The Vroman Buck

 

It was the last day of the season in 1986. That October morning started off with my wife fixing my favorite breakfast: ham, eggs and hash browns. She even got up at 4.00 a.m. to cook it for me. 

It had snowed the night before, about a foot of good, soft snow. I drove my car up Highway 36 in Franklin County, Idaho, about seventeen miles from Preston. Despite the snow, the road was good. I only had a car, so did a lot of hunting off the main highway. 

There was a saying at work that “I tried to go where no man would go.” I’m not what you would call a great hunter, but I did put a lot into it and always got my deer. I would hike five or seven miles in a hunt, and I had dragged a lot of deer five miles or more to get them out for the meat. So you can get an idea of how much I love to hunt. 

When I got out of my car it was still dark. I headed off up the hill, where it was thick with brush and steep with rocks. I had made up my mind to check out a lot of draws, because the snow would tell me if the deer were in them. I was hunting very hard that day, and thinking that after all the hard hunting and hard miles I had put in over the years, I would love to get a huge buck, it  was a fantastic day for hunting; new snow overcast sky, but no fog. Visibility was good and my eyes were open for any movement or anything else out of place. I saw a lot of does and fawns and some two-points; but that day, for me, it had to be a huge buck or no deer at all. If I didn’t get my deer I still had the late archery hunt. 

I saw a lot of deer. I had just come out of the thick brush to an area with steep rocks and cedars. I saw a deer’s legs going through the cedars so I thought I would try and catch it coming up one of the draws. My timing was just right. I got to a draw and stopped and looked around.  I saw just one side of the deer’s antlers. They looked unusual. I thought, “l’d like a deer like that.” So l got my 25.06 up and looked thought the 3x9 Burris scope. I lined up the dot on the animal’s front shoulders and fired. 

 I saw how wide he was, and I thought it was going to be another huge buck that got away. The buck whirled and took off down the hill.. But then it ran just a few yards and it was down. I couldn’t believe it. I waded through the snow to the buck. The buck’s antlers were an amazing 45 ¼ -inches wide. One side of the antlers had eleven points and the other side had nine. It had a cheater on each side, seven inches or more in length. 

That day, a snowy day, the last day of the season, I got my huge wall-hanger buck. I was a very happy guy, but the work had just started. I was pretty far from my car and it was a difficult hike. The best solution was to pack it out. All I had was a day pack, so I took out one hind quarter and the loins and of course, the enormous antlers and the cape. It took me two days to finally lug out all the meat. 

After all those years, I felt like I deserved it.. That was the biggest buck I have ever shot. 

Eventually, a picture of the antlers appeared in King's Outdoor calendar. Then I was invited to write a story in        magazine.