Ep. 619: Lessons Learned from a 6 Year Hunt for a Once-in-a-Lifetime Buck

presented by First Light. And I think when you guys are listening to this one, it will be the first episode of three. So welcome to the new year. Mary, Belated Christmas, Happy New Year, all that good stuff, and here we go. New season is upon us, and I thought we'd kick off this year with a month long series of stories, not just you know, let's tell the story kind of thing, but actual breakdowns of special stories

of special bucks. This month, I talked to I think four different folks who have had epic, years long hunts for single specific bucks and really had a thoughtful, detailed approach to how they tried to hunt these deer and ultimately found success. That's the plan for this month, going to try to really get into the nitty gritty and learn some stuff from these people. And today we've got a great example, a great way to kick that off.

I'm joined by my buddy, Tyler Utter. He's an Ohio hunter who have got to spend some time with and he just capped off an epic six year story, a six year adventure chasing a once in a lifetime Ohio white tail nearly two buck. Just a gargantuan, dear, really interesting experience that Tyler had studying this deer, following this deer, trying to get them killed. Lots of ups and downs, that the full roller coaster you could imagine. And that's

what we're covering today. Um, you're gonna hear everything from trail camera strategies to some interesting approaches to just you know, getting access in and kind of the perseverance or require some times to be able to hunt where these deer live. Um, you're gonna hear about dealing with the ups and downs of of misses, of bad shots, of of everything you could imagine. We've got that today. UM, So that's the play. I'm hoping you guys will enjoy this one with Tyler.

I know I did. And then we've got some other really great stories coming up this month. This is going to hopefully prime the pump for us to kick off the new year as we dive into scouting and land prep, conservation work, volunteering to help improve habitat and public land, exploring new places, shooting our bows, shooting our guns, doing everything we need to do to prepared for the next season, which it's already time to start prepping for. I hope

you guys all had a really good um. I'm sure I will do an episode here soon, kind of recapping my past season, probably talk with Tony or some of the other guys about the season. We just wrapped up what we learned from it. But I can tell you one thing out the gate is that my goal coming into the deer season was to have fun, just to get back to the fun of it all. And I did it, guys. I somehow was able to keep the

stress out. I was able to focus on just hunting my hunt, doing things for for my enjoyment and why I got into deer hunt in the first place, getting back to the love of it. And it worked. It freaking worked. I had the most fun deer season I've had in years. I got back to the basics, and oh, by the way, it also led to some pretty decent success too, So more to come on that. We'll definitely talk about this, unpack that as we go into the

new year. Um, but hope for this is proof of concept if we can all get back to just having fun, not worrying about what people think on social media, not worrying about what our neighbors think, not worrying about what our friends think, not worrying about how big the deers or how little the deers or whatever, but just enjoying deer and deer hunting and wild places, enjoying these things,

caring about these things. Man, that's what's all about. So keep that in mind this coming year as we build into the three season, and without any further ado, then let's get to our first big buck breakdown of the month. We've got the story of this giant deer that Tyler Utter was fortunate enough to wrap his tag on. Let's get to it, and I'm gonna welcome Tyler to the show all right now with me on the line, is

Tyler Utter? Tyler welcome the show man? Hey, Mark, I appreciate the invite, man, Yeah, I'm glad this worked out. It's Uh, it's been cool getting to uh spend some time with you after we kind of randomly bumped into each other because we had some hunting properties close together, and uh and since then, I've got to find a kindred spirit in your my friend, you are just as

nuts as me, So I cheers to that. I agree, it's it's kind of nice, fine in the same type of person, because sometimes you get looked at a little

nuts look out than that. Yeah that's the truth. But uh, but yeah, man, We've got a really good excuse to talk some more tonight because this month, as you know, on our podcast, we are doing a series of buck profiles of stories the folks who have had just like an incredible hunt for a specific buck um deep in the weeds, losing sleep at night, all that kind of stuff. And uh, I think that would that would be accurate for your situation. Would you say that that's about right? Yeah,

that would fit it really good. Yeah, well, a sleepless night. So tell me this. I want to I want to go through the whole store, the whole long story, and you know, hopefully pick out a lot of details of how you did what you did and why you did what you did and all that kind of stuff. But before we get into that, UM, tell me this just what made this deer and this hunt so special for you? Like why did you lose sleep for for years? Why were you so damn excited when you finally killed this tier? Um?

I think the biggest reason was just finding him kind of the way. I did not really expect. You know, you put cameras out and you kind of expect, you know, a big deer to be in certain areas, and this was just an area and never you know, it's kind of like a last resort type of thing. One year and that was the first year I got pictures of him. It was real late season, and I think that was

exciting in itself. And then it was a really, like I said, weird type of area that he was in, and you just wouldn't look at it on a map and go, hey, that deer lives there, Like there was absolutely unless I missed something key, I mean, you just wouldn't think that. So it was exciting. And then his potential was what really excited me. But it was hard to uh to let the deer get to where he

needed to. But I think that was part of what made it so rewarding and so exciting, Like I love letting deer grow, Like I kind of get into that perspective more than actually hunt him sometimes, you know what I mean, Like it ends up being you kind of just like I just wanted maybe one more year here, like fun to watch him, fun to see what what they might turn into next. Yeah, And that's what made

this deer so special to me. It was just the potential we had when I first saw him, and then the way it kind of unfolded, and just the amount of time and just history with him, and how hard he was to really kill in this area because like I was saying, it's just not an area where you would think he would be. And then it's just super open a lot of cattle pasture and stuff. So it

was really difficult, uh even have opportunities at him at all. Yeah. So, so paint me a picture for for people who haven't seen a literal picture of this deer. I think for the story to to really hit home, we gotta have like something in our minds when we're imagining what this deer looks like, what he is. How how old do you think this deer was when you were hunting him to the last year, so when he killed him, and then describe what this deer looks like now that he's

you know, in the back of your truck. Don't don't tell me what he looks like now in the back of your truck, because I'm pretty sure that's just a skull cap. But tell me what he looked like this year. It looked really good. Um. So he it's just a mega typical dear like he just he never really had much trash. I mean, had a couple of you know, inside points in between times and stuff here and there, and in a couple um kickers on his two on

the one side. But he's just a giant frame. It was the twelve pointer in the beginning, ended up being a ten pointer that was just as big as his twelve point frame when I killed him. And m my guess is, you know, I had six years of history with the deer, So my guess is like nine years old or so is where I really think he's at. But um, he could be more. I mean, I know,

he's no less than that. Um. When I first started getting pictures, you know, he was probably a hundred and forty year and I mean that's a where I'm at. I mean, that's a three year old generally, you know, he could have been four, but he had some character even that year, so I mean he could have been four, which would put him at ten. But I'm thinking, you know, nine is where he's at. But that's kind of what I always said since the first time I got a picture of him, was that is that? Is that rare

in your area? For Buck to get that all? I mean, it seems like crazy to me. But is that not unheard of in your neck of the woods or is it it's pretty unheard of. I don't know of too many deer. Um, we got a lot of buddies that hunt big deer, and I don't really know of anything. You know, eight nine years old is probably the oldest

I know of, and it's super rare. But it it's kind of like it just goes back to the area thing, like if I would paint you a picture of that area, like or show you on a map, you know it. It's just it's super hard to hunt every angle you come in on. He can see, like, it's just it's super difficult. And I and I from my knowledge, like I don't think many people knew about him at all,

even though he's been there that long. Like he didn't show himself out in fields, you know, in bean fields, Like it was a perfect protected area, like where you couldn't see in but at the same time, you know, hard to hunt because it was so open. But it was just one of it was a perfect case scenario. I mean, I've had a lot of deer that you know that are everybody knows about them if they get that big. I mean, just there's a celebrity around town.

So yeah, so this one somehow flew under the radar. Um. But how did you I guess let's let's start with this. How did you find out about him? So? What was your introduction to this deer? Uh? Where to begin? So? I huh, A lot of area around this area, UM, A lot of good farms where I grew up hunting. You know, we've killed some of my first bucks up until my biggest year. So the general area I know is good. But this farm, um, it's actually a good friend of my parents and I I don't know what

triggered it. One one year, I just I didn't really have a shooter that I was like, you know, dead set on a lot of deer wanted to grow and I didn't really have anything to chase. And it was late season. The deer I was after got um killed by the neighbor. He he went like one he was a giant but similar year. And then yeah, just when he was gone, there was just nothing else. So I it was like, oh, ask for permission. And you know, I know nobody really hunted over there or anything. And

like I said, it was all cow pasture. It's like a hundred and fifty acres of just cattle pasture with a little bit of finger woods through it. And I went to one of the finger woods, put a camera out on the fence line and like that was you know, splitting the property because of the cattle pins. And he showed up, like the only deer that showed up a couple of days in him and uh that was the first picture, and I was like, wow, that's a good deer.

Like I didn't really I didn't know if he was a homebody, you know, didn't know what would unfold after that. Like I never would have guessed this would have happened. But so you get pictures of this like buck that you think the three year old maybe it's so like a I mean, in my eyes that'd be like a great three year old, but in your eyes are kind of like, all right, he's like he's a nice three year old. Is that what you were thinking? And did you have like high hopes already or he was this

kind of like all right, there was another decent buck. Uh, I had high hopes. I was, you know, unsure, like at first, you know, I kind of looked at Hiven. He was ran down. You know, it was late season, it was after the route, so he was really ragged ran down. But so I couldn't really tell if it was you know a lot of people can judge dear's ages and you know, look at him one time and

see it. But he just was so ran down that I couldn't tell if it was like an order buck ran down or he was just actually that young, which was kind of my first you know thoughts about it. But he had some kickers like on the inside of his beam, and he just had the genetics like that you want to see, like he didn't have like a you know, a couple of kickers off his you know,

his brows or his bases or whatever. You know that some dear get that, you know, are just gonna be that every year he had him like in between his times and had you know, a flyer on the one side. It was just one of them do you look for And I'm like, if this dear is really three, this is gonna be something. But at that time, I didn't know what the hopes were because I don't know if he would stay around, Like I didn't know if that's

where that deer lived there. It was just like season and I just got lucky, like I didn't have a clue if i'd seen the next year. But I knew right then he was special. But I didn't know, you know, what my history was going to be, because you know, I didn't know the hunting pressure. I was still learning,

Like I'm in that area. I kind of thought I knew what I knew, but at the same time, you know, I don't know who was hunting the side there, or you know, the neighbors, who was they were allowing to hunt, and how much pressure he really would get. And so it just kind of the next year, it kind of I realized, wow, like there's nobody around here, like this could be a deer that I could let grow for a few years and he could be a mega giant

and he ultimately worked out. It about killed me at times, but so so walk me through from They're like when you when you get a buck like this on camera in place even hunt, and I think one thing you do that a lot of people could learn from, and you tell me if I'm wrong on this, But it seems like you cast a really wide net. It seems like you get permission on a bunch of different places, like you've got X to a lot of different farms in your general area, and it seems like you're just

like kind of keeping tabs on everything everywhere. And then you're you're you're not dedicating yourself to any given farmer area until you find like that one special deer and then you know, you zoom and then but you've got this really kind of far reaching gaze. You're looking all around, looking all around, and you only focus when you find that one. Is that right? That's you couldn't hit it

more on the head like that? Yeah, that's exactly kind of my tactics, um, just because they're so hard to find, you know, the big mature deer that are going to be something special where or something special and usually if you do, you know how it is, like it's pretty competitive.

There's usually somebody that knows about anymolready. And you know, I'm from a small town to where I know a lot of people, and you know, you're like, I don't want to make that guy mad, Like I don't want to go here and make this guy mad, like I

know he hunts every here. So the area that I have and that i've been, you know, lucky enough two kind of really, you know, at least in such a big thing now, But a lot of this area I've just had permission since i've been a kid, Like my dad always hunted there, and it's my dad's good friends

and they don't let anybody else hunt. Like I couldn't explain how fortunate that is, especially nowadays, like it seems to be everywhere you look it's a lease and there's nothing wrong with that at all, but it's just kind of the way it's went. So I've just been fortunate to keep this ground without needing to do that really,

so cast the net in that area pretty wide. But yeah, I find a deer and I try to focus on that deer, like I don't really bounce around and you know, but some years, like this year, that's the only reason I found him is because the deer I was after was gone and you know, it got killed. And when that happens, it's like when you set your you know, your goals for one deer, all of a sudden it's over and you're like, all right, where do I go now? Now? Yeah,

and that's that's difficult at times. But so yeah, so this one, you see him in the let you get pictures in the late season. He falls kind of in the like interesting folder. Maybe in your brain you're like, hey, this is when he keep tabs on what happens the next year? And what do you do when you get a buck? When you kind of get tabs on the buck you see one or you get a picture of one that's like interesting, but you're not gonna want to shoot him right away? Like how does that impact your

strategy the following year? Do you do a bunch of different kind of preparations given that you're hoping this deer might blow up? Or are you still like all right, I wanted to see what see what happens here? Um, what does that look like? And then what did you actually do? So yeah, I kinda like this, dear, I keep alluding back to it because he was he was on my radar, but I never knew what was going to happen the following year. Like as far as when I actually got pictures of him, I'm like, oh wow,

like he blew up. Um he went from that you know frame too, mid one seventies. Yeah, he he exploded, And uh that kind of changed a lot. I was chasing another pretty good deer that year, and uh, I knew that I as bad as it sounds, are as good however you want to look at it. But like I knew I couldn't. I knew I couldn't shoot him because at that point, you know, he was healthy and you know, velvet pictures, and I knew I'm dealing with a four year old, you know, five year old at

the most. Bounce back and forth with that. But I mean, let's call it a four year old. But he exploded, and I'm like, this could be the next year like this, I'll never probably have an opportunity to chase the deer like this again. So that's kind of where my mind went. I when I first saw him, I went in and put some stands in obviously went and you know, put cameras out and kind of tried to uh pinpoint or just get pictures of him again, you know, from the

following year, just see what he did. And then when I did, I was like, okay, wow. It wasn't so sure at first, you know that I wasn't gonna shoot him just because he was a giant. And then I was like, all right, I'm not shooting him. People thought I was crazy. I got a good buddy of hunt with all the time, and he was like, you're I'm gonna shoot that dear, like I gotta let him grow. And he was daylight and a lot oh man on

this farm, and it was difficult. It was de a call Um actually sat in the stand a couple of times that year, like in the beginning first week of season, and I got to lay my eyes on him and I couldn't do it. I was like, so when you went out there, though, were you thinking in your head, like were you still unsure? And you were sitting like, well, you know, maybe maybe not. We'll see how I feel.

A moment. Was that kind of thing pretty much, But I mean I knew I wasn't gonna shooting, but the pressure from friends and family were kind of you know, are you crazy? I don't, and and so a little bit in my mind, you know, I'm still figuring out you know, who's around, what's around as far as hunters or predator, you know, like something that's gonna take him out. I'm like, where's his dear? Go? Does he travel a lot during you know? It's all or what if at

this point. So that to me was probably the biggest like the reason that I even kind of thought about it, because I'm like, well, you know, is he for you know, I'm trying to make him five or six in my head like is he gonna be around? Like oh, what if somebody and go back to the year before where the neighbor killed that deer. I'm like kind of a little bit bitter because I'm like, gosh, and I watched that deer for three or four years and then that happens. Yeah,

so it's a hard decision to make. But I don't know. I just I I knew I wasn't gonna shoot him, but when I'm sitting in there and I saw him and I was like, wow, I mean just a giant and yeah, I don't know it was it was easy, but it wasn't easy. I guess if that makes any

sense at all. So you hunt, you obviously, you know anyone listening hearing you say what you just said, Like it's obvious it must well it should be obvious to anybody that you hunt in a pretty good area where you have opportunities a good deer um to be able to see a booner and be like, you know, he needs another year. So you're you're in a place that these deer get a chance to get old and they've got good genetics and so you know, like you said,

you're a fortunate guy to be in a zone like that. Um, But but why like why why do you want to see what happens? Like why was that a buck that you saw? And you're like, you know what, I want to I want to keep this story going. I want to see what happens next, Like is it? Is it simply curiosity and like manage it could be like a once in lifetime deer or is it? I don't know? Like what is that in your head? I think the best way to explain it is, I mean, you can't

killer if you don't let them grow. I mean that's always you know, everybody's chasing that two mark, and obviously I'm chasing it too, and I just it's easy for me to let dear grow like I almost you know, like seeing like you're saying, the curiosity part gets me. And then it's just the fact of putting a story together, putting the history together, putting you know, all the ups and downs, like anybody that's hunted and chase the deer.

I mean you as well, do you you you understand it, like for sure, it's a mental battle that is tough more than it's good. Like, but when it's good, it's so good, and you can't explain that to people like if you've never done it. So I think that's probably one of the bigger reasons that I enjoyed, is just you know, putting the history together and then given the deer a chance to be, you know, at its full potential, which a lot of times hasn't worked out. I've had

a lot of big deer. You know, something's happened, the neighbors killed him to give by a car. Like it's just and it's tough to swallow because you know, you got all that history and time and you're exciting because this is the year and then something happens, and but it's still not worth the alternative, Like it's it's way better than the alternative, which is shooting a young deer that I think has big potential. Like like I was saying earlier, I I think I enjoy letting them grow

subtimeous to see what they're gonna be. And I mean, white tails are I don't know. I mean, if you don't hunt them, you don't understand, but if you do, you get it. Like there awesome creatures. I mean, they're they're wild animals that shed bone every year, grow it back and a lot of times just bigger. It's just

kind of wild to see what they do. It's it really is, well, you know, I think to your point, like the thing that maybe I like the most about, you know, letting a deer go and and trying to, you know, watch them over time is just the fact that I don't know how you feel, but sometimes I like to hunt more than the kill. Like I love just like watching these deer learning these deer, studying these deer, seeing what they do from year to year kind of just like you get get to know them, and they're

just so fascinating. I just love that, like trying to figure it out. Like there's like a puzzle in front of me every year and you get to see, Okay, well, what's this they're gonna do this year? What's he gonna do this here? And you're slowly putting together this puzzle. You're slowly getting a picture of what's happening in that process itself is so much fun that sometimes I don't want to end, and and so part of it's like, yeah, so sometimes like man, I really want to see what,

you know, how big it gets. But also sometimes it's like I just want this to keep going because this is just fun. Yeah it is. You couldn't. Yeah, I mean you said everything right there, like what I'm trying to explain. That's that's the perfect way to say it. I mean, it's it is fun. It's so frustrating at times, but it's so it's so much fun, and I don't it's a hobby and it's it's I've never been more passionate about something. And I hope that it never goes away.

I don't think it will. But you know, you've heard the stories. You know a lot of people that hunted when they were younger and really kind of I don't know, burnt ourselves out, you know, the older guys that are like used to hunt a lot, but I don't anymore. And you'll get that way too. I don't think that's me. I don't think it's there. I hope so too for me to um So, so, okay, you you get pictures of him, he's a booner, he's a giant, but you realize, like, all right, you know, I want to I want to

see where this thing goes. Still, um you hunt early in the season, you see him, but you decide, okay, I'm not going to shoot him. So what do you do with a buck like that where it's like a giant but you're not going to shoot it? What was your What did you do the rest of the year. Did you have a plan to try to like still keep trying to learn about him, or did you decide to stay out completely to keep pressure super low? How

did you how do you do that? I quickly learned that the neighboring property was where he lived, and that was a little bit concerning to me because there was somebody leashing that property. Um that I've found out, like what I of my head set on a deer, you know, trying to figure it out, and you quickly realized like, okay, this deer doesn't live there, Like I really go into some digging and we all do it, um, trying to figure out you know, okay, well who does hunt over there?

You know, I don't want to step on any toes, does anybody hunt over there? Trying to get my plans together for next year, because after he sheded velvet, probably two weeks. I mean he would show up time to time, but like two weeks in the season. It went from you know, every every day or every couple of days of pictures in daylight and pictures in general, to you know, one a week, and then you know, a couple in

that month. And so I just quickly realized okay, and it made a lot more sense on you know, looking at it on the map and everything. That's where that deer lives was the neighboring property. He summered where I was in or where I was hunting, and then you know, late season he came back. So I was fortunate enough

that's how I caught him the year before. Um, and I know all this now, but at the time I'm just kind of putting it together, like, all right, this deer doesn't live here, I'm gonna have to make a plan or figure out what I can do to get that property. So I kind of started digging on it, and I knew, um, one of the boys that his

grandpa owned the farm. Um, they did have somebody leasing it, which is what I heard, but I confirmed it through them, and you know, I was like, well, if something ever changes, you know, if they don't want to lease it next year, or if they um give it up whatever, you know, like in the future. I'm thinking even a couple of years.

You know, I never thought what would have happened. But so that whole year goes by, they were releasing the property, and I kept my feelers out there, you know, hey, let me know, let me know without on a bug him. And lucky enough for me. I don't guess the people knew that deer was there, you know, I don't some

people we'reun a lot of cameras. Some people hunt a lot, and apparently these people didn't because they didn't they didn't know that deer was there, or you know, maybe they didn't want to lease it again because of they don't want to spend the money. I don't know what it was, but they gave it up and I was fortunate enough to be staying in there waiting on it, like, oh yeah, I'll take it. Yeah, you know, like I kind of

one of them to name your prices. But I was trying to play poker, you know, yeah, yeah, I don't want to act too excited, but U So that was the game changer. That was Um, that was really where it changed for me as far as realizing, Okay, I got a shot to kill this deer because I knew just after that year he's gone for nine percent of

the season. He's back, you know, the last couple of weeks this season, and obviously he sheds, and um, I was fortunate enough to find a shed that year, um, laying right out in the middle of the field, and kind of, yeah, I was pure just luck that he dropped on that side. But I couldn't find the other one. And there's not much woods there to serve. So if it's not on the field, it's just not there where I'm able to get it. So I did get the lease and started preparing that kind of thinking what do

I do here? You know, I don't know anything about the farm. I don't know anything about how the deer moved through there. It kind of makes sense in my head looking at it, But at the same time, you know how that is, every time you think you gotta figured out, they do something totally opposite. So I don't know if you want to jump into any of that or if you want me to keep going with the

kind of the timeline. Yeah, well, we'll tell me. Tell me what the trail camera strategy was as far as like trying to figure some of that stuff out, and and how how do you run I guess generally, how do you run cameras to learn about these deer? And then what did you have to specifically do on this new property to figure out this? Dear? Okay, so the property is kind of like it's it's a hundred fifty acres also, and it's a lot of cattle pasture, and

that's a lot of finger woods. But there's one big block of timber on it, and I say big block, like thirty acres of its um, you know, really thick, nasty, But that's the majority of the woods there, and then everything that's kind of like fingers off of that, which is there's three two main fingers and then kind of like a little satellite finger or whatever you wanna call it.

But um so I started slow. I put some cameras out natural trails through them fingers, and really didn't want to go into that other area at all, um just because I knew if he was gonna stay on the property, I mean, that was his core betting area. Like there was no doubt in my mind on that. But I

was quickly proven wrong. Uh he this, So I put some cameras out on these fingers and just natural corridor type stuff, you know, no no bait or nothing at first, and really, uh try to just learn what the deer do. And I had the other property still, so you know, we're fast forward to the next year, and I got pictures of him on that other property where I was originally getting pictures of the velvet pictures of him. Um the past year, like had the camera on the same tree,

you know everything. Um he blew up again, like I mean another um so, now he's a big six by six and just a giant, like I mean it was his frame is comparable now when I killed him, But I mean it was when I got the first pictures.

I was like, this has gotta be fake. Like I was just like, this isn't real, Like I actually have a chance to kill this dear or you know, an opportunity I landed the least, Like I was kind of nuts, if you will, about trying to pin that lease down and you know, good confirmation that I can hunt where I thought this dear was living. Um. But I put cameras out over there like I always did, and and

started getting velvet pictures of him. I'm like, wow, all right, that's when I went into a different gear of I'm gonna try to kill this dear. So I had the new lease, I was putting cameras on their fingers. Nothing, you know, didn't get any pictures of him. I'm like, all right, I gotta move back a little bit, move towards the other property that I was hunting, which they do, but you know they're side by side. Um. So I moved a little more towards that fence line, and still nothing.

You know, we're into August at this point, probably, but he's still up there on you know, the property had the year before and as soon as he shed velvet, you know, two weeks in he slowly started moving into this property. Like I mean when I say slowly, like the closest you know camera I had to that property. He started showing up on a little bit, but no

other cameras. Then he started showing up a little deeper into the property, and then a little more and then a little more, and then as the season came around, I really started to figure out, Okay, this is where he lives. Like I had a confirmation like all right, this dear is here. Now I gotta figure out a strategy on how to kill him because everything coming in and out of the property, he can see me. Like I just have that feeling like okay, he can see me.

So it was that was probably the biggest hurdle of all of this, But I don't wanta dive too deep into that. But so I started getting the pitch. You know, I got them on scrapes at this point, you know, they're really starting to hit scrapes, and I'm getting a bunch of pictures of him, Like I'm excited, like I'm thinking I might be able to kill this deer like this year, like almost easier than I thought because he was showing up all the time, but quick questions for

you for the with the cameras. How So you've got a hundred fifty acres that you get the lease, within a hundred fifty acres that you have permission on next to it, how many cameras are you running in a situation like that trying to figure this deer out? So the the one I had before, I had two cameras on it, and only because like I said, I mean there might have been fifteen acres of woods, you know, it was super small, and most of that was like strong out, you know, fingers, so I kind of knew

what how the deer moved through there. So I only had two over there. And then the new property, I had three on it at first, um, because I was just trying to really not press in anywhere that would bump that deer or you're just trying to learn before I just went cowboy on it. Um. So five total on both of those pieces at first, but that changed dramatically in the next few years. Alright, So so continue

on from the other. So UM kind of like I was, I just I thought, all right, I got a chance here, but you know, getting in and out was the access

was the problem. Um. Anytime I was there. He wasn't We've all been there, um, but I ended up having an opportunity like October, No, it was late November that year, um, and this it's this property is like it's all broke up to where when I say, like, I have a camera on this finger, you know, it's two ft long and you know, fifty yards wide, just to paint the picture. And if I had it at one end on a scrape, nothing, you know, there's another scrape at the other end of it.

This is literally kind of what happened. And he would show up there all the time. So like any like little movements, micro movements was kind of how I was getting a little bit of intel this year. Like if I just kept it on that into that uh finger you know on a scrape that was you know, blowed out every time I was there, I wouldn't have him on there. Like that kind of was a game changer

for me. It was kind of weird. So you then see you he said he had an opportunity of him though, so how did you how did you manage to get the opportunity despite the fact that it seemed like every time you went there otherwise he was not there. Because you've got this like sneaky suspicion he's sometimes or someone sees you. Yeah, so um, I started kind of really only hunting one spot, which you know, I like to

bounce around a little bit on other properties. But this year I was just, like I said, just trying to figure him out, and it wasn't really going by in

my favor. So there was one camera he was kind of alluding to more than anything, and it happened to be the camera that I could, you know, the stand set up that I could get to the easiest um, like a little drainage whale went through the middle of the property and I could walk it in, and then it led me to a creek and I could walk the creek up, and then from the creek it like went up a little hill and then there was a big field that was all you know hidden in the

back um which was beans that year and actually it was yeah, it was corn that year, and he just liked to be back there, I think, just to you know, being secluded. But I still couldn't really figure out where he was bedd and I had a couple of options in my your head that I thought, but that was just the biggest opportunity I felt like I had, and you know, I hunted it. I don't know how many times, but not very few. A lot of my friends are you know, why aren't you hunt? Why don't you hunt?

Whych hunt? If the scenario wasn't perfect, you know, I wouldn't hunt, like I'd rather not run a deer out, you know, then just be in the woods. To be in the woods. I think a lot of that happens because it's season. You know, everybody thinks they need to be in the woods, and I don't know, I don't have that. Whatever that ticket is or whatever that is,

I just don't have it. I feel like I need to, especially this year, I needed to make sure that I didn't bump him off the property and push you over to you know, the neighbors that I was still you know, trying to figure out. But anyways, I kept hunting that area. In late late season when he got cold, Um, I had corn out and I kind of tried to only put it out in one spot after I kind of figured out this is where he likes to be, so I just broadcasted out through the cut corn and he

came in at like sixty yards or so. Um, it was as close as he got that night, But it was just I'm comfortable with that in a field scenario. I'm comfortable with a sixty yard shot. But it was just a little not the right scenario that makes it like it was a little bit low light. It was a little bit he was kind of you know, facing me at times, like it just wasn't comfortable, and I couldn't.

I couldn't do it. I drew on him. I'm like setting my pen, you know, getting it on him and really barreling down on him and thinking this is gonna happen, and I don't know, just something off in my head house, I can't do it, Like it just wasn't the comfort wasn't there. So little did I know that that would have been the only time that year I would ever

have a chance. You know, there's still yeah, yeah, late December, so there's still you know, a month, a month and a half or so or whatever here a month in a couple of weeks. So I'm still pretty optimistic. And that was it for that year, I mean nothing, And did he just just disappear off the property or was it that he was there? But you just couldn't see him person. Yeah, he was there, he stayed there. Um,

just never got him in person. Um. Little tidbit for the future, like if like so, the first time I ever got consistency of daylight with him, like in a few days in a row, Um, we had dusting of snow and then like another dusting behind it the next day. And he showed up three days in a row and daylight.

And kind of put that in the back of my head, like, huh, you know, we all know that deer moved better than but when you gotta do that's there all the time, but not daylight, and it's you know, that's a that's a time to be in there. Of course I'm in a different stand when he did it, um, but I kept that in the back of my head and in the in the future years that that was kind of his trademark as far as daylight, and it was kind of wild snow snow a dusting is now the first dusting,

the first dusting or you know, snow at all. He would show up in daylight. All right, So this is year three right that we're describing here, and you you have him at sixty not quite the right opportunity, but he daylights a bunch with that snow you are now, you know, to see the rest of the season goes by, never get another chance at him. Year four, year five, Year six is when you killed him. So you've got two years in between now, between now and when you

kill him. Yeah, what what happens that next year? He's got to be like number one? For sure? You're obsessed. You're full blown crazy at this point, Is that right? Oh? Yeah, I didn't even like the year that we were just

talking about. I didn't sit anywhere else, didn't care about anything else, Like I ran all the same cameras I normally run, had some really good dear on you know, some of those properties had some really good dear that I you know, hindsight, but you don't wish I would have Probably would have after versus you know the story. I would never change it for anything with him. But you know how it is when you focus on that dear and you know you don't kill him, you're like, man,

I should have went after that dear. She did this and because they were big mature dear too, they just weren't him and they weren't that big and um back to the you know, like you were saying, just the kind of the chess match you have with them, and you're like, I'm not letting him beat me this year, but they do over and over and uh so the net. Yeah, that was the end of that year. But so the next year I did, I did kind of the same thing.

I didn't really change much because this property, there wasn't much I could change. What I needed to figure out was where and what like he was doing in daylight because he was there. The only time the deer would disappear was during the rut. And this property is super weird. So we're talking about, you know, three hundred acres. I had the same three bucks every year, him being one of them, and nothing else, like a couple of spikes and you know, stuff you wouldn't even realize. You know,

what do you really look at on your camera? You know, just some random deer. But as far as anything like anything from a hundred you up, it was the same three deer every year. It was one of them being him, and but I didn't have a handful of those on that property. It was just a weird. So that was kind of weird for me, you know, I like trying

to figure out, Okay, it's getting close to rut. I know he's gonna disappear again, and he'd be gone for like the whole month in November, and it would make me nervous, so nervous because I wouldn't get a picture at all. You know, we're going from pictures every night on one or two cameras. You know, something's triggering every night with him, to nothing, I mean, not a glimpse and boom, like clockwork, he'd show back up the in in November. And that kind of played a big role

on kind of how I handled it. But at the at the same time, I'm kind of in the lost world for words, because it was it was so mind boggling to me, like I couldn't figure anything out on this year, Like I I go out there to glass you know, observation type stuff and Wooden's team, I wouldn't

get a glimpse of hing like this, dear. Out of the six years that you know, I hunted him four years, yeah, four years out of the six that I knew about him, And until this year, I you know, I saw him in person three times, four times at zero footage of him. I'd go out there for velvet footage, zero footage of you know what I mean, Like I putting all my time in this year, and any other year I did that, I would have glimpses and I would have footage in velvet.

Like it was just you know, really putting a story together and putting some time in and it was paying off. But this year, no, no, what's not happening. So I'm like, do I even know what I'm doing? What do I do here? Like I couldn't get anywhere? It was, it was wild. But um, that year that you were talking about,

so going on, what is that the fourth year? So going on the fourth year, Um, I kind of did the same thing I was saying, you know, I knew where the scrapes are gonna be, and they were in the same spot, and they ran in the same cameras, and kind of just accepted the fact that late season, when he gets cold, cold, cold, I'm gonna you know, that's my opportunity for this year. So once again we got snow coming, Um, I gotta be in the stand,

Gotta be in the stand. He shows up, but he stays out at like seventy yards and wouldn't come any closer, just fed out in the field and just never did come, you know, through my pinch point where I was hunting him and still in that same stand that I was telling you. You know, it was the easiest way in and out where I didn't feel like I was ever bumping him or or affecting anything. So it was kind of doing that. The wind, you know, the normal wind

was good there. Um, so just just safe. You know, sometimes you gotta get aggressive, but I just was, I don't know, scared to do that, so um, stay safe and just kept doing the same things and the same stand, same results. But first now shows up. UM stays out, you know, out of range, and there goes that night. Next night, same thing, but he stayed out farther, like on the other side of the field. So I feel like I'm getting close. You know. About a week goes by,

UM and I get an opportunity. He comes all the way across the field. I too watch him for like yards. It was great trying to keep my stuff together. And there's a couple of does in front of him, and they're moving right where I need him to go, and he's kind of kind of just following suit Like I'm like man, this might happen. But I'll backtrack for a second. So, like twenty minutes before that, there's a kaya that comes out and if I get a chance to kill a

guy and I'll kill it, isn't matter. And no deer in the field. This guy trots by ten yards and I draw, and as I'm shooting this guy, he turns towards me. So it goes in behind his shoulder and goes out like his you know, his butt, and it cuts his tail plumb off. And yeah, so now I got an arrow in a coyote tail land ten yards in the field. And I'm like, uh, that was that

was different kind of yeah, I was. It was not ideal, and I'm I'm hunting on I really started to try to hunt, you know, the edges of these sent zones, you you know, really putting that was my riskiness, Like was hunting what the wind was good for him and he would come my direction, but I was, you know, on the edge of the zones. Um. I'm sure you've talked about it a lot with people that kill big deer.

That's something that I was kind of learning at that time to really push in and try to do that because you know, a big deer wants to the wind in his favor. Yeah, so he was getting like a what like a kind of quartering across wind or something. Yeah, you were just coming. Yeah, I was just cutting the corner and really trying to just stay just stay on the edge of that field to where my wind was kind of casting down the edge of the woods to where they'd have to come in the woods to pick

me off. But if they were in the field, I was good. But it's still the wind that he needed to come across that field, and I knew that's what he did a lot. That's kind of what I was figuring out. Um, just being out there. I would seem quite a bit like in this back corner when I was getting glimpses of him, and then he would come across that field kind of the same way, but he would never come, you know, far enough to me. So it was a real risky wind. And I believe it

or not. Then does come out and they get super alert and they're kind of stopping and they start blowing, and I'm like, what in the world that kyote tail? It's all I can think about, Like, I'm thinking, I

know they're not smelling me, are they smelling that? They come all the way over across this field like four yards and they're walking and stopping and their tails up, and I'm we all have the painting the rear endow that she blows it everything like McCall the Karen, but like, I mean, she would come out and the way would be dead in my face and she just started blowing

like so it's that dough. So I'm like, I don't know what she's doing, but she's still come in my direction with her phons and she gets over there and she goes right to it, um my arrows, you know, sticking with a luminoc glowing out of it, and there's the tail lay in there. It's like it's full tail. You know. She's sniffing it and messing with the arrow and she kind of comes like right to my ladder. And at this point he's behind her, probably see eight yards.

So I'm really you know, dialing and getting focused, trying to figure out what's what's his next move. And he starts to do the same thing like kind of like but he freezes, but he's in the same you know, he's he's smelling that tale is all I can ever think. I know it sounds crazy, but there was no way he was smelling me, and um, he kind of froze and lights, you know, like right now, he's probably sixty seventy yards to give you a picture, um, right in

the middle of the field. And I'm like, all right, he's gonna come here, he's gonna come in. So I draw when he starts to move, and he gets to like sixty I don't know, fifty five and he's facing me, and I sit there for like three minutes at full draw, like I don't know how long it was. It felt like it was an hour. But I finally let down and that dough is at my ladder and my arrow slaps because I was just so fatigued it slaps, and uh no, none of the deer moved. She It's like

she didn't even hear it. And I'm like, what in the world, Like I'm thinking she was gonna scatter, like I thought I already messed it up, you know how that happens, And uh nothing, nothing. So it just stayed the same, like she's staying at my ladder. He standing out there, and I'm like, all right, when do I draw again? He goes to make another couple of steps and I draw and he's still facing me. I'm like, come on, turn bro outside, come on, turn bro outside.

He doesn't, and I'm like at another couple of minutes and I'm I'm filming this. So it was like a three minute interval or something I can't remember exactly, but he finally does make a move and everything felt right, Everything was perfect. I didn't have a luminoc on this era, so it was kind of hard to see, and it's kind of a lower light situation, and I had my camera adjusted that point because I was just focused on

killing him. But everything was on footage, you know, on film, but you couldn't see, you know, where the arrow hit or anything, and it, you know, is that empty, hollow sound that you want to hear. Like everything felt perfect, um, and he runs off and I gave my binoculars on him, and I can see blood pouring out of him because he stopped at like eight yards in his heads hung and kind of looked a little bit low. But I still couldn't tell exactly what happened, and uh, I still

felt good about it. You know, I didn't look too concerning, you know, I couldn't see it perfect. But you know, because he's walking away from actually blood pouring out of both sides, he walks off. Um, I kind of watch him walk off and he's you know, super hurt head hung. I'm thinking maybe I hate him in the guts. I you know, really didn't know. It was distraught. First year

I've ever really on you know, say it. I teared up over and like, I mean just every emotion poured out of me because I thought I finally, you know, it finally happened. And UM went and took a couple of hours, like three hours, and went back and it was a bunch of blood, really good blood every fit. So this is cattle fent, you know farm once again,

and there's really good fence, UM all around it. So there was one spot in the fence where it was down, and he like went to the fence where it wasn't down and would not jump it, and walked up and crossed there and went into the big set of woods you know where I know they all bed and started in that and like instantly kind of turned left and went out of it, went back into the field and he went to like three fences and would not jump any of them. Um, just like walked all the way

down him and then boom, nothing blood disappeared. I had good blood the whole time. It just disappeared like it vanished. And I had coyotes slide up probably forty five minutes after I shot her. So so I'm thinking to maybe they ran him or something. I walked for like m probably seven days in a row, just getting permission on every property that neighbored it trying to find him because I just had this gut feeling that he was dead, and I had this gut feeling that the kyo bumped him.

And you know, who knows how far a deer can run. You hear different stories all the time where they're killed two miles away from where they were shot. But there, you know, I just want to put every stitch of effort I could to try to find him in. Uh, that did not happen. I never even jumped him or saw him during that whole time. Um, so I'm like, you know, like back to that sleepless night thing, like

I didn't, I couldn't function, Like it shut me down. Um. Two weeks goes by, like two and a half weeks. He shows up on camera with no horns on? Uh, big wounded and I hit him low, perfect alignment, but just low. I still don't know how I didn't. I don't know nicka hard or you know, hit that artery that runs down there, and still trying to put it all together in my head. But at the same time, you know, I realized, Okay, he's alive. That's good, but

he's got no horns on. Before before you go further, how did you handle just like after that wounding and you couldn't find him? Like, how did you handle those days? The couple of weeks after that? Did you? Were you where you're like, man, I'm done, I don't want to hunt anymore. Or were you kind of like all right, I gotta get back on the saddle, keep trying again, Like how did you how did you handle that? Like lowest of low moment, I'm not not very good Mark. Um,

I didn't handle it well at all. Um Uh, I don't. This dear is just completely consumed me. So I had no if, like I had no thoughts of wanting to go hunt anything else. Um. My goal was just finding him if he was dead, you know, confirming something. Because I had such good blood and I thought the shot was still good, and you know, I was still trying to figure that out in my head. And you know how it goes when you replay everything, everything changes a

million times. And uh, I still couldn't convince myself that he wasn't dead. Like I just everything felt right. I didn't, you know, nothing felt wrong other than the fact that you know, the the blood just was boom gone. Um. So really I just went into survival mode of trying to like to do anything I could to find him. And like I said, I mean I asked everybody that was around for permission and walked and walked and walked and walked, and you know, never even like I was saying,

never saw him, never found any anything else. It was kind of wild. It's kind of one of the only times I've had that happened where you know, I had I still after all that had no had no confirmation of anything. So I really went into Okay, I'll dump a bunch of feed and just try to keep something here so if he is hurt and he's wounded and he comes back, I'll get a picture and I'll know.

And that's what happened. He did, and he stayed the rest of the year, and he stayed all through the winter, and man, he shriveled up to nothing, like he was skinning bones. Like I felt so bad, Like I felt like I shot my dog, like I felt terrible. Um, So I fed all year. I never stopped feeding. I kept a bunch of um protein type feed you know, out for him, just trying to really do anything I can do to help his nutrition and keep him alive.

At that point, and I was thinking that, you know, I'm just gonna stop getting pictures of him and I'm gonna find him. Um. But that didn't happen, so he didn't make it. But jumping back real quick when he had when he came in and he didn't have the horns on, they were like bloody, bloody, like they looked

like it just fell off. And it was actually my mom's birthday, so we were doing dinner for her that night, and we were all going to dinner and this he showed up like noon that day, and I was like, I gotta run out and at least drive the fields. You know, a lot of stuff is you know, was fields, So I'm like, at least cover the easy stuff, like real quick, just to see if I can find his sheds. Um drove all over that property, never did find him.

And you know, I'm in there maybe forty five minutes an hour or something, and we pull out of there, and as we're driving away on the main road, UM, and my wife was with me, and I was like, you know, I always feel like I'm gonna find sheds right here, and we're just talking about and I'm like, I'm just gonna go slow and look down this fence line and I'm not. I know it happens, but I've never been one to really find them when they jump fences and stuff, so I don't really kind of ever

focus on that. But um, my kind of sent driver was slow and boom, they're laying thirty yards off the roof, side by side. Yeah that's crazy. Yeah, she got a video. I mean she's like, if I wasn't with you, I would have never believed yet. I'm like, thanks, honey, but you got to see it. It was pretty It was pretty wild. I couldn't It's kind of just another, you know, adding to the story. But yeah, it was it was a sick it was he was sick like it was

it was I felt. I can't reiterate that enough. I felt terrible, Like, honestly, I've never had a deer that I've you know, wounded like that, where he shows back up and you watch him digress, like you just watch him with away to nothing. And I was miserable, Like that was terrible, and there was nothing I could do.

You know, it was late season, so when he did show back up, it was already season was over, and you know, there was nothing to be done other than trying to keep him alive and put it, you know, nutrition out there for him to put weight back on. And I mean he was like skinning bones. It was terrible. So, yeah, that's brutal. What what was the uh the following year? Did you go into that year with a different game

plan at all? Did you go in thinking, keep on trying the same things and hope he's alive and and then just keep on chipping away at her. What what was the next year plan? Um? Pretty much? But I kind of committed this year to to be in a little more aggressive um at least, you know, in my head, that was going to be my plan because the deer did the same stuff, you know, really every year, but he just was nocturnal. He just did in daylight much

and we all they moved somewhere in daylight. You know, they move a little bit in daylight here and there. You know, it happens. But I just could not figure him out, and uh so I started running cameras. I kept cameras out in his core area. So I kind of kept track of him, you know, all through that winter. And as he started to grow the next year, you know, I never pulled cameras. I left him and he started growing,

and his bases were a lot smaller. Like I'm thinking he's gonna be you know, a hundred and fifty year or something. I'm thinking, you know, he's gonna be it's gonna be bad. Um. But I kind of committed committed to you know, no matter what, I'm gonna know, whatever he is, it's it's still him, and I'm gonna you know, it's not about the score and stuff at that point, it's you know, the history and the story that's kind of unfolded. And uh I was gonna kill him if

I had the chance. And he actually grew, like his bases were a lot smaller, but when he grew out, he grew a really goofy side on his right side, which was obviously from the wound. UM. And he had like two big spikes and then like a third spike, but it had like some little drop time points off of it, like completely nothing in any type of shape that he was. You know, he's a big, clean, typical um cigaret this really funky, kind of non typical side

and then the left side stayed exactly like it always was. UM. So then I was kind of like, all right, this is you know, it's kind of cool. But he did kind of the same thing, and I kind of did

the same thing up until November when he disappeared. And I had some other knowledge of this big buck that was close to where my mom lives and had found some of the sheds of that deer, and a buddy of mine found some sheds, and so I knew this deer was in the area, and I got permission um to hunt that like this fifty anchor piece kind of at the same time. So I knew when he disappeared, I was gonna go over and you know, just try

my luck with that for a little bit. This was a big main frame eight with double drops, and I was like, you know, if it works out, it works out, and maybe my dear will recover from you know what he is this year, and uh, I ended up getting lucky enough to shoot that dear that I'm telling you about last year. So, um, I got lucky enough and shot him, and that was kind of the end of

me hunting my buck at that point that year. And of course, you know, I shoot my dear and like three days later he like daylighted, like four days out of out of a week. My dear shi like of course she did, and uh so that was kind of the end of that year. I looked all over for the sheds, like I had him on camera, you know, one side of the farm, and then he showed up on the other side of the farm, you know, sixteen hours later, and didn't have any any of the sheds.

And I looked all over and couldn't find That was the only year that I didn't find at least one side of him was last year, and I never did and never heard of the neighbors or anything find in him. So I don't really know what had happened with that. But fast forward this year, and he was the biggest he ever was. I don't even need he went right back to normal. Um, right the other. I mean, there's not even like a glimpse of the side he had.

I don't know, have you ever seen that happen? I mean, you know, I've had one buck that I followed closely. They got really wonky, um, but I've never seen it go from like wonky to really normal again. But I I can get it, like, I can kind of see how that might be the case. Um, like whatever happened that year, they're able to heal back up and stuff gets normal again and they're back to square one. I don't know, they're crazy, Cris. Yeah, it's back to the

interesting part of him, but like to totally recover. Honestly, it kind of blew my mind. And you know, I'm I'm I know he's going on you know, that nine year old range this year, and I'm really, I'll be honest with you, I didn't know what to expect, hadn't

no clue of what what he was gonna be. But when I first got started getting pictures and these pictures that I'm telling you, I'm getting there in the same spot where it all started, like every year, that's where the velvet pictures were, you know, and then it moved. He moved through the property this, you know, over to the other property where I still have at least, and he did the same things. But the fact that he

went back to normal blew my mind. And the fact that he was the biggest he'd ever been at nine years old. It was kind of O don't breath of fresh air. And I don't know, so you you kind of came into the picture at this point. Uh so you know a little bit you know of the story at you know, kind of when you you came out and hunted and I'm telling you know, I'm seeing him and I don't know, this year just felt different and ah, I don't really know that I did anything different other

than when I killed him, do you know what I mean? Like, well, hold on, hold on, we gotta we gotta rewind the cloud just a little bit. So so coming to this year, you get pictures of him in the summer, right, is that right? Summer pictures, Yeah, summer pictures. Sorry, So you see what he is. He's back to normal. He's of course you're number one target and you're thinking, I guess

what do you know? Like at the beginning of this year, if you were to sit down and tell me, like all right, what are the key things I know about this deer? And how do I think I'm gonna kill him?

What were those things like in my mind? Like, for example, I was after a buck this year in Michigan, and from my three years of history with him, I kind of knew, like, all right, I've ald in like where his absolute core areas it's nearer the swamp, and I know like I've got a window in October and then a window in early December, and those like my best chances, I think, based on what has happened in the previous years.

And so I went into this year thinking, all right, I've got like I'm going to take an early strike, maybe late October strike if he's daylighting or anything like that, and then I'm gonna stay out in November unless he surprises me because he's gone. And then this annual pattern when that comes around, I'm I'm gonna hits. As soon as the conditions are right, I think they'll be back.

And like that was my plan for that. Dear. Did you have like what were the things you thought you knew about this, dear, and what was your plan this year based off that? So kind of exactly what you just explained. It's kind of weird, but it's kind of how I attacked it. Um. I kind of knew where

at this point. You know, I've kind of been hectic and bouncing all around with the story, but you know, it's more of the excitement of just you know, it finally happened and everything, but to kind of back, you know up, I learned so much hunting this deer that it really taught me a lot about hunting whitetail. But

he was a super super small core area. Dear, like, his core area was tiny, and every year it got smaller and smaller, and I started to learn that throughout the years and kind of his little like you're saying, like you're gonna take that early October, you know strike. Um, I kind of attacked it the same way. I kind of knew what he was gonna do or what areas he was going to frequent the most on this farm. Um. But it goes back to it. I don't I've never

been known as like an aggressive hunter. I'm usually the one that plays it safe as far as you know. I don't want to bump him and I want to push him to the neighbor. And I think it just comes from that happened, and you know, not necessarily bumping him, but just the neighbors killing him or you know, hit by a car or whatever. Like, I just didn't want to push this deer to the limits where I lost him of of any magnitude, so I always played it safe. But this year, I told myself, I'm gonna be little

more aggressive and kind of do things differently. But I'm gonna do like go to what I know, and you you just said it perfect. I mean, I was gonna take an early strike where I knew he was gonna be and he never He's never rutted on the floor like I've never seen him right on the farm. I've never seen him chase it though I've never seen and I've hunted during all those times. And you know, once he disappears, you know, I wait for him to show

back up and then I go back in. But this year was it was different from the start of the rut, and I think that's really where my tactics change. And I got aggressive because he was messing up like I've never seen him mess up, like I've just never seen him do it. And I don't know what changed this year. I don't know, maybe them Does came in first and he just you know, bred everything on the you know

bread the three does. That's there. But I think that's really where the game changed for me this year because I would have done kind of took that early strike like you're talking, and only because I felt comfortable of knowing what he does. But then when you know, he kind of starts getting in that rut phase. You know, he's just bouncing around everywhere, and I would hunt, but I just really didn't. Yeah, I didn't really know where

to be and win to be there. You know, it is a cat and mouse game of bouncing around, and it seems like you always picked the wrong place. But the core area I knew, and I knew what he did, and I knew when he was gonna do it. It was just getting in there and being unseen on the way and and you know, just setting it up for an opportunity to see him and get a glimpse and see you know, hopefully walked you know past me that day.

But this year, when I got a picture of him, like so, I started running a lot of cell cams and that was, to be honest, a game changer because you're you know, you can you can kind of talk them back in them core areas and you don't have to go check them, and you don't have and you got live, you know, live footage of what he's doing to a certain extent, and uh, you don't have to put boots on the ground to go pull your card and oh man, he was in here all week last week.

You know, it's just a it's just a different it's

a it's a game changer. But that I had like seven or eight cameras on this property this year, and I really put them everywhere that I had learned from the past years of what he does, and I really went to focus on two scrapes that I know he frequents and I know it's gonna be him if if that scrapes bloat out, and then all of this travel like any areas that I thought he was like, I know what, you know, knowing what he does, like I really want to attack those areas with cameras just kind

of catches every move and it I got a picture of like noon one day and there was a doe running past the camera. First it like triggered and then like he's in the background. Then it triggered again and he be late October early November. Yeah, like her. Yeah, it was probably the first. Yeah, it was the first couple of days in November. Actually, you're surprised them, very very because I'm like, it looks like he's rutting. It looks like he's chasing a doe on this farm. What

in the world. Like kind of really threw me off guard. And it just so happened that that was right in front of what I would call my safe spot, you know, where I can walk in and I'm not worried, and you know the stand location that I keep telling you I was hunting all those years, like so it was

a perfect case scenario. And I go in that evening and he showed up and he I knew what I Well you always say like I'd say I knew, but you know, I had an inkling of of where I thought he went that day and bedded down, and I was really comfortable that that's where he went. So I kind of walked out of my realm of the way I normally walked and kind of stayed away from that because where I thought he was was probably a hundred

yards from my stand. And sure enough, he came out of that little wood lot and uh ran the dough right out in front of me about ninety yards hundred yards. UM, got some really cool footage of him, got some UM it was just cool to see him. It was it was awesome, but it was it was early. It was like three thirty four o'clock, Like, it was cool, and he was rutting, and he was on that door and like he was tending her and would not let her get away from him at all. So that being said,

I'm like, all right, here we go. Like I'm I'm gonna being here every day all day if I have to, I'm taking my chances. So I went back in the next morning, I saw him the same. So when he came out of that little wood like he went straight across the field, um in front of me, but then kind of veered away and went into another spot where

I know he beds. And that morning he came out of that spot with that dough because like three little bucks went in there and he ran one out and was on the edge of the woods and then keep like went in and got his dough and then came across the field of about a hundred and fifty yards um in front of me and kind of turned around. His dough went in the woods and he turned around just stood there for like ten minutes, like waiting on them bucks to come out of that woods and the

like come on try. Like it was kind of wild, Like he let his dog go and he turned around and he was just stomping his feet constantly, like just standing there like you know, breathing are like he was ready for a fight. It was kind of cool just getting to see him do buck stuff because I didn't. I didn't get to see that, you know, all this time I'm hunting this deer. You know, I don't. I didn't really get to see a whole lot of that. So it was kind of I'm just taking it all in.

I'm filming it, and yeah, I know I'm not gonna kill him, but I just I feel you know, that day I wasn't gonna kill him, but I knew, I knew I was. It was different this year. I just had that, Okay, this is my chance. If you're gonna ever kill this deer, this is it. So I hunted four days in a row, three of those days all day, and uh, I maybe five days in a row, but I saw him another like four times, um, and he stayed at that The closest you ever got was eighty

three yards. You talked about how you get in for these afternoon sits, um, following this draw up to the creek and then to the back of the tree. But what about morning hunts? How do you get in with all the this field edge stuff. Are you worried about that? And then how do you get out without ever spooking this deer? Like do you have some kind of secret magic to keep this deer from knowing how you're getting in and out? Or is that like incredibly stressful for you?

How do you handle that? So it's incredibly stressful because I'm not I'm not a morning hunter, um unless it's you know this scenario. I don't really hunt mornings. So and that's kind of the reason I don't always you know, feel like I'm bumping the deer. Um. You know, back to the cautious thing. But um, yeah, I was. It

was super stressful every time I went in. You know, I'm moving like a sloth and just trying to Luckily this area I had walked it enough to where I've kind of you know, had a clean path on the way in and went in a couple of days early, you know and kick kick my path out if you will. Um. So I felt good as far as the sound, um, but always worried about running into him or you know whatever, you know, bumping his dough or whatever at that case,

you know, bumping any deer. But back to the you know, this farm doesn't have a lot of deer, so that was kind of the blessing in disguise that you know, I really didn't realize until you know, a few years into hunting this farm. But um, super stressful. Uh. Some days I went in it like you know, I let it get daylight a little bit. And that might sound crazy to some people, but like I wanted to see going in, so I didn't bump him like I was, you know, glassing all the way in and just making

sure he wasn't already out in that field. And to me, that was I was willing to take that chance versus walking into the duck and you know, crossing paths with him. So I kind of did that. I think I did that like two days out of that five. But um, I I don't know, it was super stressful. I don't

like doing that at all. I don't know. I don't know it was, but I knew where he was going, Like the times I did seem he was going in the big timber and so I really had you know, unless he had come out of there with his dough at that time, I just was real comfortable that he was on that dough and he was not leaving her,

and unless she took him that way. You know, at that point, that's a I guess a percentage factor you kind of, I mean, that would be hard to do, you know what I mean, the cross paths at the same time. So I don't know, I kind of approached it that way. I didn't trust me. My wife thinks I'm crazy sometimes and she's like, you just gotta get in there and hunting. She's super into you know, she's killed a lot of good deer and she's pretty smart with it. And she's like, I think you ever think

it sometimes, which I do. But at that you know, with this deer is just when you're not learning what or seeing what you want to see with the time you put in, it's hard to to to know your next step, I guess. You know, it's hard to be confident in anything, but in this case, you were so you hunted that four or five days stretch in November and you were seeing him, but just never quite close enough. Yeah, he will walk in the middle of the fields and stuff like he never walked down the edges of the

you know, the woodline. He always stayed out in the middle of the fields. And it was kind of wild, really, like I've seen a few big deer do that, and I don't really Maybe you know why they do that, but no, I don't. Yeah, I don't either. I don't. I don't know. I'd be interested to hear somebody's take

on that. But did you did you at any point think like I gotta do something different, like do something crazy, like I don't know, set on the other side somewhere else, or put a decoy or do something or you like, you know, if I just stick to the plan and be safe, he'll eventually make the mistake. So yeah, everything did change during them five days. I did. Uh. I started saddle hunting last year and really did that all

year until I killed my dear um last year. But I like the mobility of the saddle and I know you do a lot of saddle hunting, so kind of put your take on it. But I like the mobility of it and being able to kind of hunt different trees that you never looked at before. Um, getting in different little areas that you just really never had that opportunity to do because you know, hanging a stand and that tree you wouldn't work. And I gotta cut forty len down if I'm gonna do, you know. It's just

it's a different perspective. And honestly, that was a game changer because I kept seeing him do one thing more than the other, which was crossed this corner of this field and kind of cut the edge of it and go through that down fence that I talked about he walked through after I shot him that year, UM, and I really started to focus on that corner a little more because it just seemed like that and I knew he betted in this little section of woods that was

basically disconnected to the big set of woods. So there's a little block, like fingersh type of woods where I know he betted, and then it was the big block. But that was like their little easy way to cross that and it was the same field that I was always hunting. It was just the other side of it,

and so two things. I saw him doing that. And then I was hunting in that same stand that always hunt, on that same side of the field that always hunt, and I kind of see another field from that, you know, through a bunch of trees and it's like probably four or five yards away, and I was glassing it one night because I saw some deer running. And this is

during that days that we're talking. Um, and I saw some dear run and I kind i'm glassing, you know, I'm just barely picking out what they are their does and it's early and uh I go back to where I saw the last dough run and I look and there he's like standing in my you know, just boom, there he is. And I'm like oh, and then I go into like all right, what do I do? So I actually got out of the stand and was gonna try to make a stock on it because it was

like a perfect scenario. He was kind of up on this hill and was there was a little crest and the way I could come up it was just perfect. And uh so I got down and tried to make a move and um, there was a dough like that.

I never saw it. I mean I didnt see he until I got up on her, but like I got within like fifteen yards of her, and I looked up because I was kind of looking over in the direction where he was headed, thinking yeah, I'm gonna keep my eyes on him and hopefully he doesn't drop over this hill before I get to where I need to be. And I look up and there's a dough and she sa in the cup corn and never did see me. So I just like laid on the ground and had

to sit there. And thirty minutes go by, and I'm like, all right, now, I don't even know where he is, and how many the choice to go back to the stand. So I get up in the stand and I look at my trail cameras and he's standing on his hind legs making a scrape. I think I showed you that picture. It was it was pretty cool as a while, but

it's awesome. Oh so he he does that. I'm like, okay, well good, I'm glad I didn't like press in because where he went was kind of dead away from me, and it would have been I would have never caught up to him. Um. But he decides like ten minutes later to come back across that scrape and he's headed back towards where I'm at where I was gonna be, you know, trying to make that stop. And he's he's got a dough in front of him and he's coming towards me, but he's you know, five yards away at

this point. And uh, this is kind of happened a couple of times, not this scenario exactly, but you know, he's moving on the farm in daylight, and I'm over in my stand over here, and you know, I bounced out to this fingerstand where there's some scrapes, and then he'd be over here, and so I'm thinking it's the same old you know, he's moving in daylight, but I'm not gonna have it. You know, I'm not gonna see him. Well,

he came through. He came all the way across the farm and came right in front of me with his dought like forty yards but it was too dark, aucust he was you know, through the binoculars, I could see him and uh, oh my god, Like this is this is rough, Like he's getting he's just showing himself enough, and he's really putting the pressure on me and really turn it up the heat as far as like I'm still just as far as I ever been, but I'm as close as I've ever beenefit make you know, it's

just it was tough. It was hard to swallow because every night, you know, I'm seeing him, which go back to you know, the last you know, three or four years, like I didn't see him at all hardly. You know, I'd have a couple of sightings of the year, maybe one opportunity, and at that it was a subpar opportunity every time. So now I'm seeing him a lot, and I'm kind of in contact with you at this point and kind of play by play and feed me some

of it, and he just boom, done, disappeared. He did his typical November thing, but he did it two weeks into November, and uh here I sat for two weeks on my hands, just wait, not even show back up. And so the plan was, like, you're not going to go back in there and hunt until you get confirmation he's back. Is that like get the pressure load, don't screw it up until I was there? Was that the plan? Now? Absolutely? Yeah, yeah,

that was exactly the plan. Just because like you were talking about your deer, you know, you know, he's gone during November and there's kind of no reason to be there. And I know that isn't always the truth, but you know, I feel like I've had this. I got this deer figured out at this point to where I know where

my opportunities are to kill him. And you know, when he disappeared, I was like all right, and I hunted, you know, a couple of times right after that, thinking, you know, maybe he's not disappeared, maybe he's just locked down and he's not showing up on camera anywhere, and he's not hitting the scrapes, and you know, I got so many cameras on that property. I felt like that I had everything covered as far as where he would move and how he would move, and he wasn't showing up.

So I was like, I'm just gonna stay out until

he shows back up. So what happened next? So two weeks go by and nothing, and um, my wife's family, my brother in law, and my father in law come into hunt for gun season and they get here, you know, that Thursday before gun season actually Thanksgiving, and uh so I'm kind of gearing up for them, and you know, my dear has been gone for you know, at this point, like I said, two weeks and I'm just I'm getting them ready and got some good bucks for them to try to kill, and you know, kind of went in

that mode. And Saturday before gun season, boom, he shows up for like ten thirty in afternoon. And so when I went across the field and hung that, I don't know if I actually said that, but I went over across the field in that corner where I kept seeing him throughout these days I was hunting and hung my saddle set up, and I left my saddle set up there and I only hunted it like one or two nights, and uh, the wind had to be totally opposite, you know, it had to be a dead south wind um to

work for this setup. So this year has been a little weird with the winds. But I really couldn't just go out there and hunting, and I didn't really want to because it was a lot longer walk in, a lot a lot louder, And so I just hunted did a couple of times, and I just felt like a cow walking in like it was the most noisy thing in the world. So I didn't really hunt it a whole lot, but I knew that I just had in the back of my mind that was gonna be my scenario.

So I hung a camera on that fence crossing where it was down, where the fence was laid down, and I have a couple of cameras around that field, and that was just a hot spot throughout this you know, time that he was gone. There was a lot of deer, you know, cutting that corner that I was talking about, and uh, that's where he showed up at ten thirty on Saturday before gun season, and I had it set on video modes. I kind of watched where he went,

and he went in that little block of timber. I was just telling you about where I know he beds and I knew it. Just something in me was like, I was so confident he was betted over there. So I was talking to a buddy on the phone. I'm like, I gotta go in. He's like, you want me to drop you off on a side by side. I'm like, well, I've never done that. I don't know, you know, I've heard stories of people doing that and I kind of done it in a different area, but I've never done

on this farm. And I was like, you know what, let's try it. I'm like, because I us, I'm not comfortable walking in it's so loud, the leaves were just unreal in this little area, and I couldn't walk any different way. And I was still even nervous about him seeing me there, so I was like, yeah, drive me on the side by side. So I get up in the trees, set everything up, and he takes off. No dear, nothing nothing. Night's getting to the point where I'm like,

all right, it's now or never. And I had a little four pointer walk under me, and I'm like, well, I hope he doesn't walk that way because that they was just dead down winds. I'm like, I'm hoping that's not where he comes from. And there he kind of goes out in the field and he just kind of grazing and he just picks us up and he's locked right where I thought my dear would come from. And he's not lifting, and I'm like playing, I like looking at him, looking over him like he's got it, like

he knows there's something boom there. He shows up, comes out right where like if I'd drew it up, it couldn't have been any better. Um comes out right in front of me. Uh made a bonehem mistake of he was just on a dead walk, like and it felt so close. I didn't need to range it. And I had some I mean, I caught cornfield, but I had some you know, grass strips and some stuff in the cornfield that I felt confident in my yard. And you

know it was markers that I had. You know, I shot them all and I kind of knew everything, and but I hadn't hunted this stand very much. So that being said, you know how it is when he finally does show up, everything kind of uh yeah, that's the thirty five yard Yeah, yeah, that's it. I talked myself, right, I didn't even thinking it was the thirty five yard

one and it wasn't. Uh so full draw, turned a camera on full draw perfect, like gosh, it was perfect, and uh my, I shoot a one pen and with two dots um and the first thought was sent on thirty five and I left the other one on you know, a second dot was at fifty. So I draw and talk to myself, right, didn't thinking that's thirty five, and I shoot and I don't know where they avery went. I don't have a luminox on it, don't I'm kind of weird about them. Don't really know how I feel.

But so I didn't shoot Lumanox this year, and I didn't I didn't see where my mara went at all. Everything felt great, and he kind of ran out and just stopped, and I'm thinking, all right, this is one of those movies or you know, like the shows, like he's gonna have blood pouring out on the bottom of He's just gonna fall over the field, because you know, it smacked the corn when I shot to it kind of sounded like what I wanted to hear, and it wasn't.

And he's standing there like, doesn't look he's looking my direction, never looks up at me, never even really looked my direction long. He didn't know what happened at all. And uh, he kind of does this big loop in the field and he's coming back to that fence crossing like he's wanting to go still where he was going. So I was like, I had another air knock at this point, and I ranged you this time, and it was fifty

two and my other pan was already on fifty. So I just drew and he's perfectly broadside and that little four pointer like ran over and was like where I shot at him. It was like kind of messing around and acting real funny, like with my arrow. I guess he was smelling my arrow. I wasn't real sure, but I didn't know any of this at the time, but I knew my deer got super alert, like he kind

of turned towards me. It was kind of quarter two, and I knew if I could just get it behind that shoulder to be perfect, and I was confident in my shot, and I shot, and I heard what I wanted to hear, and you know, once again, you know, I thought I saw what I saw. You know, I thought it looked perfect. It looked right where I was aiming. But then you know your second guess and you're like, is that we're there? Actually? You know what I mean? Kind of way too well. Yeah, yeah, it's a it's

a it's a weird thing. We all do. I don't. I don't know, maybe some people don't do it, but I know I'm bad about it, and especially from you know, the two years ago when I shot him and thought it was perfect, and now I'm just like, don't get your hopes up. You know, one of those deals and uh, I could tell you it was hurt when he ran off, and he like ran off and he was kind of running out of steam and he went into the woods.

And as he went into the woods, like I heard a crash, but I heard no aftermath, like no other sticks break, no other like pauling on the ground, you know, no kicking, no nothing. And I'm like, okay, did he just so now my mind's working on against me again. I'm like, did he just run into a spot that wasn't a trail and he just broke through some stuff,

you know, like went into a thick spot. So I backed out and went home and looked at the footage, and um, I had the camera panned out just enough that I got the second shot on camera and still really couldn't pinpoint where it hit. Like it looked like it was going good and everything was good, but you know,

just I didn't want to push the deer. So I waited a little bit, like probably of three hours overall, and went in there and uh went to the spot, started instantly a bunch of blood and started falling the blood.

I'm like, already went in right here, and my buddy had already seen him at this point, but I didn't if he would have like he basically just face planet in the woods, like he barely made it out of the field and there was no kick marks, there was no like he must have just ko like right there, like he didn't you. There wasn't a leaf that looked like it was moved, like he just went in there and fell over. And if you'd have died like five yards before that, I want to watch him die in

the field. But I had the worst fifteen minute drive that felt like two hours back to my house to watch the footage, to drive them back there and just stressing, oh, like you wouldn't believe just because I got my hopes up the last time and two years ago and it didn't work out. So it was like you killed him, You killed him? And I'm like, did I because don't see him yet? Like I don't I don't have him sitting here yet. So and man, the feeling when I

walked up, Wow, I do you remde me cry three times? Times? What what do you think when you look on it, When you look back on that hunt, do you do you feel like if you had to say what it was that did it, if there's a key to your success or if there was like a man, I did this thing really well and that finally got me here.

What would you what would your point out? I would just say probably the persistence, you know, like just being in there any chance I felt like it was good, you know, and probably just retaining the information because I think that's what honestly ended up, you know, why it ended up working out. But I would say, you know that on top of just actually maybe getting a little bit aggressive this year, kind of changing because I don't

really feel like I was changing a whole lot. So you know, him being there and rut and giving me the confidence to kind of bounce around a little more than I normally do. And then you know, having the camera where I've never had it, you know, putting it at that crossing, because if I didn't have it at that crossing, I mean think about I would have never right,

you know, I wouldn't. So just switching up my my locations a camera and then switching up obviously the location where I was hunting, and just I don't know, just a perfect storm you know of getting dropped off on my side by side and I think that helped because I didn't you know, walk in you know, even if he did see it. You know, he didn't. He didn't bother him. You know, he he thought that. You know, the farmer drives around on tractors and side by side

and stuff all the time. And you know, I kind of just think that was a you know, didn't bother him. It didn't make him un calmiable, and you to where if you would have saw me walking in, it would

have definitely made him uncomfortable. But um, I think just taking some risk really and then just staying staying uh, staying with the game plan as far as sticking with that deer and not really you know, other than last year, I never straight I hunted that deer straight for pretty much four years and never even gave another deer and opportunity other than the deer I killed last year. And I didn't really think that was very doable, if that

makes sense. Just kind of thought, I'm gonna go sit in a different place and you know, maybe to work out where I killed this awesome gear. And it did. But I don't know, I'm kind of a kind of nerd out like you do on the on the little things and the details, and I might not have gave you much of that in this just because it's more about the fun part of it. But like you know, in the story of killing him, But there's so many little things you you do that are might seem monotonous

or might seem you know, dumbin other people. But this deer was like the like the poster child for small little changes, gave me so much more information. Like it almost didn't even feel like I was doing it. Didn't It didn't make sense. You know. I moved a camera forty yards and all of a sudden there's a bunch of day like pictures of him or something, you know what I mean, Like just just weird little stuff that

I didn't really ever run into with another deer. But it took me a long time to figure that out. So you said that when you look back on this, this might be like I think you said this that this deer maybe taught you more than any other deer or something like that. Um, what what were your biggest

lessons from this hunt and from this buck? What do you take away the I'd say, probably like if to me, like I I knew the deer was living there, But the biggest lesson I figured out was kind of back to strategy of walking in like The deer taught me to pay more attention to that than what most people ever do. Most people, you know, bump deer and they don't even know they're bumping the deer, you know what I mean. They there hunts over before they even get

to their tree stand. And I think that was a big lesson I learned because I was hunting some spots in the beginning that I just didn't really think about that. And I know that's kind of something you know, maybe some people think about it second nature or some people don't, but you know, you get excited and he's shown up and you're like, oh, I'm gonna go this way to get there, and you don't really, you know, think about

how you're ruining your hunt before you ever get there. Like, I think that deer taught me a lot about that, a lot about hunting the edges of the you know, the wind, the zones that people talk about, and being on that disaster zone to where it's good for the deer and you know, it's almost bad for you, you know, like and that could change. That's a fine line. I

feel like it's hard to play. But I think that's one big thing I did differently and Uh, just just staying persistent on it, Like I don't you know how it is. There's so many ups and downs, you feel like you're never gonna kill the deer, and then you can just boost the confidence you feel like you're going to And I don't know, this deer never gave me that boost of confidence until this year. So I think just keeping my head down and plugging along was probably

the biggest lesson that he taught me. Was just ups and downs of the miserable part of hunting, but also what makes it so sweet when you do kill him, Like, yeah, the grinding part of it, Like this dear pushed me to the grinding my grinding limits completely, Like it's so hard to hunt a dear year after year and what's so little interaction with them. So so here's what I wonder next. And this is something I felt before this.

This has been a six year hunt, and you talked about like the perseverance and just like sticking to it and the obsession and all those kinds of things that finally comes to an end. How does that? How does that feel? Was that was that bitter sweet? How do you feel now? Are you? Are you? Are you lost? Do you know what'st lost. That's it. That's the word lost. Seriously,

I mean that's it. I do feel lost. Like every time you know it's called you called it, like the session part of it, but like you're you'll get it, but a people might not. It's got kind of sounds weird, but like I don't even want to take my cameras now, I don't even want to move the cameras from where I get pictures of him. And like every time I look at my phone and you know, or you know, pull up the app and just look at the cameras and he's I know, he's never gonna show up again.

It's it's weird, but it's like, oh, he's right here. But it's such a bitter, bitter sweet ending. It's so sweet, but it's so I've never had a dear pour so

many emotions out of me that you can't control. I don't know if you've ever experienced that, Like you get shook up and like stuff happens, and you know, obviously the normal this deer like it just felt like the way of the world was lifted when it actually, you know, when I actually got to lay my hands on him, like and that's just because we're crazily obsessed with white tail hunting, and it's, uh, it's unlike anything else I've

ever experienced. But this deer really poured that out of me, like it was It was the most bitter sweet thing I've ever been through, almost wanting to be alive again just so I can go do it. But like I say, that is that that hunt sometimes is the very best thing that the constant chase, the questioning, the the wondering, the putting things together little by little by little, um Man,

that's a that's just so so much fun. So I gotta believe if I know you, or if you're at all like me, you must be like jumping too, all right? Who who's the next buck? Who's the next guy gonna start like thinking this through? And have you already started like plotting out who might be the next one he could start the next six year journey with. Do you have an eyeball on someone who you're thinking, man, that

could be the next one? I got a couple, But I'm gonna ask you a question, where do you Where do you go from here? It's not like in a you know, arrogant way of saying that at all, Like it's just kind of I never really you know, he went a hudes, like I just can't even wrap my head around it still that you know, where do you?

Where do you? What do you do? You just you know, I know some people that go and you know, it's the next big mature deyear and it's like, you know, it's not all about score, but there's a little bit about it that is obviously intriguing to all of us. And you know, do you do I wait again for you know, the next er or you know whatever. Man,

I don't know. That's kind of my struggle. I don't I don't you know, it's not all about the score, but I tell you it's I tell you the next one that trips to trigger and you find yourself it's like, oh, just just do what's fun? Chase that feeling. Man, that's exactly what I'm looking for. And I guess to answer your question, I don't have any of that right now. Um. I got some good potential deer that I'm excited to see, but I know it's you know, a three year journey

for them to be where I want them to be. Um, just because of their age, not really even you know they're racking the score, but just the age and I don't. Man, I've been so distant to all my other farms, Like I've ranked cameras like I always do, you know, I've not put any of that like out on the wayside. Like but um, it's almost like I'm hunting new properties again.

Like I just haven't. I haven't set in any other stand other than last year, you know, for that week and I got lucky enough to kill that deer, and um, other than that, I haven't sit anywhereouse in four years. That's pretty wild. Yeah, it's kind of hitting me as I'm saying it to you because I've never really thought about it like that. But I haven't and I don't know.

My um next thing is, you know, getting a good buddy of mine trying to get you know, he's on some good deer and trying to help him get on them, and you know, maybe film him doing that, and obviously trying to get my wife on a go and she killed a good deer laugh neast year and that's really my next goals And that's kind of been my mindset and it's kind of keeping my mind off the reality of trying to or needing to find another one because like as of right now, I don't I don't know

what I'm jason next year, I guess just sitting in the tree stand, which it might be fun to go back to that for a little bit, to be honest. Yeah, that's true. There's something about just some pressure free just just just sitting to sit and hunt and see what might surprise you. That's that's kind of pressure free, like just just being out there to be out there, and you know, with cameras and stuff nowadays, it's hard to

be surprised. I mean on really what's there. But that's you know, maybe I'll do some of that, just just be exciting to hunt and not really know what's there and not really know what's gonna walk in because Shoe, I couldn't tell you how many times I've seen every year on that farm. What's him besides him? Of course, But man, well that is a heck of a journey. I uh, I've had some good ones, but never a six year hunt for a buck like that, and obviously not a buck of that caliber. So soak it in,

my friend. I hope you, I hope you get to uh spend some time just just reveling in this experience and uh the good fortune and the story and all that, because that's a pretty a pretty special hunt. Congratulations. I appreciate it, man. I appreciate the opportunity to be on here and stuff too, and I and people are you know, excited to hear it, and it kind of hits home

for some people. And you know, I don't know, just the just the part of it that, you know, like his even the deer's ups and downs, you know, like and being wounded and then making a comeback with his you know, as horns being bigger than they ever were

at nine years old. Like it's just kind of wild what kind of animals these animals really are, and like their will to live and I mean everybody's probably had a tracking story where you know that dead deer can't be alive, and you know it is, but they're just they're different and they obviously people like us, they just do different things too. And I don't know, I'm my dad introduced me to hunting, and I'm so fortunate appreciative of that because without that, I don't I like, I

don't even know what I'd be doing right now. You know, maybe we'ddle in some wood or something, I don't know, doing something productive with your life other than Jason tales all day. Yeah, at least that's what some people think. Wasted time, that's for sure. But it's it's worth every bit of it when it comes together on something like this. But it's serious. Well, Tyler Man, thank you so much for taking time to share this story and to kind of break it all down and what you learn and

what worked. And I think there's a lot of not only is it the fun story, but also some stuff that I think that that I can take away and hopefully everybody else can too. And uh, whether it's a hundred ten inch buck or hundred nine buck, I think the chase for one deer is is pretty darn compelling and this is a perfect example of it. Yeah. I appreciate it, man, I appreciate it. Like I said, the opportunity to be on here too, that was it was

pretty cool. I worked out. Well, let's do it again in three or four or five six years when you get the next one, right, I hope saw that. Let's do it. I appreciate it, Mark, all right, and that's a wrap. Thank you for tuning in appreciate you joining me here at the beginning of the new year. If you still have a tag from the two Deer season,

I'm wishing you luck. I hope you can close it out here at the bottom of the ninth with some magic in the last moments, and if not, either way, thanks for being here, and until next time, stay wired to Hu.