Rack Magazine

Has leg-pulling become a cliché? Sometimes, the joke is no joke at all.

A little after dark during the 2014 hunting season in November, Mike Simon of McPherson, Kansas, saw his 15-year-old son, Parker, coming down the road toward their vehicle. When he arrived, Parker said, “Dad, I saw a big buck about noon that had main beams curled at the end of its tall and wide rack.”

Parker insisted the buck was the biggest he’d ever seen.

“It was walking a trail about 50 yards from my treestand,” he said. “I probably could’ve arrowed it, since I’d made that shot before, but I didn’t want to miss and spook the deer or hit it in the wrong place and wound it.

“I knew we could come back and set up on the buck again. I grunted a couple of times and stopped it twice, but it wouldn’t commit to come to me,” he added.

As Parker paused in talking about this huge buck, Mike told him, “I shot that buck, son, over by the Rut Stand.”

Parker shook his head, saying, “Are you sure you shot the deer I saw? This buck’s main beams curled down; its rack was wide, high and heavy; and it had a lot of points. You couldn’t have shot that deer.”

Mike pulled out his cell phone, went to the photo library, tapped an image and asked, “Did it look like this?”

“I can’t believe it, Daddy,” Parker said with a big smile on his face. “You shot my buck!”

The only time Mike and Parker could hunt together was on Sundays because Parker played football. However, once football season ended and the rut in Kansas kicked in, the two were able to plan this Saturday hunt.

“I told Parker we’d pack a lunch and stay on our stands from dawn ‘til dusk,” Mike said. “I knew this property well and realized bucks would be moving all day, looking for does.”

Saturday morning, the Simons left home about 8:00 and were in their stands by 9:00. They were as scent-free as possible and used drag rags to further cover their human odor. Mike went to the Rut Stand, so named because he only hunted from it during the rut. Parker was on a stand about 250 yards from him.

“I have four small properties of 80, 100, 160 and 200 acres Parker and I can hunt,” Mike said. “All four have pinch points and timber, and we’ve been very successful taking nice deer from these small properties. I don’t overhunt any one property.”

Mike had already passed up three bucks that might’ve scored in the 150s and one that probably exceeded 160 inches.

He’d seen some 150-plus-inch bucks from the Rut Stand. He already had to come out of this stand once that morning to pick up his decoy, because a small buck had come in and knocked down the mannequin.

“I’ve been hunting with a deer decoy for several years now,” he said. “I put estrous doe lure on it. The last three bucks I’ve had mounted all have been taken with this same setup.”

At 2:30 p.m., Mike spotted a big buck walking a trail back to its bedding area. He blew his grunt call once, and the buck lifted its head and looked, but kept traveling back toward the bedding area.

When the buck walked up a hill just above a small ravine, Mike grunted a second time. The buck spotted the doe decoy, bristled up and laid his ears back, demonstrating an aggressive posture. It warily circled the fake deer, probably because it thought another buck was in the area.

“This scenario was exactly what I thought would happen,” Mike said. “The wind was in my favor, and the doe decoy was about 30 yards from my stand. I probably wouldn’t have had a shot at that buck if I hadn’t used my decoy.”

With the buck broadside and looking at the doe, Mike ranged the 28 yards and drew his bow. The arrow entered behind the deer’s shoulder.

Afterward, the buck ran toward a fence about 10 yards away. At first, Mike thought he might have missed the big whitetail. However, when he brought his binoculars up, he spotted a big patch of blood right where he’d aimed.

The buck jumped the fence, walked slowly, went to its knees and tipped over. Mike waited 30 minutes to make sure the buck didn’t regain its feet, and then he got down and walked to his truck.

He left some of his hunting gear at the truck, picked up his camera and unloaded equipment to field-dress and drag the deer out of the field. He photographed the big buck before returning to the truck to wait on Parker.

After Mike showed his son the picture, the two recovered the deer.

“I guess it took Parker and me 30 minutes to drag that deer about 250 yards,” Mike said. “Besides having a big rack, the live weight on that monster was probably 275 pounds.”

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

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