Big-Ten Trophy Buck

Here’s a buck from a few years ago. We called him BigTen, the neighbors called him BigLouie.

I took the video from inside the lodge, through a window, on a warm, t-shirt day. I had been outside when I spotted a doe running out of the standing corn, up onto the savanna, followed by a buck of good size. I backpedalled into the lodge, picked up the binocs and realized it was BigTen with the doe.

Now to find the video camera, which was downstairs in my hunting pack. After finding the pocket sized video camera, I headed upstairs and started filming through the window, zooming the distance of 200-250 yards. At one point the doe and BigTen both bed down.

What you see on the video is BigTen browsing,  temporarily losing track of the doe, then heading towards the lodge and finally picking up her scent when he heads west, or broadside to the camera.

During archery season, we spotted this trophy many times, but no closer than 40 yards. One hunter drew on him, but didn’t shoot. He was hunting on the creek when he heard a huge splash. The buck had jumped into a deep fishing hole, so the hunter only saw the bucks rack and head crossing the creek. The hunter couldn’t stop him.

This is just one more example how a bluebird day, supposedly terrible for hunting, can produce a trophy buck during the rut.