2 MN Firearm Bucks that Field Dressed over 230 lbs

I remember when I was a little boy; I would wait for my dad to come home from deer hunting just to see if he had shot a deer that day. My mother would put me to bed but I would lay awake staring out the window just waiting my father’s headlights to appear down the long driveway. Even at that young age, I was infatuated with deer and deer hunting. My father guided me through the years and taught me not only how to hunt but more importantly passed on his passion for deer hunting down to me.

40 years later, we are still hunting together and we had one of most memorable years. It all started in the spring when I decided to invest and put a lot more time and effort into our MN hunting property by planting food plots, creating mineral licks and creating an overall healthier deer herd. Thanks to fellow IDO Hunting Reporter – Bob Bergeson and his son Bobby, we planted 6 food plots covering about 12 acres. Bob is one of them most knowledgeable hunters that I had ever met in regard to food plots. I’ve learned so much from him! Five of the six food plots had corn, beans, turnips, rape and winter wheat. It was a lot of work and there were plenty of rocks that needed to be picked along the way. Bob and his son Bobby did an outstanding job and the food plots turned out excellent! Not only that, he would not accept any payment from me for his time even though I tried many times. That speaks a lot about his character.

I also created 7 mineral sites using Bob’s homemade formula and soon after it didn’t take long and I started to get several pictures and videos of some mature bucks that were on our property. One of the bucks was a mainframe 8 with bladed G2s. I had a picture of this buck from last year and he really put on some inches and mass and I was guessing he was around 140 inches. We named him “Blades” because of his bladed G2s and he was now on the hit list!

Another buck was a big 6×6 that I also got videos and pictures of him from last year. This buck blossomed from a 130 inch 10 pointer from the previous year and now had 7 inch G4s along with 1.5 inch G5s. “Digger” was a beast with a big block head and just had a mean look to him. He was always digging a scrape on camera and he was definitely the #1 buck on the hit list.

I spent almost my entire time bow hunting over in Buffalo County WI. I let the cameras soak for over 3 weeks to ensure not to disturb the area. Friday before the firearm opener, I quietly sneaked in and checked the cameras. They were loaded with videos and pictures and Blades was appearing on 6 different cameras! One of the areas that he cruised the most during daylight was only 300 yards away from the hunting cabin. I showed my dad all of the videos of him and suggested that he set up in an old permanent stand just north of the beaver pond. He said that’s exactly where he was going to sit anyways since there was a lot of water in the swamps and that the deer would be using this as a natural funnel.

Opening morning my dad ended up shooting Blades at 10am and it’s his personal best buck! That is no small feat because he has literally killed probably over 100 bucks. As we walked up to him, he stated that he wished that I had shot him versus himself. I was puzzled by the comment and asked him “Why?” He replied “Because you work so hard at it Brad with planting all the food plots, making mineral licks, checking trail cameras, hanging stands and scouting.” I stopped and put my arm around him and said, “Well Dad if it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be here.” It was truly a special moment and one that we will remember for the rest of our lives. Blades ended up scoring 139 5/8 inches and dressed out at 230 lbs! He was a brute! Congratulations Dad on the biggest buck of your life!

Now that we had one good buck down, it was time for me to go after the other big boy – Digger! I wasn’t sure if this buck was even killable or not, since every single trail camera video and picture of him was always at night. He only appeared on 2 different trail cameras and they were only 150 yards apart. His core area seemed very small and I knew I would have to wait until the time was perfect. Opening night the wind was not in my favor to sit in that stand so I decided to hunt another location. That was not easy because I really wanted to hunt this buck but I knew better. The night was uneventful and it was very hard to sit there knowing that seeing Digger there would be just plain luck.

Sunday night, I got a break. The wind switched and I knew that this would be my chance. I was dying to check the two trail cameras earlier in the day that he was seen on, but again I didn’t want to disturb the area. At 3pm, I quietly and methodically walked to my stand that was placed in a staging area between the bedding spot and one of our food plots. It was fairly open with high grass, some scattered brush and big oak trees mixed in. As I settled in for the evening hunt, I looked down at one of the old dried up mineral licks and remembered that was where I first got a photo of Digger in velvet. I thought to myself, wouldn’t it be cool if I would kill him right here.

Shortly after, a few deer appeared from out of the bedding area. It was a small buck and he was pushing a doe and her two fawns around. They eventually made their way to me and I watched them for over 45 minutes until they made their way out to the food plot. The path they took is exactly how it was supposed to work!

At 4pm I heard the inevitable crunching sound of hooves walking through the leaves east of me. It was not the direction where I had anticipated a deer to come from since there wasn’t much bedding over there. The deer was close and finally appeared only 30 yards away out of a thicket walking directly towards me. It was a buck and at first I thought it was a 10 pointer that we had named “Ranger”. He was a buck that was originally on the hit list until the other two big boys showed up. The buck finally turned its head and that was when I saw the short G5 and knew it was not Croc…. IT WAS DIGGER!!! I couldn’t believe it! I was now in lock down mode as he looked right at my tree and I didn’t dare make a move. He slowly looked around, smelled the air and finally started to walk behind the tree that I was in. I slowly raised my rifle but by the time I got it up, the tree was in my way and I would have to rearrange my shooting position to the other side of the tree. Some tense moments passed and now he was a mere 20 yards away and in the open. I successfully made the move and I thought this was going to be a way too easy! I squeezed the trigger and then…. nothing happened. The rifle didn’t fire! Did I not take off the safety? I double checked and it was off! My gun was jammed or something or I didn’t have a shell in the chamber. I couldn’t believe it! I’m so very careful about details and how could this be happening to me? He’s now right on top of me and in the open slowly walking by. I said to myself, don’t you #$%^&* panic Brad! Let that buck get away from you and then you need to figure out why this gun is not firing! Digger slowly walked by me and I didn’t dare make a move. It seemed like slow motion and my heart was pounding. Finally he was at 40 yards and still walking away from me. This was my chance but I had to hurry because another 30 yards or so, he would be in the brush offering me no shot. I turned my rifle upside down and got the clip out without making much noise. I then checked to see if there was a shell in the chamber. My heart was pounding as I kept one eye on him. At first I didn’t think there was a shell in the chamber so I took one out of the clip. I thought to myself how was I ever going to chamber a shell without making any noise? I had no choice and continued on. Again, I turned the gun upside down pulled back the handle and then saw there was indeed a shell in the chamber! The reason it didn’t fire was because it was was not shut all the way! I knew I had to shove it forward knowing that this move was going to make a loud click and that I most likely needed to make a quick shot. I mentally practiced it in my mind once and then I went for it. As I kept one eye on Digger now walking away from me at 60 yards, I shoved the operating handle forward and it made a loud CLICK! I quickly shouldered the rifle, found him in the scope and to my surprise he didn’t even stop and he just continued walking! I aimed at the base of his neck, pulled the trigger and he dropped in his tracks! Whew…… I got him!!! I was more relieved than happy at that moment.

As I got down out of my tree and approached him, it finally hit me that I had just killed Digger. As I looked at him lying on the ground, emotions took over and I broke down. I had been hunting for 2 weeks straight with my bow and had passed on so many bucks. Many of them I would have been proud to shoot, but they were not the goal. I thought about all of the time and work that I put in just to have an encounter with this buck. I actually started to feel sorry for the big old boy because he was no longer the king. Digger ended up grossing 158 5/8 inches and dressed out at 235 lbs.

A buddy of mine asked me the reason for my success. I simply stated the time I get to spend hunting. My wife – Tina puts up with a lot and I realize there are not many other hunters out there that get to hunt as much as I do. I give her all the credit because when I’m out hunting, she stays behind and keeps the household going along with raising our children. She also comes to our deer hunting cabin bringing many home cooked meals and supplies. Again, I’m truly a lucky guy. Thank you Tina for supporting me and my crazy obsession for whitetails. You continue to amaze me and I love you.

I’m also truly grateful that I have a father who introduced me to deer hunting. It’s our one time a year where we get to spend some quality time together and I look forward to it so very much. You see, my Dad is 72 now and I know that his hunting years are limited. I know that day will come sooner than we want and it will eventually end. As the years pass, I treasure our time together more and more and when that time comes when we can no longer hunt together, the memories that we shared along the way will live on forever.

Thank you Dad.