The 2004 deer season here in Winona had been pretty uneventful. I had passed on several decent bucks, but nothing I wanted to put my tag on. On December 26th I decided to go out for an afternoon hunt. There was a lot of snow on the ground and the area I was going to hunt was a swampy area along a creek so I decided to wear my snow camo. This area is primarily long grass and willows so I chose a location between two trails for my ground blind.  I was hoping to get a late season doe for the freezer but that changed when I saw this buck following two does. He was limping from an old wound to the shoulder. He presented a quartering shot at 30 yards so I took it. He dressed out at probably 150 pounds. He gross scored 171 0/8ths and netted 166 6/8ths.