Hunt of a lifetime

High bidder takes a tropy buck

by Jeff Perrella Safari Magazine, November/December 1997 Volume 23, Number 6

I might never shoot another buck that tops this one, but I'm going to try. I'm awfully glad I attended that convention.

As an SCI life member, I look forward to the club's convention each year and especially the auctions. They not only generate revenue for the many worthwhile projects in which SCI is involved, but they also give members a chance to purchase hunts in a fun and exciting setting. I usually manage to return home with an auction hunt, and 1996 was no exception.

I had heard of Roger Devenport's Three Lakes Preserve, and for three years had been keeping track of his progress in developing a herd of large whitetails. After discussing his preserve's management program with him at his booth in Reno, I decided to try to buy the hunt he had donated. I was the high bidder and late September found me wheeling my way through some of Wisconsin's most beautiful countryside.

I arrived at Three Lakes in late afternoon. Roger met me with a smile and a handshake and we jumped on all-terrain vehicles to tour his 1,200-acre spread and get an idea of what to expect during the next four days. From the start, he stressed patience and restraint if I wanted a really big buck.

With the tour out of the way, it was time for a late supper and bed. As usual I got very little sleep the night before the hunt. Anticipation always seems to get the best of me, but my dreams could not adequately prepare me for what was to happen.

We were up at 5:30 a.m. and, secured in one of the property's many blinds, we saw deer almost at first light. We would do a combination of high stand hunting over food plots and walking or still hunting, so we had a chance to see a lot of deer.

Roger had a particular buck in mind that he hoped we could find. It was a large-bodied buck with massive 12-point antlers that he felt would score high, maybe in the 180s. This particular deer was a loner and at times nocturnal, which meant there was a good chance we would not see it during my short hunt. I decided to be patient. We were seeing many nice bucks, and even a few elk, but not the buck Roger had described. I must be honest, after passing deer after deer, including three different 10-point bucks in the 160 class and a gorgeous nine-pointer that I know would have gone 170, I began to question my sanity. These were tremendous deer. They were bigger than any that I had ever seen before. Was I making a mistake? With time slipping away I began to wonder if my guide knew what he was doing. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush and all that stuff, right? While heading back to the lodge for breakfast, we decided to go through an area where deer might be bedding. Roger felt that if we jumped the buck he would need only a second to identify it, and I could get a shot before it disappeared. This meant that I would have to totally trust Roger's judgement. I probably would not have enough time to get the deer in my binoculars, assess its head gear, then get my rifle up in time to shoot if the deer were spooked and running.

We entered the bedding area from the far side, feeling that we would have to slip into the middle of it before we would find the buck in its bed. What a surprise when we eased around the very first corner and spotted a big-bodied deer. I whispered to Roger, "There's one." We must have seen the deer at the same instant because I no sooner got the words out of my mouth when I heard a frantic "That's him, take him! Take him!" Up went my rifle. I almost leveled the cross hairs on a shoulder, flipped the safety, let out a breath and squeezed. Thwump!

The buck's head disappeared as quickly as had appeared. How did this all happen so fast? The deer was up and down before I even got a good look at it. Why did I shoot so fast? Did I get the right deer? Could Roger have made a mistake? The buck was in bush and grass and clearly visable. I still couldn't see its head. This wouldn't be my first experience with "ground shrinkage." The buck had dropped off a swampy area and we had to circle a large hole to get to where I could have a look at it. I took a deep breath and tried to collect my thoughts.

We had jumped the buck only a few hundred yards from where we had been hunting for the past two days. It probably had known where we were the whole time, and only came out to feed in the cover of darkness. It took me a minute to get myself together but I finally made my way over to the buck. Roger was congratulating me before I even reached the spot. My doubts quickly vanished. I couldn't believe my eyes. I was glad I had trusted my guide. This was the biggest buck I had ever seen. It had 12 heavy points. Its massive antlers came out of its head and just seemed to go up forever. The main beams were palmated with more than seven inches of circumference. What a buck! We could guess at the score but at this point I really didn't care. I knew that I had just taken the deer of a lifetime.

After a lot of back slapping and picture taking, we made a trip to town to recruit some help for the dragging detail. We were then off to see Martin Bonnack, a local taxidermist an official SCI measurer. By this time we had attracted a small crowd.

Driving through town with a buck like mine in the back of a pickup truck attracted a lot of attention. Our next order of business was to get the buck weighed. When Bonnack's scale snapped as it reached 275 pounds with the deer's head and neck still on the ground, we could only estimate its weight to be 300-325 pounds. The skinning then took place and finally the measuring. After checking his figures three times, Bonnack scored the deer at 192 2/8 points.

I had him mount the deer lifesize and it was on display in Three Lakes Preserve's booth at SCI-XXV in Las Vegas. I might never shoot another buck that tops it, but I'm going to try. I'm awfully glad I attended that convention.

You just never know what those auction hunts can produce.