
The buck has a basic 10 frame, however he has lots of stickers, 17 points that you can hang a ring on. 15 scorable. He has an inside spread of more than 24 inches. What a season, two true slob bucks within a few weeks.
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