Rack Magazine

This Missouri bowhunter is more accustomed to buying condiments than paying for taxidermy.

Bill Testerman of Belton, Mo., considers himself more meat hunter than antler guy. But his affinity for venison aside, that might change now.

Okay, so maybe Bill doesn’t see only backstrap when he’s looking at a deer. A buck has always been cause for celebration.

But there are racks, and then there are RACKS!

Going into the 2012 season, the Missouri hunter had been collecting trail camera photographs, among them a good looking buck.

“But the pictures weren’t too clear, and we could see the antlers only from behind,” he said. “We really couldn’t count points.”

Bill got a much better view of the rack when he jumped the buck in some CRP about two weeks before the season opened. Man and deer couldn’t have been 10 yards apart.

Not one to let antlers dictate how, where or when he hunts, Bill says he didn’t give the big buck another thought. He basically stuck to his plan for hunting with his longtime pal Rick Holbrook. They set up camp in early September and hung stands overlooking scrapes and trails.

Oct. 21 was one of those days when almost nobody in his right mind would’ve chosen to go hunting. Bill, however, wasn’t content to remain indoors. Can’t bring home a roast if you don’t go to the butcher shop, right?

He went to a stand at the opposite end of the property where he’d jumped the “nice” buck in the CRP.

“It was warm, and I really didn’t expect to see anything,” Bill admitted. “That morning, I offered to let Rick hunt the Skyscraper stand, but he wanted to hunt from a double-wide model. I headed out long before daylight.

“Everything else was wrong,” he added, “but the wind was perfect.”

The day began with turkeys leaving their roosts at daybreak. Bill’s stand was situated at the edge of an oblong-shaped hay field next to more CRP acreage. One side of the field was bordered by a big creek and a row of trees.

After seeing nothing from the time the turkeys flew down until 8:00, Bill began thinking about breakfast. He was just about to call it a morning when something caught his eye.

“I saw movement in a thicket 50 yards away,” he said. “It was a doe, and then this buck stepped out 15 yards behind her. She came about 12 yards closer before veering left.”

The buck was browsing, casually following the doe; not really chasing her. When it stopped where she’d paused and began looking around, Bill could feel buck fever exerting control.

The buck’s rack was huge, and the antlers were more symmetrical than any Bill had seen. The many points were long, too.

“Quit looking at those horns, I told myself. Focus on where the shot needs to go in the buck’s body!

“Suddenly, for no reason, the buck spooked. It was moving, slightly quartering to me.” Bill continued.

When Bill mouth-bleated, the buck stopped as if it had rear-ended a parked truck.

“Looking in my direction was its last mistake,” Bill said.

A second later, an arrow pierced the right lung and liver before barely breaking the skin on the off side. It might not have been a pass-through, but the penetration was 100 percent.

Just about the time Bill was calm enough to get down without falling midway, Rick called.

“I shot a pretty nice buck,” Bill told him. “Come help me find it.”

Bill stayed in the stand even after Rick arrived. He directed his buddy to a tree he’d used as a marker.

“There’s a lot of blood,” Rick reported.

The two hunters then followed the trail for about 100 yards to the downed buck.

“Oh, Lord, it’s huge!” Rick said. “Has to be in the mid-160s.”

After taking photographs, they loaded the buck onto the four-wheeler and were back at camp by 9 a.m.  After they dressed and caped the buck, Bill headed for his taxidermist.

“Don’t let him tell you that buck is anything less than a 160,” Rick warned.

Bill related his buddy’s size guesstimate to taxidermist Don Kalwei, who took one look and guessed it would surely score in the 180s. After taping it, he turned to Bill.

“This is way more,” he smiled. “This is more than 200.”

Hunter: Bill Testerman
BTR Score: 208 4/8
Compound Bow
Perfect

This article was published in the July 2014 edition of Rack Magazine. Subscribe today to have Rack Magazine delivered to your home.

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