HuntingNet.com Forums - Have you killed your "Deer of a lifetime"?

Sorry this is so long, this is my story as printed in The Whitail Fanatic magazine.
Yes, He is my "Buck of a lifetime"
However, hunting is far more about the experience, the adrenalin, the rush, whatever you call it, i think if i look back on all of my past bucks and/or Does, they were all an "Experience of a Lifetime"
Pictures to follow

In July of 2005, I decided to buy a bow on E-bay so I would have time to practice for the coming season. I have had little experience with bows and archery equipment. A friend of mine used a Mathews Z-Max and I had shot it a few times one afternoon. Back to E-bay, I started watching for a Mathews Z-Max and won the bid for one on Aug. 9th, 2005. I promptly sent my money order and waited, somewhat patiently.
I didn’t think my bow would ever get here. It finally arrived on Aug. 18 and I was elated, now all I needed were arrows, broadheads, a release and maybe some clothes. I talked to my brother-in-law, Dr. Brett Pennington, about taking our bows to Smokey Valley Shooting Sports in Lindsborg, KS (Aug. 25) to have my bow inspected and adjusted to fit my draw length. The guys at Smokey Valley were excellent to work with. The bow needed a new string and cable which they had to order.
My family went to K.C. on Aug. 19 where I made my way to Cabela’s where I purchased Cabela’s carbon extreme arrows, Crimson Talon broadheads, a Primos 44 cal. Fletcher release, and a couple of camo shirts. I also bought a deer decoy/target at Dick’s Sporting Goods. I returned to Smokey Valley on Aug. 30th to get my bow and that evening my friend Gil Thrower cut my arrows and glued my inserts so I could start practicing. I tried to practice every day sometimes twice a day, I would shoot 30 arrows at 20 yards and then 9 at 30 yards.
As Oct. 1st (my Birthday by chance) got closer I had the rest of my gear ready. Hunter Specialties scent control for my clothes with the Fresh Earth Dryer Sheets and Fresh Earth Wafers.
Through my work as an electrical contractor I make a lot of contacts and had obtained permission from several land owners to hunt their property. I made a point of finding places to hunt close to town due to the higher cost of fuel and to save driving time.
With the season started, I figured to use trees and brush as my cover and to hunt from the ground. I was using a bucket chair with a swivel seat, but found it was too heavy so I opted to use an empty cat litter bucket with a cushion to sit on. I had practiced shooting from a sitting position. Once I got started I really enjoyed the evening hunts. I once had a bobcat walk by at 5 yards, stop and use the outdoor restroom in front of me. He never knew I was there. Most every evening I would see deer (bucks, does and yearlings), two more bobcats, a coyote and several raccoons. I tried to hunt the same place no more than 2 evenings in a row before trying another location.
My daughter Cassidy wanted to go with me so we got her some camo clothing, she loved getting her face painted in camo. My daughter Carrigan was next, she had been begging me to take her, as well. Although, we had a great time we didn’t get an opportunity to shoot a deer.
One evening I set up my decoy as a buck 30 yards out and had several does and two bucks pass by but they all went to the outside of my decoy, so on Sat. Oct. 22 I set the decoy and sat down in the trees to wait but remembering that everything had passed to the outside I moved to about 50 yards outside of my decoy. I sat down on the property line, thinking that if they passed to the outside again I could have a shot. As it turned out I should have stayed in the trees. Before sundown I had had several deer and a nice 10 point buck cross in front of my decoy and just after sundown what I knew to be a large mature buck came from the south. It was somewhat cold out and with every breath my binoculars would fog over. I could tell that he had a non-typical rack. First he went to a scrape which he worked over pretty good, he was about 80 to 90 yards away, he then moved to a tree about 15 yards from where I should have stayed. From there he moved to my decoy which he touched lightly to make an antler on plastic sound, from there he proceeded to scrape the ground throwing mud in the air. I guess to show his dominance. When he finished, he returned from where he came disappearing as the light faded. I knew I had seen a special buck, obviously I decided to spend a lot more time hunting this buck.
I returned to this spot Sunday evening and Monday evening, as well with my daughter Carrigan, but we saw only the nice 10 pointer. Tuesday I didn’t hunt and Wednesday I tried a different place a couple miles away waiting for a more favorable wind. Thursday, Oct. 27th I came home from work around 3:30pm and took a No Scent shower and as I got dressed I called my brother-in-law who was to join me. He thought he might get here by 5:00pm but it turned out he was unable to come at all.
As I got to the creek and trees around 4:30pm, I set the decoy on the fringe of the field not over 10 yards away from where I was sitting. With the wind in my face out of the East-South-East I sat down to wait. Fourteen Jake turkeys walked cautiously by around 5:30pm, and as the sun set at 6:30pm I hadn’t seen any deer….Then there he was coming from the North at 40 yards, I could tell by the stickers that it was him. As he approached I had a shooting lane and he stopped in it. I drew my bow set the sight and released only to have my arrow deflected into the ground beside him. He was still there, I couldn’t believe that he hadn’t bolted at the noise of the missed shot. As he slowly started to walk forward I reached for my last arrow with a broadhead ( I had dropped one off my quiver on the way in) and got it nocked. Incredibly when he reached my next shooting lane he stopped again. I took a deep breath and pulled the bow, I set my 20 yard pin just behind his right shoulder and released the 100 grain Crimson Talon. I heard it hit but he just started to walk away. He went about 15 yards across the property line and just stood there. I watched as the light faded with several trees in the way as he melted into the darkness. I waited to hear something, anything…nothing. I came out with my flashlight to look, he was gone or down and I couldn’t see him. I went over the shot a hundred times, had I missed twice? I went to the first shot site and found my arrow buried in the soft dirt at about a 30 degree angle. I went to the second shot site, aligned myself and started my search. I finally found the arrow with the smell of buck all over it as though it had passed through but where was the blood? The arrow only had a white fatty substance all over it. Where had I hit him? I searched in vain for a blood trail, but it just didn’t exist. I searched out to 40 yards for a fallen giant, I had failed, I was sick and lost. I played the shot over and over again. What had I done wrong? Would he die tomorrow, next week? I started to follow in the direction he had gone and as I looked ahead with my flashlight I could see a pair of eyes in the distance staring back at me, I went home to wait for daylight.
Once home I decided to call Lanny Zadina, a long time bow hunter and ask his advice. He told me that when hit they sometimes might not leave a blood trail for many yards, and that they will usually head for cover and/or water. I knew his last direction was toward both.
In the morning I called my Dad and asked him to help me find my deer. I picked Dad up around 9:00am and showed him how it went down. We started our search and I found the first blood about 100 yards in the general direction he had gone, my Dad found more. We followed the trail, sometimes heavy and sometimes light for another 100 yards. We were getting close to the creek, I looked down stream and saw a log or something in the water, could it be? I called out to my Dad who was closer to investigate, he walked forward a few steps and called back “It’s a deer”. The water was about 15 feet across, but all you could see were 3 points of his left antler and a part of his left flank.
I returned to the truck to fetch a rope and on the 10th or 11th cast got a slip knot over an antler and hauled him to our side. As we pulled his head out of the water it was incredible, there were points everywhere….17, 18, 19 perhaps 20 points in all, split brow tines, 12” G2’s, an awesome buck by all standards. I have no idea how much he might have weighed, 400 lbs. soaking wet, no doubt. We left him there on a small shelf as I had to get my Dad home.
I went home to get a 500 foot rope, my wife and my girls. We returned to the creek and I tied the rope to the truck and the other end around the buck’s antlers. He had to come up a 6 foot bank, through trees and brush. My wife stayed down with the buck and talked to me by cell phone as I pulled him up the bank and through 60 yards of trees to the field.
I’m still on cloud nine, and have taken him to Heartland Taxidermy to have Pat Helget put this tremendous buck on my wall. Using the Pope and Young guide lines I unofficially green scored him at 194 inches, that’s over 16 feet of antler and mass.

By Brian Johns, October 30, 2005

Ps. his official score was a 192 6/8 gross , 183 1/8 net