Top_Heavy's World

Saturday morning found me in that NE wind stand I have written about so many times. This stand is at the 4 corners of a big mowed grass field, a cornfield, a big super thick timber and a walnut tree farm. I was in the stand long before light and got to enjoy the world waking up. The deer were really on the move with the drop in temps. The fog in the low places was almost eerie and totally awesome as the deer moved out of the ghostly white fog. I was watching to the N as a friend showed up and started walking into the field. It was Rick Peterson, a family friend and long time hunting neigbor on this farm. Rick has taken many nice deer and is no slouch as a deer hunter, so it struck me as strange as he worked his way to his stand 1/2 hour after daylight. The 11 does and 5 small bucks I was watching all cleared the field as Rick became visible over the rise in the draw he was walking and he hustled N and then W into his stand.
The deer were still moving so I was constantly on the edge of my seat, when I noticed Rick in the middle of the field again... "What the Hell is he doing?" was my only thought. I watched his frantic hand signals, his constant turning around, and his over all frantic appearance, and I knew instantly "Either he is fighting with a pissed off wife, or he just killed something". Those are the only things that make me act like that, I have learned to leave the phone in the truck when hunting, so I assumed the same for him. A few minutes later his brother Andy showed up and they got in the truck together. The truck made the long trip around the field and came to a stop below my ladder stand. "I just shot Him, the monster palmated buck!" Rick was excited to say the least! He talked about the shot, how things went, the hunt. They were going to go in and recover the dead buck. I was asked to watch the S end of the timber to my left, incase they bumped it.
The truck was about 1/2 of the way back to the road, when the monster buck trotted out into the open field... my jaw dropped and I grabbed my binocs. I couldn't see any signs of being hit as he turned and trotted back into the timber. The guys were too far away to signal and the dead buck looked fine... did he shoot a different buck? They started following the blood and it soon became a few drops every several feet. I could here the search party coming through the timber and the deer started pouring out. 4 does came out where the buck originally showed, and they sprinted S. A small buck broke out and headed E, more does and a couple of other small bucks came out less than 40 yards from me.
"THERE HE IS" the monster palmated rack was unmistakable. He was standing where the 30 yard trail met the cornfield. I started to draw as he turned S, I came to full draw and had to bend considerably to drop my upper limb off of a tree branch. My bow now free of obstructions, I focused on finding the 20 yard pin as he picked up speed. I got the pin centered in my peep and on the leading edge of his left shoulder and squeezed the release. I saw the veins hit the hair and the skin part as the huge Rage 2 blade hit. The shot was good and I knew the buck would soon be dead.
The search party came into sight about the time I hit the ground. We looked at the blood trail and then looked for my arrow. I talked about the wound I saw on the back of the buck and we started getting nervous about an ISSUE of ownership on this buck of a lifetime. Knowing the character of the Peterson boy's, I knew it would be simple. Good people are fair and we started talking about WHOSE tag would go on the beast. "I know my shot killed that deer, when we recover him, we will do a body search for your shot. If your arrow would have killed the buck, you will tag him and we will split the cost of a set of replicas for me. If your shot wouldn't have killed him, I will tag him and we will split the cost of the replicas for you" was my suggestion. We agreed and started working out the details on how to SHARE the monster buck we were working so hard to recover for each other. We found the buck a few hundred yards S of where I shot him, and we all stood in pure amazement. Rick, his wife, Andy and I all stood breathless as the reality of what happened started to sink in. We had hundreds of hours hunting this buck for the past 4 years. Rick had missed this deer atleast once, I had passed on a shot at him at 35 yards last year and Ricks wife was taking pictures of the buck from the road last year, which ended up turning the buck away from where I was, a mere 40 yards from him. I needed him to cross the road, back to the food plot from where he and the doe he was chasing, had just come. This buck was almost a haunting for the two of us, and now it was dead. We had done it. Andy and Rick's wife took my bow and binos and Rick and I started dragging the monstrous body. We struggled for what seemed like hours to get the buck to where Andy had pulled my truck. Now the nervous tension began.
I found a very dull knife in my truck and I started field dressing him. Rick and Andy stayed right on top of it, holding legs and helping to keep the job very clean. We removed all of the inner organs and upon final inspection of the carcas we found Ricks broadhead and the bottom 8" of arrow that had broken off. His arrow had buried in the loin muscle and ended down by the bladder. His shot would have probably killed the deer, but not for some time, and with the slight blood trail... "I will be happy with a set of replicas" Rick spoke up. It was very impressive to see him so selflessly give up that buck. Both of us would have been happy with replicas, Rick picked the name for the buck, we agreed on the future of the buck and I put my tag on him. Looking at it now, I think he just wanted to keep hunting and knowing he was going to get a mount of the Novatany Buck (named after the farmer who ownes the farm)either way, he might have gotten the better end of the bargain. We know where the privious 3 years worth of sheds are and we will be getting pictures of the 4 sets together... that should make for an awesome photo shoot!
I took the deer to All Season's Taxidermy, Jim Kindig has been my friend a long time, and he took the cape and helped clean up the skull cap. I took the meat for processing and the antlers for safety and Jim is going to mount the buck before next years Iowa Deer Classic, where the character and mass might be good for the People's Choice Award.
This deer has changed lives, as it has made Rick and I much closer, and it shows how 2 guys, more interested in respecting a monarch of a deer more than fighting over possesion and "what if's", can create closer friends. This deer, if it makes magazines or advertisements will only be seen with both of us in the pictures. I can't thank Rick enough, with out him this wouldn't have happened the way it did and I wouldn't have been lucky enough to put this buck on my wall. Thanks again Rick, may we have many more years of successful hunting!