Rack Magazine

The deer with a rapper’s name gets 187ed on its way to a Happy Meal.

Adam Hupf knew a southerly breeze could wreck his hunt, and he wondered if sitting in his bow stand would do more harm than good. The wind wasn’t exactly bad, but it wasn’t ideal.

Figuring he wouldn’t get many opportunities at the buck locals had nicknamed Heavy D before Wisconsin’s 2014 firearms season opened, Adam seized the opportunity on Oct. 11. In the end, he decided the wind’s speed — less than 5 mph — made it less a liability.

He arrived at his stand about 4:00 under clear skies. The temperature was a pleasant 50 degrees, but the wind gnawed at his confidence.

“When I hunt, I play the wind obsessively,” said Adam. “I wear Scent-Lok clothing, use scent elimination spray, and constantly monitor what the wind’s doing when I’m hunting.”

The wind was the only thing to monitor that afternoon, at first.

Adam was bowhunting a 3-acre woodlot in Dodge County, less than 10 feet off the ground in an ash tree. He chose the spot because it allows him to see deer approaching from the north, out of a cattail swamp, en route to a cornfield.

The lack of mature trees and the thin understory offer few options for stand placement, which is why he settled for that location.

Anyone else might have never considered the 15-foot-tall ash. The tree’s narrow diameter doesn’t allow him to climb higher than 10 feet, about half the height bowhunters seek.

The spot has proven to be an ideal setup, however. Adam arrowed a monstrous 210-inch whitetail from it in 2010.

Time and again, the master plumber wondered if he was just wasting his time. And it didn’t help his mood that a neighbor to the south was chopping corn, the cacophony pounding in his ears.

In the waning daylight, however, the wind died and shifted out of the southwest. The neighboring farmer’s equipment stopped. And the woods became quiet with 30 minutes of shooting light remaining.

Adam didn’t hear the buck coming. He sensed it.

Heavy D, the same whitetail that had twice given Adam the slip in 2013, was 60 yards away when he saw him.

As soon as the animal’s face passed behind a tree, Adam stood, pushed his seat up, and clipped his release to the bowstring.

The trail the deer was following split just beyond bow range, which meant Heavy D could either walk right past Adam’s tree, or nowhere near him. The buck’s decision would either give the hunter a shot of a lifetime or kick dirt on his bowhunting dream.

The deer didn’t dawdle. It was intent upon reaching the cornfield. As Adam watched it, he made accurate mind’s-eye measurements of the ground the buck had to occupy to give him a chance.

“Right before I shot, I thought that if he walked 10 more yards, he’d probably wind me,” Adam explained. “I just kept staring at his vitals and watching his head movements so I could shoot.”

As the deer dipped its head toward the ground and inhaled deeply, Adam drew and released. After the thwack, the buck bolted southwest toward the cornfield. In less than five seconds, it disappeared after covering 100 yards.

Adam waited 15 minutes before descending the tree and examining his arrow. Dark, oxygen-rich droplets clung to the shaft and fletching. Three feet away was an unmistakable blood trail.

After cooling his jets for an hour, he and a couple of buddies followed the trail 150 yards to his deer.

“As soon as I saw him, I said, ‘I finally got you!’” Adam smiled. “I’d really been hunting him hard for two years. He was more massive than I thought he’d be.”

Hunter: Adam Hupf
BTR Score: 200 4/8
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This article was published in the June 2016 edition of Rack Magazine. Subscribe today to have Rack Magazine delivered to your home.

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