1998 Michigan Monsters>
The majority of you reading this article are devoted to hunting of many sorts. It my be from Africa to Alaska or from the house to a small track of woods down the road. We all have our favorite species of game that we keep pursuing year after year. Sometimes we take the trophy of a game species that we have sought and are satisfied. Not saying that we give up hunting for that specific animal, but tend to focus on another hunting challenge. On the other side of the coin, sometimes taking a personal best only develops an inner desire to continue the quest for one even larger. Thus we are internally driven to return year after year to pursue that specific game species of our choice.
If I were asked today which of the countries or animals has produced my most memorable hunt? I would respond "All of them." But if asked what type of hunting tops my list, I would confess whitetail deer. Don't get me wrong, I will always be an addicted big game hunter and plan to continue chasing game of all types and in any part of the world. But something about the whitetail deer, keeps me coming back year after year.
As most whitetail deer hunters do, I have started each of my past 22 seasons with the dream of a monster buck behind each tree. I think this is what truly defines the meaning of buck fever and keeps this unexplainable passion growing within and so many of us returning.
As hunting has it, many of our seasons have ended with a small buck, maybe a few does or at worst an unfilled tag. This is why they call it deer hunting.
It has always been great to put venison in the freezer, or have such to donate to Hunters for the Hungry and being on the hunt alone is 80% of the fun. But still many seasons will come and go without that "Dream Wall Hanger".
We all dream of taking that trophy of a lifetime. For some of us the 1998 season ended with the dream becoming a reality. But for others we have next season to keep our dreams alive and our desire at a peak. Fortunately, this year I was included in the group that not only took a trophy deer, but as "hunters luck" would have it, this would prove be my all time best trophy whitetail.
Living overseas allows me limited time to hunt, so I have to plan hunting a bit more thoroughly than when I lived in the States. Trust me determining the locations and dates to hunt can occupy as much time if not more than the actual hunt.
As the hunting areas in my home state are limited to either public lands, hunting clubs and private plantations, I am at a great disadvantage. Not only is it hard to find a place to hunt, but close to impossible to hunt areas where trophies dwell. These reasons usually leave me with the only option of using an outfitter or guide service. This is not a negative statement, as hunting with a reputable outfitters and on managed lands not only increases your chances of taking a trophy animal, but takes a lot of the frustration out of the hunt. By stating frustration, I am sure we can either relate to times when we lost a lease, had the lands we hunt posted, saw the timber cut or arrived in our "Hot Spot" to find someone else hunting our area.
This past season I was determined not to be confronted with any of these problems, so I tried to start early in the year to ensure the most successful hunt possible. After returning from a very successful bear hunt in May, I knew that I would have to start planning in order to increase my chances of booking a place where that dream whitetail lurks. I had strongly considered hunting Saskatchewan, Iowa or Kansas, but as I could not return to the States until December, those options were dismissed. My considerations then turned to South West Texas. After checking with several outfitters, getting ideas on prices and best dates, I was still undecided.
In order to coinside with my scheduled holiday vacation, I wanted to find a place where I could layover between the Detroit and Atlanta leg of my flight home. It seemed like Michigan would be the best choice.
In the past I have read many articles written on the deer sanctuaries and hunting preserves in Michigan, but never considered hunting high fenced preserves. After reading an article in North American Hunter, about hunting sanctuaries, my interests were peaked. I confess that I previously believed that animals born behind a fence and raised under these conditions would be easy hunting. Even after talking to hunters who have hunted these preserves, it was still hard to believe that this would be as challenging, if not more challenging of a hunt as it would be in the "True Wilds" I can assure you my feelings regarding preserve hunting truly changed for the better after my 7 days.
With the State determined, the next step would be to find the most suitable place in Michigan to hunt. I focused on several different ranches, sanctuaries and preserves, contacted each one for information and narrowed down my choices to two locations. Both of these places had a large amount of acreage, high success rates and the references which spoke highly of them. I can assure you that my first and foremost concerns were the challenge of the hunt and if past clients would consider such as a canned hunt. (I can assure you that I took a lot of ridicule from other hunters when mentioning hunting preserves)
A few weeks had passed and I had yet to make a booking with either of these two operations. I returned calls to both operations to find that there would be several other hunters in both camps during the week I had planned on arriving. I was a little disappointed as I prefer to hunt in smaller groups.
As fortune would have it that same afternoon my issue to Safari times arrived. In Thumbing through, I noticed an add for a place called Record Book Preserve in Fife Lake Michigan. After all of the effort, phone calls and e-mail's, it seemed like a shot in the dark at getting into this place with less than two months notice. I decide I would go ahead and call. This decision turned out to be a stroke of luck and one of best whitetail hunts I have ever experienced. Record Book Plantation is ran by a super host and guide, Mr. Jim Lafeve. he has ran the operation for better than 10 years and limits to very few hunters per season. Most of which have hunted with him previously.
Earlier when I mentioned a stroke of fortune, this came about only because the two hunters who had booked for the week had postponed just three days before my call. If not for this good fortune, I would have not had the chance to hunt with one of the most down to earth outfitters I have ever hunted with in the Northern U.S.
I inquired further and found that I would be hunting thick cedar swamp bottoms in an area over 900 acres. I was told that the shots would be short distance and in really thick areas. It was not uncommon to have deer within 20 feet of the stand before hunters ever knew of their presence.
Jim's outfit provides lodging, guides, skinning, and transportation free of charge. My cost would only consist of food and a trophy fees in the event I was fortunate enough to take such. Several restaurants were in an adjacent town, so no need to worry about cooking every night.
I asked Jim where most of his clients were from and was surprised to find that it was a mixture, half from adjoining northern states and half from the southern states. Before booking, I asked if he had references for clients from near by northern states, Georgia and Florida. He quickly read out a list with names and contact numbers which I verified.
Being an old Georgia boy myself, I called both hunters in Georgia that had hunted with Jim. I found out that both had hunted with Jim better than 4 years and spoke very highly of him and his operation.
I explained to them that I would not consider hunting a small enclosure type operation, and was reassured in a very clear manner that this was not the case and would find it to be as challenging as any plantation hunt in Georgia. My decision was made. Fife Lake would be my 1998 destination. I called Jim the next day and told him that I was sending a deposit and planned on staying 3 to 5 days. This was no problem and I was assured that I would be the only hunter in camp for that week.
December 12th found me stepping off of a plane in Traverse City after a 21 hour flight from Bangkok. I was met by Jim outside of the small airport and we headed off for the 40 minute ride to camp. I was surprised to find the temperatures higher than I would expect for the time of the year. After all it was December and usually each year when I return to the States, Detroit is usually snowed under. We arrived at a nice modular home hunting camp equipped with all the amities someone's home.
I have hunted in camps ranging from bamboo huts, drop tents to super deluxe lodges that could rate as a 5 star hotel, yet this place was what I felt a hunting camp should be. To top that off, I would be alone, yes the only hunter in camp.. After returning to town to pick up some provisions, Jim and I returned to get better aquatinted and discuss the strategy of our hunt. I would still hunt from shoot houses in the mornings and afternoons. But with the deer in winter coats and the higher temperatures, we would revert to man drives if the still hunts did not prove productive. I was told that the key to hunting in this area as anywhere would be patience.
I was cautioned not to get trigger happy as the bigger bucks will hold up until the smaller ones were out of the areas. I would assume that with the rut having ended some 30 or more days the larger bucks would be keeping their distance and resting.
The first morning I awoke with the excitability of a child at Christmas. I sipped on my coffee and waited for Jim to arrive. The first morning in the stand was wonderful, I saw a total of 5 bucks sporting nice 6, 8 and 9 point racks, from guessing at these deer's ages, I could see that they were all less than 3 years old. Even at this stage these would have been trophies back home. Several does came in the area, and I was surprised to see how large bodied these were. They made the young bucks look even smaller. I left the stand to meet Jim at the drop off point at 10:00, it seemed like a dream to see trees with 40 inch girths rubbed from the ground up to 5 feet. These rubs were definitely larger than any I had ever observed in my life.
After meeting up with Jim and discussing what I had observed, he was not surprised. He determined that we should conduct a few man drives to try to get the big boys out of the thick stuff and moving. This would be harder than it sounds. In the wild, whitetails are very territorial and usually spend their lives in a square mile area. Biologist have determined that a mature buck will only temporarily leave this area when in search of receptive does during the rut of when driven out by other means. But the deer will usually return to its home territory. Thinking in this manner, the deer inside of a high fenced area do not see the fence as a boundary. This gives these deer a greater knowledge of the area thus giving them a greater advantage when pursued even in what we see as a confinement. Not to mention the most important factor that these deer are managed to ensure that proper nutrients, genetics and selective culling, allows these deer to reach their optimum potential.
In starting the drive, I was placed in a small open area in the middle of the cedar swamp.During the drive I would get glimpses of deer following the many escape routes. I had several run less than 10 yards of me but was unable to get a shot. After moving me to several different spots I must admit that I was beginning to get a little impatient at the fact that I was unable to get clear shots or judge the class of the deer. On the last drive of the day, I was on an open hillside and watched a group of 10 or more deer cornering up in a thicket. I then caught a glimpse of a nice 180 + class with a very wide and high rack. I decided that this was the one. I put my crosshairs on his chest as he walked along a slight ridge line. Just as I was about to pull the trigger, he was moving behind a tree in my shooting range. I repositioned aim to take a shot as soon as he cleared. Surprisingly, the deer had turned at the tree and walked down into a small ravine to step in a thicket to out of my sight. I was sure that I had just spotted the buck of a lifetime. We ended the drive and I spoke with Jim and the other three drivers. They had seen several super trophies jumped out of the thickets, but they disappeared before ever reaching my position. One of the drivers mentioned seeing a large bodied "older cull buck" with a heavy beams. Jim was surprised as he had never seen this buck or sheds of him on the property. Later on I was told that they had culled management bucks several times during the year, but did not get enough of the culling accomplished.
I was told that if I saw this buck or any older big bodied deer with palmate 8 points or less and short brow tines, to shoot it.. I was very excited, not only was I in the position to shot a trophy buck, I also would be allowed to assist Jim with his management program.
The next morning Jim said that he would pick me up at 10:00 as before. I told him not to worry about picking me up until noon, as I wanted to try some stalk hunting after 10:00..
This was agreed, but furthered informed me that stalking was tough in these thickets as the deer would be laid up in the thickets and I would have a slim chance of spotting them before they would me.
I did not want to seem boisterous, but I relayed to him that my most successful method of hunting whitetail was stalk, wait and shoot .He slightly laughed and encourage me to try it.
From his knowledgeable expression and slight smile I could see that this would be a futile endeavor. After 4 and a half hours in the shoot house, the last two deer one nice 8 point and two does had cleared out of the area. I slowly walked on the wet soft grass on the edge of the softwoods lining the thickets and swamps. I could see trees torn to pieces, as well as droppings and tracks that could be easily mistaken for that of a mule. It seemed that no matter how quietly I walked and for how long I would lean against a tree with the wind in my face I could never get close enough to see other than a flag. I could see that any attempt to stalk hunt would prove useless.
The evening drives were commenced again. this time I was placed on a ridge bordering a pine thicket and an oak bottom. with in less than 10 minuets into the drive I heard the sound similar to that of a stampede coming from behind me. as I turned, I watch a herd of huge racked bucks rushing past me less that 20 to 30 yards. I had no time to judge any of the class of deer, but I am positive that everyone would had scored 140 class or better. This was embarrassing having this many trophy bucks run you over and not getting off a shot. I had my heart on that huge buck I had saw the day before.
I was taken to a second property that I had yet to hunt. This area was 670 acres of super thick swamp. I felt that a shot gun may have been a weapon of choice in this area.About 1 hour from dark I watched as 7 does,a spike and a small 8 point came into the opening between the swamp and feeder. I watched the deer at a very alert stage. At that point, I could hear two bucks sparring behind me and out of sight. As the sparring bucks got closer to my area, I noticed all of the deer including the 8 point head into the thicket. I can tell you, the excitement had my heart racing as I knew the mature buck was headed into my shooting area. Both bucks came into the shooting area and the dominate buck ran the smaller buck into the thicket. As light was fading fast, I could clearly see that this buck was a nice 9 point with a spread exceeding his ears. I decided that I would take a longer look at him through in the scope. The longer I looked at the deer, the larger he seemed. I grunted at him and watched him bound into the thicket. It was exciting, but I almost came too close to shooting a deer that would become a super trophy in 2 more years.
That night I could see only super bucks in my dreams.( This may have had something to do with the local drink called " A snake bite which I became fond of") Until 04:00 the next morning.
Even though my sound "snake bite induced sleep" found me moving rather slowly the following morning, I was determined that this day would be the day I would take my trophy. As fate would have it. The first buck of the morning I saw was the old "Cull Buck" that Jim had told me to shoot. I hated to ruin the mornings hunt by shooting, but this one needed to be removed from the herd as his genetics were poor and after all seldom do you get the chance to help shoot a management buck. I decided that I would take him. As he moved along the ridge, I grunted a soft tone and he stopped. One shot from the 308 laid him to rest.
I stayed on the stand until 10:00 then headed to meet Jim. He had asked what did I see and I told him about the 9 point I shot. He said lets take a look at him. I did not tell him that this was the cull that we had spoken about. When we arrived, he thanked me for helping him out. He continued to explain to me why deer such as there needs culling out of the heard as they did not have the trophy genetics that they wanted to ensure. He stated that until the other day this deer had never been spotted. We loaded him up headed to the skinning room , dressed it out and hung the meat in the cooler.
Jim's idea for that afternoon was to place me on an open hillside while 5 drivers would run the bottoms to see if we could locate the huge deer I had spotted two days before. I was told to sit next to the pines and not to move, as they would be driving every inch of the swamp. With that many drivers, the deer would have to go to the higher grounds. This was working well as I could see several nice bucks from 130 to 140 class slipping out to the center of the thick swamp.
I could have taken any one of them, but my heart was set on seeing the other buck.
My mind changed as a huge bodied deer with massive palmate horn thickness, height and width emerged. I knew that this deer would definitely be a true trophy that would score in the 170's.
He was not the buck I had previously saw, but With my hunt coming to an end I decided that this was the one for me. I took a careful aim, squeezed the trigger and "Snap" misfire.
I tried to keep my cool while reloading the rifle, The deer kept a steady pace along the ridge line between the two cedar thickets. I ejected the shell and made sure that the carrier was fully forwarded, took aim and fired to watch the buck fall in its tracks.
I was overexcited as my hands started shaking. This is what I had came to Michigan for a super hunt and a true trophy buck. Within 10 minutes all 3 drivers and Jim arrived to congratulate me on my deer. They said it was a mature trophy by far and I had definitely accomplished what I wanted. A trophy scoring over 150.
The two green gross scores taken by a local taxidermist and a second by a taxidermist in Georgia confirmed 174 B&C gross, and netted 165 B&C after 9 inches of deductions. Still that is by far a trophy anywhere.
In opening this story I mentioned how taking a personal best sometimes increases our desire to return, well you can bet that I will be back for the 1999 season to see if I can find that super buck spotted earlier in the hunt. Don't worry, my booking were confirmed before I departed from the Traverse City Airport.
I have to admit that Jim and his crew will work hard to ensure that you not only have the best chance to take a true trophy buck, but take extra measures to ensure that you have a great time after the hunt. As I mentioned Jim takes a limited number of hunters per year and the majority of his clients are return hunters that have turned into friends. If you want a great hunt, I would advise you to start checking into this operation early in the year as the few vacancies fill up fast.
To Contact Jim Lafeve
call (616) 369-2261
or Write
Record Buck
Rt. 2 Lake Road
Fife, Lake Michigan 49633
Click above to return to the Thumper's Swamp!
1998 Michigan Monsters>
The majority of you reading this article are devoted to hunting of many sorts. It my be from Africa to Alaska or from the house to a small track of woods down the road. We all have our favorite species of game that we keep pursuing year after year. Sometimes we take the trophy of a game species that we have sought and are satisfied. Not saying that we give up hunting for that specific animal, but tend to focus on another hunting challenge. On the other side of the coin, sometimes taking a personal best only develops an inner desire to continue the quest for one even larger. Thus we are internally driven to return year after year to pursue that specific game species of our choice.
If I were asked today which of the countries or animals has produced my most memorable hunt? I would respond "All of them." But if asked what type of hunting tops my list, I would confess whitetail deer. Don't get me wrong, I will always be an addicted big game hunter and plan to continue chasing game of all types and in any part of the world. But something about the whitetail deer, keeps me coming back year after year. As most whitetail deer hunters do, I have started each of my past 22 seasons with the dream of a monster buck behind each tree. I think this is what truly defines the meaning of buck fever and keeps this unexplainable passion growing within and so many of us returning.
As hunting has it, many of our seasons have ended with a small buck, maybe a few does or at worst an unfilled tag. This is why they call it deer hunting. It has always been great to put venison in the freezer, or have such to donate to Hunters for the Hungry and being on the hunt alone is 80% of the fun. But still many seasons will come and go without that "Dream Wall Hanger". We all dream of taking that trophy of a lifetime. For some of us the 1998 season ended with the dream becoming a reality. But for others we have next season to keep our dreams alive and our desire at a peak. Fortunately, this year I was included in the group that not only took a trophy deer, but as "hunters luck" would have it, this would prove be my all time best trophy whitetail.
Living overseas allows me limited time to hunt, so I have to plan hunting a bit more thoroughly than when I lived in the States. Trust me determining the locations and dates to hunt can occupy as much time if not more than the actual hunt. As the hunting areas in my home state are limited to either public lands, hunting clubs and private plantations, I am at a great disadvantage. Not only is it hard to find a place to hunt, but close to impossible to hunt areas where trophies dwell. These reasons usually leave me with the only option of using an outfitter or guide service. This is not a negative statement, as hunting with a reputable outfitters and on managed lands not only increases your chances of taking a trophy animal, but takes a lot of the frustration out of the hunt. By stating frustration, I am sure we can either relate to times when we lost a lease, had the lands we hunt posted, saw the timber cut or arrived in our "Hot Spot" to find someone else hunting our area.
This past season I was determined not to be confronted with any of these problems, so I tried to start early in the year to ensure the most successful hunt possible. After returning from a very successful bear hunt in May, I knew that I would have to start planning in order to increase my chances of booking a place where that dream whitetail lurks. I had strongly considered hunting Saskatchewan, Iowa or Kansas, but as I could not return to the States until December, those options were dismissed. My considerations then turned to South West Texas. After checking with several outfitters, getting ideas on prices and best dates, I was still undecided.
In order to coinside with my scheduled holiday vacation, I wanted to find a place where I could layover between the Detroit and Atlanta leg of my flight home. It seemed like Michigan would be the best choice.
In the past I have read many articles written on the deer sanctuaries and hunting preserves in Michigan, but never considered hunting high fenced preserves. After reading an article in North American Hunter, about hunting sanctuaries, my interests were peaked. I confess that I previously believed that animals born behind a fence and raised under these conditions would be easy hunting. Even after talking to hunters who have hunted these preserves, it was still hard to believe that this would be as challenging, if not more challenging of a hunt as it would be in the "True Wilds" I can assure you my feelings regarding preserve hunting truly changed for the better after my 7 days.
With the State determined, the next step would be to find the most suitable place in Michigan to hunt. I focused on several different ranches, sanctuaries and preserves, contacted each one for information and narrowed down my choices to two locations. Both of these places had a large amount of acreage, high success rates and the references which spoke highly of them. I can assure you that my first and foremost concerns were the challenge of the hunt and if past clients would consider such as a canned hunt. (I can assure you that I took a lot of ridicule from other hunters when mentioning hunting preserves)
A few weeks had passed and I had yet to make a booking with either of these two operations. I returned calls to both operations to find that there would be several other hunters in both camps during the week I had planned on arriving. I was a little disappointed as I prefer to hunt in smaller groups.
As fortune would have it that same afternoon my issue to Safari times arrived. In Thumbing through, I noticed an add for a place called Record Book Preserve in Fife Lake Michigan. After all of the effort, phone calls and e-mail's, it seemed like a shot in the dark at getting into this place with less than two months notice. I decide I would go ahead and call. This decision turned out to be a stroke of luck and one of best whitetail hunts I have ever experienced. Record Book Plantation is ran by a super host and guide, Mr. Jim Lafeve. he has ran the operation for better than 10 years and limits to very few hunters per season. Most of which have hunted with him previously.
Earlier when I mentioned a stroke of fortune, this came about only because the two hunters who had booked for the week had postponed just three days before my call. If not for this good fortune, I would have not had the chance to hunt with one of the most down to earth outfitters I have ever hunted with in the Northern U.S.
I inquired further and found that I would be hunting thick cedar swamp bottoms in an area over 900 acres. I was told that the shots would be short distance and in really thick areas. It was not uncommon to have deer within 20 feet of the stand before hunters ever knew of their presence. Jim's outfit provides lodging, guides, skinning, and transportation free of charge. My cost would only consist of food and a trophy fees in the event I was fortunate enough to take such. Several restaurants were in an adjacent town, so no need to worry about cooking every night.
I asked Jim where most of his clients were from and was surprised to find that it was a mixture, half from adjoining northern states and half from the southern states. Before booking, I asked if he had references for clients from near by northern states, Georgia and Florida. He quickly read out a list with names and contact numbers which I verified.
Being an old Georgia boy myself, I called both hunters in Georgia that had hunted with Jim. I found out that both had hunted with Jim better than 4 years and spoke very highly of him and his operation.
I explained to them that I would not consider hunting a small enclosure type operation, and was reassured in a very clear manner that this was not the case and would find it to be as challenging as any plantation hunt in Georgia. My decision was made. Fife Lake would be my 1998 destination. I called Jim the next day and told him that I was sending a deposit and planned on staying 3 to 5 days. This was no problem and I was assured that I would be the only hunter in camp for that week.
December 12th found me stepping off of a plane in Traverse City after a 21 hour flight from Bangkok. I was met by Jim outside of the small airport and we headed off for the 40 minute ride to camp. I was surprised to find the temperatures higher than I would expect for the time of the year. After all it was December and usually each year when I return to the States, Detroit is usually snowed under. We arrived at a nice modular home hunting camp equipped with all the amities someone's home.
I have hunted in camps ranging from bamboo huts, drop tents to super deluxe lodges that could rate as a 5 star hotel, yet this place was what I felt a hunting camp should be. To top that off, I would be alone, yes the only hunter in camp.. After returning to town to pick up some provisions, Jim and I returned to get better aquatinted and discuss the strategy of our hunt. I would still hunt from shoot houses in the mornings and afternoons. But with the deer in winter coats and the higher temperatures, we would revert to man drives if the still hunts did not prove productive. I was told that the key to hunting in this area as anywhere would be patience.
I was cautioned not to get trigger happy as the bigger bucks will hold up until the smaller ones were out of the areas. I would assume that with the rut having ended some 30 or more days the larger bucks would be keeping their distance and resting.
The first morning I awoke with the excitability of a child at Christmas. I sipped on my coffee and waited for Jim to arrive. The first morning in the stand was wonderful, I saw a total of 5 bucks sporting nice 6, 8 and 9 point racks, from guessing at these deer's ages, I could see that they were all less than 3 years old. Even at this stage these would have been trophies back home. Several does came in the area, and I was surprised to see how large bodied these were. They made the young bucks look even smaller. I left the stand to meet Jim at the drop off point at 10:00, it seemed like a dream to see trees with 40 inch girths rubbed from the ground up to 5 feet. These rubs were definitely larger than any I had ever observed in my life.
After meeting up with Jim and discussing what I had observed, he was not surprised. He determined that we should conduct a few man drives to try to get the big boys out of the thick stuff and moving. This would be harder than it sounds. In the wild, whitetails are very territorial and usually spend their lives in a square mile area. Biologist have determined that a mature buck will only temporarily leave this area when in search of receptive does during the rut of when driven out by other means. But the deer will usually return to its home territory. Thinking in this manner, the deer inside of a high fenced area do not see the fence as a boundary. This gives these deer a greater knowledge of the area thus giving them a greater advantage when pursued even in what we see as a confinement. Not to mention the most important factor that these deer are managed to ensure that proper nutrients, genetics and selective culling, allows these deer to reach their optimum potential.
In starting the drive, I was placed in a small open area in the middle of the cedar swamp.During the drive I would get glimpses of deer following the many escape routes. I had several run less than 10 yards of me but was unable to get a shot. After moving me to several different spots I must admit that I was beginning to get a little impatient at the fact that I was unable to get clear shots or judge the class of the deer. On the last drive of the day, I was on an open hillside and watched a group of 10 or more deer cornering up in a thicket. I then caught a glimpse of a nice 180 + class with a very wide and high rack. I decided that this was the one. I put my crosshairs on his chest as he walked along a slight ridge line. Just as I was about to pull the trigger, he was moving behind a tree in my shooting range. I repositioned aim to take a shot as soon as he cleared. Surprisingly, the deer had turned at the tree and walked down into a small ravine to step in a thicket to out of my sight. I was sure that I had just spotted the buck of a lifetime. We ended the drive and I spoke with Jim and the other three drivers. They had seen several super trophies jumped out of the thickets, but they disappeared before ever reaching my position. One of the drivers mentioned seeing a large bodied "older cull buck" with a heavy beams. Jim was surprised as he had never seen this buck or sheds of him on the property. Later on I was told that they had culled management bucks several times during the year, but did not get enough of the culling accomplished.
I was told that if I saw this buck or any older big bodied deer with palmate 8 points or less and short brow tines, to shoot it.. I was very excited, not only was I in the position to shot a trophy buck, I also would be allowed to assist Jim with his management program.
The next morning Jim said that he would pick me up at 10:00 as before. I told him not to worry about picking me up until noon, as I wanted to try some stalk hunting after 10:00.. This was agreed, but furthered informed me that stalking was tough in these thickets as the deer would be laid up in the thickets and I would have a slim chance of spotting them before they would me.
I did not want to seem boisterous, but I relayed to him that my most successful method of hunting whitetail was stalk, wait and shoot .He slightly laughed and encourage me to try it. From his knowledgeable expression and slight smile I could see that this would be a futile endeavor. After 4 and a half hours in the shoot house, the last two deer one nice 8 point and two does had cleared out of the area. I slowly walked on the wet soft grass on the edge of the softwoods lining the thickets and swamps. I could see trees torn to pieces, as well as droppings and tracks that could be easily mistaken for that of a mule. It seemed that no matter how quietly I walked and for how long I would lean against a tree with the wind in my face I could never get close enough to see other than a flag. I could see that any attempt to stalk hunt would prove useless.
The evening drives were commenced again. this time I was placed on a ridge bordering a pine thicket and an oak bottom. with in less than 10 minuets into the drive I heard the sound similar to that of a stampede coming from behind me. as I turned, I watch a herd of huge racked bucks rushing past me less that 20 to 30 yards. I had no time to judge any of the class of deer, but I am positive that everyone would had scored 140 class or better. This was embarrassing having this many trophy bucks run you over and not getting off a shot. I had my heart on that huge buck I had saw the day before.
I was taken to a second property that I had yet to hunt. This area was 670 acres of super thick swamp. I felt that a shot gun may have been a weapon of choice in this area.About 1 hour from dark I watched as 7 does,a spike and a small 8 point came into the opening between the swamp and feeder. I watched the deer at a very alert stage. At that point, I could hear two bucks sparring behind me and out of sight. As the sparring bucks got closer to my area, I noticed all of the deer including the 8 point head into the thicket. I can tell you, the excitement had my heart racing as I knew the mature buck was headed into my shooting area. Both bucks came into the shooting area and the dominate buck ran the smaller buck into the thicket. As light was fading fast, I could clearly see that this buck was a nice 9 point with a spread exceeding his ears. I decided that I would take a longer look at him through in the scope. The longer I looked at the deer, the larger he seemed. I grunted at him and watched him bound into the thicket. It was exciting, but I almost came too close to shooting a deer that would become a super trophy in 2 more years.
That night I could see only super bucks in my dreams.( This may have had something to do with the local drink called " A snake bite which I became fond of") Until 04:00 the next morning.
Even though my sound "snake bite induced sleep" found me moving rather slowly the following morning, I was determined that this day would be the day I would take my trophy. As fate would have it. The first buck of the morning I saw was the old "Cull Buck" that Jim had told me to shoot. I hated to ruin the mornings hunt by shooting, but this one needed to be removed from the herd as his genetics were poor and after all seldom do you get the chance to help shoot a management buck. I decided that I would take him. As he moved along the ridge, I grunted a soft tone and he stopped. One shot from the 308 laid him to rest.
I stayed on the stand until 10:00 then headed to meet Jim. He had asked what did I see and I told him about the 9 point I shot. He said lets take a look at him. I did not tell him that this was the cull that we had spoken about. When we arrived, he thanked me for helping him out. He continued to explain to me why deer such as there needs culling out of the heard as they did not have the trophy genetics that they wanted to ensure. He stated that until the other day this deer had never been spotted. We loaded him up headed to the skinning room , dressed it out and hung the meat in the cooler.
Jim's idea for that afternoon was to place me on an open hillside while 5 drivers would run the bottoms to see if we could locate the huge deer I had spotted two days before. I was told to sit next to the pines and not to move, as they would be driving every inch of the swamp. With that many drivers, the deer would have to go to the higher grounds. This was working well as I could see several nice bucks from 130 to 140 class slipping out to the center of the thick swamp. I could have taken any one of them, but my heart was set on seeing the other buck.
My mind changed as a huge bodied deer with massive palmate horn thickness, height and width emerged. I knew that this deer would definitely be a true trophy that would score in the 170's. He was not the buck I had previously saw, but With my hunt coming to an end I decided that this was the one for me. I took a careful aim, squeezed the trigger and "Snap" misfire.
I tried to keep my cool while reloading the rifle, The deer kept a steady pace along the ridge line between the two cedar thickets. I ejected the shell and made sure that the carrier was fully forwarded, took aim and fired to watch the buck fall in its tracks.
I was overexcited as my hands started shaking. This is what I had came to Michigan for a super hunt and a true trophy buck. Within 10 minutes all 3 drivers and Jim arrived to congratulate me on my deer. They said it was a mature trophy by far and I had definitely accomplished what I wanted. A trophy scoring over 150.
The two green gross scores taken by a local taxidermist and a second by a taxidermist in Georgia confirmed 174 B&C gross, and netted 165 B&C after 9 inches of deductions. Still that is by far a trophy anywhere.
In opening this story I mentioned how taking a personal best sometimes increases our desire to return, well you can bet that I will be back for the 1999 season to see if I can find that super buck spotted earlier in the hunt. Don't worry, my booking were confirmed before I departed from the Traverse City Airport.
I have to admit that Jim and his crew will work hard to ensure that you not only have the best chance to take a true trophy buck, but take extra measures to ensure that you have a great time after the hunt. As I mentioned Jim takes a limited number of hunters per year and the majority of his clients are return hunters that have turned into friends. If you want a great hunt, I would advise you to start checking into this operation early in the year as the few vacancies fill up fast.
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