Hunter: Jimmy Laska
Points: 8 (4L, 4R)
County: Randolph
Season: 2016-2017
Hunt Story
Just after daylight, a big doe moved across a logging road with a young buck trailing close behind. Within minutes the hardwood bottom below me seemed to come alive with deer activity. I witnessed three does being chased hard by a mature buck that corralled them and ran them over the next ridge. Behind the big boy were two more mature bucks following close. In an attempt to turn them, I softly blew a doe grunt with no reaction. Over the next hour, I observed more than 15 deer running or moving through this bottom or across the logging road. I pulled out my buck grunter and gave three hard grunts down the logging road away from them. In my peripheral field of vision I caught motion and noticed this perfect 8-point standing in the logging road. He was looking in the opposite direction about 100 yards away. I knew this buck well from camera pics and aged him at 3 1/2 years. I made the quick decision to harvest this animal. Looking through the scope I could tell he was mad and ready to fight with the hair bristled up on his back. I steadied my Remington 700 and let the 06 bark. I weaved a 150-grain hunk of lead through his rib cage and double lunged him. He ran in a huge circle and wound up dropping in front of me 30 yards away. When he went down, surprisingly another young buck came in and tried to fight with the downed monarch. (I thought only turkeys did this) He managed to get in one last kick at the youngster to run him away just before expiring. This was not the "Mack Daddy" of the woods but a fine healthy specimen of a whitetail. I'm extremely proud and honored to make this buck my first deer harvest from my new farm we purchased three seasons ago. The rut is here! All in all, a very exciting and memorable hunt!!
