If a ‘big tater’ is an astonishingly huge whitetail, is a ‘little tater’ a spike?
State wildlife managers have long known that, for hunters, seeing deer is just as important — perhaps more — than tying a tag on one.
As long as hunters know the animals are out there, they’re content with spending money for licenses and equipment. But when sightings drop, they’re going to assign blame: mismanagement by biologists, coyotes, weather or disease.
In 2009, it was the corn’s fault.
A wet spring that year made for late planting; a mild summer to slower crop maturation; and an even wetter fall — rain and snow — kept the combines off the rows. While the corn is standing, fewer deer are seen out in the open.
Illinois wasn’t the only state affected, but its farmers were among the latest to get all the corn out of the fields. As a rule, the harvest is long over by the time the state’s first gun season opens in November. But that year, the stalks remained well into December.
Even so, many hunters who were originally bemoaning the lack of deer wound up shooting the best whitetails of their careers. In fact, the ’09 season wound up being one of the best ever for super-sized bucks.
The corn was still standing on a cold Nov. 21 where Cory Clendenen hunts.
Like many Illinois hunters that year, not just the ones in Greene County, Cory often found himself staring at the sea of brown stalks, wondering if the deer were really in them. He’d seen very few to that point.
When a buck finally strolled into view, the hunter from Jerseyville initially thought it was medium-sized, at best. Its rack blended so well with the thick brush, Cory just couldn’t quite decipher the spires.
Not one to sweat the details, however, he was soon in the throes of buck fever. He wanted that buck. Wanted it like a starving man wants the last piece of fried chicken on the platter.
As Cory aimed his 20-gauge shotgun at the animal’s shoulder, he was certain the thing wearing antlers could hear his heart hammering inside his chest. And maybe it did.
The buck flipped ends in the nanosecond before Cory squeezed the trigger, and it ran off after the boom.
Cory had been looking at the vitals, but he was afraid the deer’s maneuver might’ve resulted in a less-than-stellar shot.
Not wanting to push his luck, he waited a few hours before taking up the trail, which led him to the deer, alive and bedded in a thicket. When it stood, Cory shot twice and anchored it.
It wasn’t until he was nearing the dead deer that Cory realized it was far bigger than he’d imagined. The 23-pointer was so impressive that he had trouble punching in his dad’s telephone number.
When he finally succeeded, he shouted “I got the big tater!” into his phone.
That’s Clendenenspeak for the “bull of the woods.”
Soon afterward, friends helped him retrieve the deer and carry it to the shed where local hunters meet. Several folks were already there, waiting to see exactly what a big tater was.
Hunter: Cory Clendenen
BTR Score: 241 1/8
Shotgun
Irregular
– Photos Courtesy Cory Clendenen
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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