Pat Reeve of Plainview, Minnesota, has hunted deer for 30 years and enjoys using Hunter's Specialties' products. Reeve knows how to find and take monster bucks and travels the nation in search of these whitetails.

My Black-Powder PhD Buck
I was hunting the first gun season in Illinois in 2003. Although this was regular gun season, I chose to hunt with black powder. The weather was mild with some rain, and the deer hadn't been moving much.

On the last day of my hunt, as darkness approached, I spotted a buck that I guessed would score about 155 points on Boone & Crockett. The buck was 200 yards out, and daylight was fading fast. I decided to return to hunt him during the second gun season, rather than take a risky shot. I knew if I didn't spook the buck that he might continue on his same pattern, giving me another opportunity to try later to take him. So, I let the buck walk.

This same year, I had an Iowa tag. I knew if I hunted in Iowa, I'd only have one or two days to return to Illinois to hunt this buck. I made the decision to come back to Illinois to try and take this super buck. When I returned, the outfitter suggested I hunt a different farm from the one where I'd spotted the big buck. I didn't think my chances would be as good hunting another place. I'd learned over the years to follow my gut instinct.

I told the outfitter that I'd rather sit in the makeshift ground blind overlooking a corn field where I'd been during the first season. This spot was where deer crossed from one section of timber to another. The first morning of my hunt was warm with a low-pressure system in the area and drizzling rain - definitely not the kind of day when you'd expect to see a lot of deer. We were still getting our cameras set up and readying for the hunt when I spotted a slow-moving deer out in the cornfield. I thought it was a fawn, but I went ahead and got out my binoculars. Looking through them, I realized the animal wasn't a fawn at all, but rather a buck with a really huge rack.

The buck was about 250 yards away and angling toward our stand site. I turned to Blake Porter, my cameraman that day, and said, "Get ready. This buck is really big!"

We were filming a show for North American Whitetail. By the time Porter had his equipment ready, the buck was almost within range. Shooting a Thompson/Center .45 caliber rifle, loaded with 150- grains of Pyrodex and a 200-grain bullet, I knew I had the range to take the buck. Too, I had shooting sticks to prop up and steady my gun.

Before I could take the shot, we had to make sure the camera had enough light to capture the hunt on video. On low-light days such as this one, usually, you wouldn't have good enough camera light until well after the legal shooting time. However, the big buck was coming. I was waiting on the cameraman to give me the signal to take the shot. The whole situation was high pressure. I didn't want to let the deer get away, yet I couldn't take the shot without enough light for the camera.

Although I grunted to the deer with my True Talker, he didn't stop. Due to a wind that day, I felt sure the deer couldn't hear me. I grunted to him again, and this time he stopped. Over the years, I'd learned that I'd better be ready to take a shot, once I stopped a deer with a grunt. That buck would be looking for the deer that grunted, and if he didn't see him, the deer would blast out of the area.

As soon as the buck stopped, I took the shot. I could tell I'd made a good hit, because the buck reared-up and took off running like his tail was on fire and with it tucked as he ran low to the ground, before vanishing over the hill. I didn't really know how big the buck was until I found him and put my hands on his antlers. The buck grossed-scored 185 typical points on B&C.