It was the Friday before deer season opened. We always came to deer hunting camp a few days early to scout around to see where the deer had been moving. I decided to cross the bay, which was very small, to take a look at the dirt road. Deer always came down to drink or cross into an area where my tree stand was located. It didn't take long to find a fresh track, which was the largest I had ever seen. The track measured about 4 inches long with dewclaws behind it and was splayed out. This indicated that it was a very heavy buck. Boy I sure would like to see him tomorrow morning when the season opened!

After a fitful nights sleep I had great anticipation as I left the deer shack at the crack of dawn. As the sun came up I discovered 2 inches of fresh snow with not a breath of wind. It was cold about 10 degrees or so. It was very still and quiet in the woods. The deer hunting conditions were perfect!

After a few hours I decided that I needed a coffee break. A few minutes went by and I could sense a presence of something behind me. As the steam from my hot coffee drifted up in the air a big doe was starring right at me, or at least I thought. The Doe probably never had seen hot coffee before was staring at the steam. The big doe filled with curiosity crawled on her knees to ckeck it out. Not having a doe permit, I watched as she slowly walked away.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw a deer moving along a ridge behind a bunch of pine trees about 75 yards away. The deer was walking right to left and if things went well it would be broadside to me in a few minutes. I had cut some shooting lanes a few years before and the deer was moving right towards on. When I saw the deer for the first time it was a big buck with a doe along side it. It seemed liked forever before I took the shot. I fired and the big buck fell like a rock. I got down from the stand and called in a few of my hunting buddies. We all agreed that it was the biggest buck any of us had ever seen. It had to be the big deer that make the tracks that we had seen the night before.

It took a while to gut the big buck and with 4 guys it was a struggle to drag it back to the camp. A few days later we left camp with three more deer from our deer hunting trip. We later came up to the station to register the deer and the operator wanter to weight the deer. The operator had also said that this was the largest buck he had ever seen.

The deer was a 10-point buck and dressed out after hanging at 235 pounds. The rack still hangs on my wall and all I have to do is look at that big rack and smile as the deer hunting memory comes alive again!