Rack Magazine

Illinois hunter waits more than four decades to spring for a mount, and spring he did!

It took only 42 years for Neil Best of Edwardsville, Illinois, to seek the services of a taxidermist. And the veteran deer hunter darkened the shop’s door twice in 2014.

His first trip followed his harvesting a 7-pointer with his bow on Nov. 12. It had wandered within 7 yards of the 59-year-old’s tree.

“It was an old deer we’d collected trail camera photographs of for two or three years,” he said.

Neil had another whitetail in mind for the state’s firearms season.

“From that same trail camera, we also had pictures of a much bigger buck that I hoped to get on the first day of gun season,” he said. “I wondered if lightning would strike twice.”

Most of the bucks harvested on the 1,000-acre farm Neil hunts have worn small or somewhat malformed racks. The land is primarily pasture with about 200 acres of woods.

He and his four buddies decided in 2010 not to shoot anything they weren’t willing to hang on the wall. Prior to that, the gang figured their neighbors would shoot everything they allowed to keep trucking.

By raising their own bar, they hoped the farm’s wooded acreage might become a sanctuary for mature bucks.

On Nov. 21, opening day of Illinois’s 2014 gun season, Neil sat in the same tree from which he’d arrowed the 7-pointer. The stand is about 30 feet off the ground and faces a major creek crossing.

Neil went out before daylight, but he couldn’t stay long past 9:00. He had an appointment that afternoon.

“Just as I made one final look across the pasture, I spotted a small tree about 100 yards away, shaking like the devil had hold of it,” he said. “I also saw a head full of antlers.

“Due to fewer does in our region, the bucks have to come out during daylight hours to search for them,” he added.

Neil had trail camera pictures of a big buck that was walking in front of the lens only at night. This deer looked a lot like it.

After the buck quit ravaging the tree, it started walking up a hill, through thick brush, and away from Neil, who thought, I’ve got a nice buck at the taxidermist’s. I’m not going to risk wounding this one and letting it get away by taking a shot as it’s leaving.

Neil was content just having seen the buck during daylight hours. But then the buck stopped, turned and started walking back toward Neil, who couldn’t believe his luck.

With his muzzleloader in hand, Neil told himself, I won’t shoot this buck until it steps in a clear spot where I know I can put it down.

The buck soon obliged. Neil looked out in front of it and saw two big trees he thought the deer might walk behind if it stayed on course.

Neil aimed at the spot between the two trees. When the buck passed through, he put the crosshairs on its shoulder and squeezed the trigger.

During the Illinois gun season, one can hunt with either a blackpowder rifle or a shotgun stoked with slugs. Neil was carrying his .50-caliber inline loaded with 150 grains of pellets and a saboted bullet.

Eye glued to his scope, Neil watched the buck lunge forward about 30 yards and then collapse. He got down from his stand, reloaded his muzzleloader and walked to the downed animal.

“When I could see the buck, its head was up,” he said. “I thought it was still alive, at first, but then I saw the antlers were caught in some limbs and vines. They were holding the buck’s head up, even though it had already expired.

“When I put my hands on the rack, I thought How could this happen? I’ve hunted for 42 years, and I’ve never taken a buck big enough to mount. Now I have two trophies!

“I called four buddies to come help me get the deer out of the woods. I knew I couldn’t drag it by myself.

“I field-dressed it before my friends arrived, and we carried it out of the woods to a field where we could load it on a four-wheeler. Because I had an appointment at noon, I called another friend and asked if I could hang my deer in his cooler for a while. My buddy agreed.

“Since I’d grown up in a mom-and-pop grocery store, I knew how to cut up meat. I always process my own deer. I caped the deer the next day and put the head in my freezer. It barely fit due to its size,” he said.

When Neil took the 14-pointer to the taxidermist, the man told him, “That’s the biggest mainframe 10-pointer I’ve ever mounted!”

Once Neil got his mounts from the taxidermist, he realized he had to hang the 7-pointer in another room, or else it wouldn’t get the attention it deserved.

“I hung the big one in my family room,” he says. “Every day I sit in my recliner and look at that buck, and I thank the Lord for the opportunity.”

Hunter: Neil Best
BTR Score: 188 3/8
View BTR Scoresheet

This article was published in the June 2016 edition of Rack Magazine. Subscribe today to have Rack Magazine delivered to your home.

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

• Heads You Win: Getting first choice of stands and choosing the most likely is no guarantee for a deer hunter.

• Buck Bartering: Trading a warm bed for a deer stand is a small price to pay for a dream buck.