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Buck #32

Hunter:    Jason Lamppa              

Score:     121 3/8"

Points:     8 points

Weight:    unknown

Date:        Northern Minnesota

Method:   bolt action rifle

                                                                                      November, 2003       2004 shed       November, 2004

"THE LAST MINUTE BUCK"

On the last day of the 2004 firearm deer season I decided to hunt a hayfield where my brother had been seeing deer just about every evening. He took a shot at a very nice buck (that he thought would score in the 140" class) four days prior but missed. On this evening, I decided to try hunting out of a ground blind on the north end of the field. Since the wind was blowing out of the southwest and I expected the deer to enter the field from the west or south, I figured I should at least get to see some deer without them winding me.

At around 3:30 pm a group of deer entered the field (you guessed it) from the east. Luckily I was wearing my scent lock suit and they didn't smell me. Unfortunately the deer were at the far end of the field and I didn't have a very good view of them. I decided I would try to get to a point of tall grass and brush that jutted out into to field to get a better look. I did a belly crawl along a worn ATV trail that came fairly close to the cover. After about 15 minutes or so of crawling on my hands and knees I peered up over the tall grass, only to see 8 flags heading for the safety of the timber. My first thought was that I had been busted by this group of deer, but a closer look at the rest of the field revealed a dark shape approaching from the south. This is what spooked the deer. As the dark shape got closer, I could see that it was a mature buck. He was walking nose down, slowly towards the spot where the other deer had been milling about. After a bit of examination through my binoculars I decided he was a shooter. I leaned my rifle up against an old fence post and squeezed off the 150 yard shot. The deer dropped in his tracks and like a couple of seasons before, I had taken a buck in the last few minutes of gun season.

It turns out that this deer was the same one that we have a couple trail camera photos of. I had also found one of his shed antlers on June 6th, 2004 (at last light). This was also the last day I was able to spend looking for sheds that season.