The Lost and Found Buck
Normally, when writing about a recent hunting trip I start from when I depart Thailand and continue through the hunt until my departure.
However, before I start describing the 1999 trip, I must first begin where I left off last year.
This may sound odd, but I will return to the evening of December 8, 1998, my second day of a five day white tail hunt in Michigan.
The rack from the deer in this story is the one I am holding
I was sitting in a box stand close to a thick cedar swamp and the light was slowly fading. I had watched three does and two smaller bucks pass and graze in the opening that bordered the swamp. I noticed a huge bodied deer enter into the opening, but with the light fading quickly, I could not determine how big this deer was. I looked through my Zeiss night owl binoculars and could see that this buck was a super trophy.
As he cautiously walked through the brush, I raised my rifle, adjusted the power on the scope several times until I found the vital area behind his shoulder. Although the view was clearer through the binoculars than it was through my scope, I decided that I could make a clean kill so I squeezed off the shot.
The buck bolted and returned to the swamp which he came. I could hear every splash as he jumped through the water snorting until he was out of my range of hearing. I was upset, that he did not fall on the spot and even more so that I never heard him fall or stop. I just kept hearing a loud snort as he was out of hearing.
I waited until my guide Jim arrived. I returned to the blind I was sitting in and pin pointed the area the buck was standing when I fired and the route he took towards the thick swamp. For two hours in the dark, we could not find the first sign of blood or hair. We decided to call it a night and return in the morning, to hunt the same stand and look over the area again after my hunt.
The following morning I saw the same group plus another decent 10 pointer, but it was definitely not the buck I shot at the previous evening. Jim arrived at 10:30 as we had agreed and started to comb the area. Again, no signs of a hit was found. I was sure of my shot and assured Jim that I was certain I hit the deer. With my confidence in the shot, not to mention determination to find a downed trophy, I convinced Jim that we needed to enter into the swamp.
We put on waders and spread out approximately 20 feet and followed the direction where the buck had run for over 150 yards and circled back to the point which we started.
I was starting to get aggravated and from listening to a few comments from Jim, could see that he was not as sure as I was about the shot. A few minutes later, he yelled over to me “hey I found something.” Indeed he had.
As I approached him I could see a slight smile on his face as he was holding a small branch from a cedar tree.
The next words out of his mouth were, “here is your shot.” Indeed it was a mark where my bullet had grazed the top of a small branch on the tree in front of where the buck was standing. After all of the searching I swallowed my pride and listened as Jim said, “Well, at least we know that old boy is still around.” Lets face it you do miss once in a while. (Not that often, but the odd occasion. Yes famous words “ maybe once on an odd occasion”)
Although my pride would not let me write this in last years story, if you read 1998 Michigan monsters, you will see that I went on to take a super 10 point that is now proudly displayed in my trophy room.
As I previously wrote, Jim only allows a limited number of hunters per year and I made sure that I forked out my 1999 deposit before departing Traverse City Airport.
Well that closed out the 1998 Michigan hunt and started me counting the days until my return for the 1999 season. I can assure you it was a very long wait.
In mid September, I decided to contact Jim to let him know the dates I would arrive for this past season and ensure that I would have the camp to myself. Before getting off the telephone, Jim made the comment, I have a super surprise waiting for you when you get here. No matter how hard I tried to get this secret out of him, he remained tight lipped and would only say “you will find out when you get to camp.” I had given his wife a Thai carving, Jim and one of his guides a custom made stag horn knife the following year. Jim, being a former Safety Manager as well, gave me a hard hat with a small six point rack attached to the front as a gag. Knowing Jim, I figured he had some kind of odd surprise for me.
The flight leaving Thailand was indeed a long 27 hours and the plane from Minnesota refused to land in Traverse City. It proceeded to another airport some 2 hours away. It was approximately 19:40 before we arrived at Traverse and I was happy to see Jim as he greeted me with a cold beer, loaded the bags and off we went.
I told Jim, since his wife Char liked the Thai carving so much I had found another matching it for her. Yes, this was an attempt to pry this mystery surprise out of him. Holding to his word and giving a slight laugh he replied ”you will see yours soon enough. It is on the table at the camp.”
I finally gave in and told Jim, after the stunts we pulled last year, I can’t wait to see what you will pull on me this year. For three months, I often pondered what this would be. Well, I would soon find out.
As I walked through the door of the camp, I noticed a huge 11 point rack on the table. A bit confused when asked “well what do you think?” My only response was that this would make some super handles for knives.
The next words out of his mouth was “ Why the hell would you take the biggest buck you have ever shot up here and make knives out of it? That thing scores 172 3/8 with a 23 inch inside spread!”
Jim, I am confused, I did not kill that deer. “Like hell you did” he responded. Well I can not remember shooting it! So I sure as hell could not have killed it.
What are you on about, is this cold starting to freeze your brain ? “My deer is now on the wall.
Jim continued by asking me if I remembered the missed shot by the swamp, I did. Well, you were the last person to hunt that area and the only one to shoot at a decent buck that was not found.
He continued by telling me “two weeks after you left, we started culling some smaller bucks and a few does to prevent additional winter kill by thinning the herd a bit. My son in law shot a small buck from the stand that you hunted from and it headed into the swamp. Fortunately the swamp was frozen almost solid and he could track it through the snow easy. He found his deer and started to drag it to the hill on the other side of some thick brush so he could get at it with a skidoo. When he was dragging it out, he noticed a set of horns sticking out of the brush and frozen water.
When he came back to the camp, he told me he found a huge racked buck dead in the swamp, he could not tell how big it was because the body was under the ice and snow.
Jim then asked where he found it, then they headed to the area on skidoo’s and determined that the location was only 20 yards or less from where we had stopped looking.
As the deer had been under the snow and ice for two weeks, its body with the exception of hair loss was in perfect condition so they hauled him out to examine him to check if he died from winter kill or a bullet wound.
Well, it seems that your shot was further back than you thought. The bullet went in at an angle behind the gut and was mushroomed under the hide on his hindquarter. My guess is that the branch threw your shot off, or you are really a piss poor shot, he said with a laugh.
That would explain the lack of blood and the deer running so far. “Mark” he said this is definitely the buck you shot. So we went ahead and cut the rack off for you, kept it inside and let it dry. I got Joey, the taxidermist to score him for you and he has a cape he will sell you if you want, or you can stick around a day or so and shoot one of these old culls.
My next worry was if Jim was going to charge me a trophy fee? As a trophy fee is charged for any wounded deer not recovered. So I went ahead and asked, Well what is the trophy fee on him. I was delighted when Jim said,
“I told you it was a present” After all, we never found proof that you hit the deer. I thought the limb had thrown the bullet off so I called it a miss. Merry Christmas, now lets go shot one so I can get a trophy fee!”
I must admit that he is the highest buck I have taken in my life. I do regret not finding him myself and losing the meat. However he is indeed a trophy that deserves respect and will look great when the mount is finished.
Click above to return to the Thumper's Swamp!
Normally, when writing about a recent hunting trip I start from when I depart Thailand and continue through the hunt until my departure.
However, before I start describing the 1999 trip, I must first begin where I left off last year. This may sound odd, but I will return to the evening of December 8, 1998, my second day of a five day white tail hunt in Michigan.
The rack from the deer in this story is the one I am holding
I was sitting in a box stand close to a thick cedar swamp and the light was slowly fading. I had watched three does and two smaller bucks pass and graze in the opening that bordered the swamp. I noticed a huge bodied deer enter into the opening, but with the light fading quickly, I could not determine how big this deer was. I looked through my Zeiss night owl binoculars and could see that this buck was a super trophy.
As he cautiously walked through the brush, I raised my rifle, adjusted the power on the scope several times until I found the vital area behind his shoulder. Although the view was clearer through the binoculars than it was through my scope, I decided that I could make a clean kill so I squeezed off the shot.
The buck bolted and returned to the swamp which he came. I could hear every splash as he jumped through the water snorting until he was out of my range of hearing. I was upset, that he did not fall on the spot and even more so that I never heard him fall or stop. I just kept hearing a loud snort as he was out of hearing.
I waited until my guide Jim arrived. I returned to the blind I was sitting in and pin pointed the area the buck was standing when I fired and the route he took towards the thick swamp. For two hours in the dark, we could not find the first sign of blood or hair. We decided to call it a night and return in the morning, to hunt the same stand and look over the area again after my hunt.
The following morning I saw the same group plus another decent 10 pointer, but it was definitely not the buck I shot at the previous evening. Jim arrived at 10:30 as we had agreed and started to comb the area. Again, no signs of a hit was found. I was sure of my shot and assured Jim that I was certain I hit the deer. With my confidence in the shot, not to mention determination to find a downed trophy, I convinced Jim that we needed to enter into the swamp.
We put on waders and spread out approximately 20 feet and followed the direction where the buck had run for over 150 yards and circled back to the point which we started. I was starting to get aggravated and from listening to a few comments from Jim, could see that he was not as sure as I was about the shot. A few minutes later, he yelled over to me “hey I found something.” Indeed he had.
As I approached him I could see a slight smile on his face as he was holding a small branch from a cedar tree. The next words out of his mouth were, “here is your shot.” Indeed it was a mark where my bullet had grazed the top of a small branch on the tree in front of where the buck was standing. After all of the searching I swallowed my pride and listened as Jim said, “Well, at least we know that old boy is still around.” Lets face it you do miss once in a while. (Not that often, but the odd occasion. Yes famous words “ maybe once on an odd occasion”)
Although my pride would not let me write this in last years story, if you read 1998 Michigan monsters, you will see that I went on to take a super 10 point that is now proudly displayed in my trophy room.
As I previously wrote, Jim only allows a limited number of hunters per year and I made sure that I forked out my 1999 deposit before departing Traverse City Airport. Well that closed out the 1998 Michigan hunt and started me counting the days until my return for the 1999 season. I can assure you it was a very long wait.
In mid September, I decided to contact Jim to let him know the dates I would arrive for this past season and ensure that I would have the camp to myself. Before getting off the telephone, Jim made the comment, I have a super surprise waiting for you when you get here. No matter how hard I tried to get this secret out of him, he remained tight lipped and would only say “you will find out when you get to camp.” I had given his wife a Thai carving, Jim and one of his guides a custom made stag horn knife the following year. Jim, being a former Safety Manager as well, gave me a hard hat with a small six point rack attached to the front as a gag. Knowing Jim, I figured he had some kind of odd surprise for me.
The flight leaving Thailand was indeed a long 27 hours and the plane from Minnesota refused to land in Traverse City. It proceeded to another airport some 2 hours away. It was approximately 19:40 before we arrived at Traverse and I was happy to see Jim as he greeted me with a cold beer, loaded the bags and off we went.
I told Jim, since his wife Char liked the Thai carving so much I had found another matching it for her. Yes, this was an attempt to pry this mystery surprise out of him. Holding to his word and giving a slight laugh he replied ”you will see yours soon enough. It is on the table at the camp.”
I finally gave in and told Jim, after the stunts we pulled last year, I can’t wait to see what you will pull on me this year. For three months, I often pondered what this would be. Well, I would soon find out.
As I walked through the door of the camp, I noticed a huge 11 point rack on the table. A bit confused when asked “well what do you think?” My only response was that this would make some super handles for knives.
The next words out of his mouth was “ Why the hell would you take the biggest buck you have ever shot up here and make knives out of it? That thing scores 172 3/8 with a 23 inch inside spread!”
Jim, I am confused, I did not kill that deer. “Like hell you did” he responded. Well I can not remember shooting it! So I sure as hell could not have killed it. What are you on about, is this cold starting to freeze your brain ? “My deer is now on the wall.
Jim continued by asking me if I remembered the missed shot by the swamp, I did. Well, you were the last person to hunt that area and the only one to shoot at a decent buck that was not found.
He continued by telling me “two weeks after you left, we started culling some smaller bucks and a few does to prevent additional winter kill by thinning the herd a bit. My son in law shot a small buck from the stand that you hunted from and it headed into the swamp. Fortunately the swamp was frozen almost solid and he could track it through the snow easy. He found his deer and started to drag it to the hill on the other side of some thick brush so he could get at it with a skidoo. When he was dragging it out, he noticed a set of horns sticking out of the brush and frozen water.
When he came back to the camp, he told me he found a huge racked buck dead in the swamp, he could not tell how big it was because the body was under the ice and snow.
Jim then asked where he found it, then they headed to the area on skidoo’s and determined that the location was only 20 yards or less from where we had stopped looking.
As the deer had been under the snow and ice for two weeks, its body with the exception of hair loss was in perfect condition so they hauled him out to examine him to check if he died from winter kill or a bullet wound.
Well, it seems that your shot was further back than you thought. The bullet went in at an angle behind the gut and was mushroomed under the hide on his hindquarter. My guess is that the branch threw your shot off, or you are really a piss poor shot, he said with a laugh.
That would explain the lack of blood and the deer running so far. “Mark” he said this is definitely the buck you shot. So we went ahead and cut the rack off for you, kept it inside and let it dry. I got Joey, the taxidermist to score him for you and he has a cape he will sell you if you want, or you can stick around a day or so and shoot one of these old culls.
My next worry was if Jim was going to charge me a trophy fee? As a trophy fee is charged for any wounded deer not recovered. So I went ahead and asked, Well what is the trophy fee on him. I was delighted when Jim said, “I told you it was a present” After all, we never found proof that you hit the deer. I thought the limb had thrown the bullet off so I called it a miss. Merry Christmas, now lets go shot one so I can get a trophy fee!”
I must admit that he is the highest buck I have taken in my life. I do regret not finding him myself and losing the meat. However he is indeed a trophy that deserves respect and will look great when the mount is finished.
Click above to return to the Thumper's Swamp!