Cook County 182-Inch Buck Falls After 12 Straight Days Of Hunting

Patience definitely paid off for Ron Purvis, of Adel, on Nov. 29. Ron was hunting family land when he took down a Cook County 12-point monster that green-scored 182 3/8 inches.

After hunting this buck for four years, Ron had only seen the buck a few times on his trail-camera pictures, but he’d never laid eyes on him in person. Ron’s nephew, who lives 5 miles down the road, also had the buck on his trail cameras.

Ron was at work on Nov. 29 when his parents called and said they had seen a big buck run through their yard. Ron asked his mom what the buck looked like, and she described the one he had been hunting, so he left work.

“When my mom described the  buck, I knew it was the one I’ve been looking for, so I hurried home as soon as I could. I got in the stand around 4:30, and the wind was just blowing absolutely crazy,” said Ron. “I knew we were having a front come in, and I figured the deer would be moving.”

Ron’s stand was set up along a dry creek on his family’s property. The stretch of land he was hunting is about 30 acres.

It was getting late in the hunt, and Ron was getting discouraged for not seeing anything.

“Five minutes or so passed when I looked behind me, and all I could see was a deer’s legs behind some bushes maybe 50 or 60 yards from me. He was walking up the creek run, which led straight to me, but he bared left and came up through the thicket,” said Ron. “It was sneaking in slowly behind these bushes, and I thought it was a doe. Then it picked its head up and had dark horns, and I knew it was him. When he raised his head, he was maybe 20 yards from me.”

Ron had to be patient to wait for a shot since the mature buck was hanging out in the thick undergrowth.

“It seemed like it took forever, but it was probably only five minutes,” said Ron. “He finally stepped forward, and he was only about 20 yards from me, and I shot him.”

Ron had hunted this buck for 12 straight days, so his shot ended an awesome hunt story for the buck of a lifetime.

“I almost started hyperventilating when I saw it was him,” said Ron. “I couldn’t believe it then, and I still can’t believe it now. When I got down to him, I called my dad and said, ‘I got him, Dad, I got him!’”

The deer is a main-frame 10-pointer with both G2s split and some additional sticker points.

“Both G2s are over 12 inches long. With deductions, I’m guessing he’ll net in the 160 range,” said Ron.

The current Cook County record buck according to GON’s official County-by-County records is a 163 7/8-inch deer taken by Michael Folsom in 2011.