Remembering a Canadian Legend
By Mark Melotik
Over the years I’ve been fortunate to meet and get to know several avid hunters who have bagged truly outstanding bucks. But maybe one of the most unexpected occurred recently while I was in spring black bear camp in northern Alberta. The week was special not only because many of us bow-bagged some beautiful trophy-sized black bears, but also because we shared it with our outfitter Ben Cockell, one of the most inspiring outdoorsmen I’ve ever met. Back in 2013 he bagged what remains one of Canada’s all-time great non-typical whitetail bucks.
The story of this incredible deer is made even more so due to the challenges that Cockell had to overcome to make it happen. Back in 2001 Cockell was riding an ATV when it flipped over on top of him, breaking his neck. Doctors told him he would never walk again, but after some serious rehab, along with an unwavering desire to prove his naysayers wrong, today he continues to operate the outfitting business he founded well after the accident. He gets around just fine, thank you, with help from some crutches and a constant never-say-die spirit.
It was early December of 2012, shortly after the deer season had closed, when Cockell, his father and a family friend were in Cockell’s house discussing the season. That’s when the friend happened to look out a window and glimpse a huge nontypical buck. It was standing in the yard eating some harvested Canola that had spilled on the ground.
Cockell’s next move was to set up a trail camera that captured a few photos of the buck, but then it disappeared.
“He never appeared anywhere all winter long, or over the entire next summer,” Cockell recalled.
In September 2013, the big deer finally reappeared. It was then one of Cockell’s clients was bowhunting a field edge when the big whitetail suddenly crossed a nearby alfalfa field. The buck, which the client nicknamed Medusa, never got closer than 90 yards.
That was some bad luck for the client, but about a month later, in late October, Lady Luck would begin smiling on Cockell. On Oct. 26, his last bowhunting client of the season tagged out, leaving a full week until new clients arrived for the start of firearms season.
The next day, Cockell grabbed his bow at about 3 p.m. and manned a ground blind that had been set in a dependable deer travel corridor. It was his first bowhunt of the year, in an area deer were known to stage before sneaking out into the nearby ag fields.
After watching a steady stream of does and smaller bucks, the veteran bowhunter knew the largest bucks were typically the last to move. True to form, with just 30 minutes of shooting light remaining, a lone, massive deer strode into view. It was Medusa.
“The next thing I remember is my arrow disappearing behind the buck’s shoulder,” Cockell said. “He ran toward the alfalfa field, but he only made it about 40 yards before he tipped over. When I saw him go down, I dropped my bow; I knew I’d just killed the buck of a lifetime.”
Medusa’s massive rack features 27 scorable points. After the drying period, Cockell’s buck had a gross score of 263 4/8 and a net score of 249 2/8.