180" Buck in Illinois

We acquired hunting rights for the first week of November in Illinois on the east side of Highway 100 just north of the "Green Pond" Community. Upon our arrival on the 4th of November, we could not wait to get in the woods, it wasn't cold by Illinois standards, but it was slightly brisk for Mississippi hunters such as ourselves.

I talked to the hunters that had already been there a couple of days and found out where they had a climbing stand that I wanted to hunt that afternoon. I drove around to the edge of the corn field uncrated my bow, checked the contents of my backpack, and proceeded to "doctor" up my Code Blue Double Drag (Standing Estrous on the front drag and Buck Urine on the rear drag), for my eventual use closer to my stand. All I could think about on my trek across the field was how long I had waited for this moment and the week long hunt that was to follow. As I got a little closer to the stand I ran across an access trail to the corn field, I decided this would be the place to begin my dragging routine. My thought was that if I could get a buck to pick up the scent as he was roaming along the trail, I might get him to follow the scent trail directly in front of my stand - plan in motion.

After sitting in the stand for about 30 minutes tending to my anxiousness and trying to relax, I happened to look across the field and found that a heavy 12-point buck that had to score around 165 or 170 had stepped into the field and was following the same access trail that I had run across earlier. Forget being anxious, now it was full blown cardiac arrest as I watched the buck pick up my "drag" scent and begin his approach from approximately 80 - 90 yards away. Wow, this was actually going to work, just like on TV, and I was about to harvest the biggest thing I had ever taken with any weapon. As the buck walked, sniffed, and grunted his way to within 18 yards of the base of my stand, I drew my Browning bow, and at half draw everything went south!!

My elbow hit a limb behind me and released the half-drawn arrow into the trees above sending the deer bouncing away. But wait, he didn't leave the area completely; he stopped down the hill behind me in the woods. Not wanting to leave the "fresh" scent of possible companionship, he just stood there sniffing the air and trying to locate his "date". At this point I decided to try a little estrous doe bleating, and a little grunting to help bring him back into bow range as I tried to nock another arrow. After what seemed to be an eternity, he decided this was not a good situation and trotted off in his quest for another mate.

Heart broken, dejected and downright mad at myself, I began thinking how could I set up tomorrow to possibly get another chance at this brute. After trying to go over all that had just happened, and planning for the rest of the week, I heard a noise in the cornfield and turned to find that a 7-point buck had made his way into the field and was following the same drag line I had set earlier. Knowing I wasn't about to try to shoot this deer with the bruiser still roaming around, I decided to have a little fun with him. I began to grunt and let him have a little estrous bleat as well while he maneuvered his way along the drag line. This was interesting and actually informative even if I did not realize it at the time. After a little fun, I decided to let him have his way and just watched him for about 5 minutes.

All at once I heard a deep aggressive grunt and looked across the corn field to see a MONSTER standing at the edge of the field, even bigger than the first buck! He postured and grunted his way along the same access trail that both other bucks had followed, until he hit the "magic" spot where I had started the drag. At this point he began to follow the drag perpendicular to his trail just as the others had. I hit him with a grunt just to reinforce the situation, and the show began. He drew his ears back and began to posture aggressively, and all the while grunting as if to warn any other buck that they were not in a very friendly environment. He walked directly in front of my stand just as the first buck had, only this time all the nerves were in tune, the eye was clear, the limb was avoided and the carbon arrow flew threw the hole in the vines we'd cleared earlier and finally found its home directly behind the right shoulder blade. He spun around, fell to his chest and scooted about 30 yards before he fell over and expired. At this point I exhaled.

You are supposed to wait a little while to insure he is down before you begin your descent to claim your trophy. Nah, not me, my climbing stand sounded like a handyman jack clicking my way down the tree to put my hands on the biggest set of horns I had ever seen in the wild. A gross score of 179 and 3/8" of massive antler - still unbelievable. I will never forget how each deer had their own agenda in mind as they were working their way along the trail until they crossed the point of no return, the point where I had instituted the system that would not fail me, the point where the plan was put in play, the point where Code Blue's Double Drag had set the tone for the greatest hunt I have ever had.

Thanks,
Roger M.