Junior Nelson-Clarksville, TN

One afternoon in late October 2003, my son and I were coming home from deer scouting when suddenly a trophy 8-pointer bounced into the middle of the road, then took off into the woods. We drove further up the road hoping we would spot him again. I looked to the left where he had leaped into the woods and just happened to glance to the right when I saw the largest buck I have ever seen in my 22 years of deer hunting. What a beautiful sight: high rack, wide frame and big mass! I told my son we need to hunt in this area. The very next day my son killed a 7-pointer. He couldn’t wait for the trophy buck, but when you’re 11-years old a 7-pointer is a trophy.

On Saturday, Nov. 1, juvenile weekend, my son and I drove about two and a half hours to my mother’s house so that he could hunt in the same area where a 9-pointer and two 8-pointers had been seen. It was unseasonably warm that day. The temperature was in the 80’s. Because of the heat, deer were not moving except for in the early morning and late evening. We had no luck. After we got out of the tree and on our way to the truck, my son said, "Dad, let’s go home so you can hunt where we saw that big buck." So we drove back home that night.

The next morning I started out bright and early to meet a friend at the check-in station around 3:45 a.m. to show him "a good place to hunt." Along the way, I made a turn down the same road that I was going to hunt when suddenly a buck jumped across the road in front of us. We continued until we arrived at the location where he was going to hunt. I gave him directions where to go and which tree to climb. I then proceeded to my stand location.

I pulled into my hunting location and got out of my truck. It was a cool, clear morning with temperatures in the mid 50’s. I got my box off the back of my truck where I keep my hunting clothing sealed in a container and proceeded to get dressed. I put my True Talker grunt call around my neck.

I proceeded across a field almost to the wood line where I had planned on hunting when my light caught a glimpse of a big-bodied deer. My heart was pounding fast and my mind was racing. I was thinking that this was the monster buck and I have scared him away. I continued on my way and made it to the tree line. I walked in about 20 yards and spotted a big red oak. Then, I laid my .45 cal muzzleloader rifle down, attached my stand to the tree and walked out about 15 yards. I placed my decoy and hung my scent rag and then went back and climbed the tree. Once I got settled into my stand, I loaded my muzzleloader and sat back and waited.

It was a quiet morning. You could hear everything--acorns dropping and even the sound of squirrels rustling in the leaves. The sun was rising to the point where you could just about see it. I hit my doe grunt about three times and waited between 5-10 minutes. I followed up with my buck grunt call. After waiting about 10 minutes, I heard a sound of something running behind me. I turned around to see a deer–-a buck. I grunted, and he never missed a beat.

My heart was beating out of my chest. I thought it was the "monster buck" and suddenly from my right side I heard something rustling in the leaves. I turned to see a doe coming right for my decoy, but she stopped about five yards from it. To my surprise, I saw a trophy 8-point following her. Yes, it looked like the same 8-pointer I had seen a week earlier with my son. By this time, my adrenaline was running wild. He was about 100 yards away and heading towards me!

All of a sudden, he stopped, the hair raised on his back like you took a horse brush to it. He turned his head, looked out the ridge and started to walk away from me. I looked, trying to see what had caught his attention. I was looking down the ridge when I saw the buck of a lifetime coming my way from about 200 yards. There are no words to explain my emotions, my mind couldn’t stop racing. I was thinking, I know I have a good zero, but do I have well enough zero to take that long of a shot? Will the tree stand make a noise if I move? Will he smell me? Will he continue to come my way? Every 10 to 15 yards he would stop and look around before moving forward. It seemed like hours, but it was only minutes.

Now the monster buck was about 140 yards away. The 8-pointer acted like he wanted to fight him. He walked about 20 yards towards the monster buck. The monster buck lowered his head, walked toward the 8-pointer and then the 8-pointer turned away and walked towards me and stopped about 10 yards from my decoy with the doe. The monster was still coming my way.

I didn’t look at his head because I was trying to think of him as a doe so I could stay calm. I took a couple of deep breaths, and I picked an opening where I could take a clear shot about 100 yards from me if he continued on the same path. I had made my mind up when he stepped into that opening I would take the shot. Just a few more yards, I kept telling myself.

He finally walked into the opening. I took a good aim, put the cross-hairs on his right shoulder with my finger on the trigger, took off the safety with my thumb, and in the back of my mind I heard myself telling my sons, "Squeeze the trigger, don’t jerk it. Let it be a surprise when it goes off." The next thing I remember there was black smoke everywhere. I lost sight of him. Although I didn’t see him run off to the left or right, the view was obscured from the front. I saw the 8-pointer run about 10 yards and stop and I knew the doe ran off. I reloaded as quickly as I could all while feeling so incredibly nervous.

As the smoke cleared I could see him, he was up on his front feet trying to go back the way he came. I was leaning out as far as I could to get another shot. I put the crosshairs on the left shoulder and pulled the trigger. He went down. I could see the white hair from under his belly and his legs shaking. After I reloaded I sat back down and waited about 10 minutes, which seemed to be a lifetime because I was so excited. I then proceeded down the tree. I made it down without falling; although, I don’t know how. Every two to three feet I would stop and look to make sure he was still there. It was like a dream. I could hardly believe it was happening to me.

I stepped out of my stand to the ground and with knees shaking I put my gun to my shoulder and walked closer towards him with very cautious step. When I finally made it to him, my eyes could not believe what I was looking at. I laid my gun down and I grabbed his horns. I was thinking: such a beautiful animal; what mass, high rack and wide spread and yes, I started counting. I stopped at 19, but only 17 were over the one-inch requirement. I then took a deep breath and sat down on the ground for a few minutes to let all this settle in.

After a few minutes I started the work portion. You know the drag – in my case it was 350 yards of it, which seemed like a mile. Have you ever been so nervous you didn’t know what to take to the truck first? Well, after a few minutes of recollecting my thoughts, I decided to take the gun and stand back to the truck. On my way out of the woods I picked out a spot on the road where I would drive my truck and be able to load him. I drove my truck to that spot and went back in to get him. After an hour and a half later I made it to the truck. By this time, I was so tired that I could not lift him up in the truck. I had to back up to a steep bank to load him. After that, I was on my way to the check-in station.

Once I arrived at the check-in station, my deer was the point of interest. I had a few guys come up and comment, "WOW! What a nice buck, good job." He weighed 160.6 pounds, field dressed. After spending about 30 minutes at the check-in station and talking on the cell phone with my family and friends, I was on my way home. I made three stops – to show my family, the processor, and finally the taxidermist. It was a great day, one I will never forget. I would like to thank my oldest son, Michael, the people from Knight Muzzleloaders, Montana Decoy, Scent-Lok Technologies, LaCrosse Footwear, Summit Tree Stands, Hunters Specialties and Mag-Lite that helped make this truly a hunt of a lifetime.