Sun, Dec. 01, 2002

Hunters' success includes measure of luck
BY CHRIS NISKANEN
ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS

In deer hunting, is it better to be skilled or lucky? Mark Peterson says he's both.

The North Branch, Minn., archery hunter climbed into his stand Nov. 1 and sat for about an hour and half. It was the first time he'd hunted deer all fall in Minnesota, but it was the best 90 minutes of deer hunting any bowhunter could hope for.

After passing on a doe, Peterson shot a 12-point buck that will rank among the biggest archery-killed bucks in the state.

The antlers still have to pass a mandatory 60-day drying period, but using the Boone & Crockett scoring system, the buck's typical antlers netted 185 4/8 inches, with a whopping 28-inch spread.

The score would place it fourth in the archery division of the Minnesota Record Book.

Peterson, who has made several hunting videos, has pursued big-game animals throughout North America. He had a modest explanation for what it took to bag his trophy whitetail.

"It was luck," he said. "Hunting in itself is about luck. I'd like to make a great story out it, but the truth was I finally had time to get my butt in the deer stand. That was the only stand I planned to hunt, and I finally had time to go out there."

Deer hunters spend millions of dollars to increase their odds of shooting a record-book deer, but the outdoors press is full of stories about hunters who are simply lucky. Few are as gloriously lucky as Mitch Vakoch. In 1974, the 17-year-old farm boy from Thief River Falls shot a 43-point buck that is the No. 1 nontypical buck in Minnesota and No. 5 in the world.

How lucky was Vakoch? Back then, the deer season was just one day long. Vakoch's neighbor, Harold Ford, had minutes earlier shot at the same deer and missed. On the second shot, Ford's gun jammed.

Fate then shined on the Vakoch boy. The buck turned and ran toward the teenager, who was standing in corn stubble.

With the buck at a full run, the boy nailed it with one shot from a 12-gauge shotgun.

It was Vakoch's first-ever deer hunt.

"Now that's a good example of luck," said Hugh Price, author of the Minnesota Record Book and organizer of the Deer Classic, an annual show of big deer that takes place each March in St. Paul.

Price recently released the latest edition of the Minnesota Record Book, which includes an essay about the Vakoch buck and other hunters -- lucky and skilled.

"Luck has a lot to do with getting a big buck," Price said. "But the more you're out there, the luckier you get. And the more skill you have, the luckier you get. It's like fishing -- the guy who never goes never catches the big one."

On Nov. 23, the opening day of Wisconsin's firearms deer season, Andy Enloe of Hudson, Wis., was hunting in a public area near his hometown. Several hunters that Saturday morning had seen a magnificent 10-point buck in the area, but none of them had a decent shot. The buck seemed to be roaming around the area all morning.

Enloe spotted the buck standing in a field. Enloe was standing in the same field and had the forethought to stay calm. "He looked just like a painting," Enloe said. "The sun was reflecting off his antlers. He came up over the hill and just trotted toward me."

Enloe dropped the deer with a 12-gauge shotgun slug.

"Then we had to drag it three-quarters of a mile," the happy hunter said later. "That was the unlucky part."

Enloe might have been lucky to be in the right spot at the right time, but he also had the knowledge to hunt in an area, Willow River State Park, that is renowned for having big deer.

Price said knowledgeable and dedicated deer hunters do, indeed, shoot more big bucks. He points to the archery record section of his book as evidence. In certain counties, the same bowhunters appear in the record book several times. Some names show up as many as seven times.

Price approached one of the hunters with seven record-book entries and asked him to speak at the Deer Classic. The hunter refused, even after Price offered a sizable appearance fee.

"I thought, 'Here's a guy who probably has something to share with other hunters,' " Price said. "But he turned me down. He didn't want the publicity. He said, 'I already have too many people following me around.' "

Peterson, the North Branch hunter, admitted he didn't just stumble into his 12-point trophy. He had seen the deer cross his driveway one night. He'd also seen it roaming in his pasture a few times.

In fact, the buck was so well-known in the area that another neighbor had collected its shed antlers a year before.

The neighbor stopped by last week and showed Peterson the antlers. "Absolutely, it's the same buck," Peterson said.

But Peterson was still nervous when the buck stepped from behind a maple tree and in front of the hunter's deer stand. Peterson said he was so "mesmerized" by the buck's huge antlers that he looked away so he could concentrate on drawing his bow.

Then he quickly looked back, aimed the arrow and released it.

And that's when the buck's luck ran out.