Big Buck 411 Blog

Adrenaline Hotter than Coffee

Adrenaline Hotter than Coffee

By Mike Handley

After nine cold, gray and mostly deerless days, Dennis Coon was almost glad to see Wisconsin's 2009 firearms season come to an end. More than anything, he wanted a hot cup of coffee.

The hunter from Horseshoe Bend, Arkansas, always hunts the Wisconsin Dells between visits with family and friends during the Thanksgiving holidays. Nov. 29 was his last chance not to go home empty-handed.

Not long after he began considering the positive aspects of not having to field-dress or drag a deer, Dennis glimpsed a buck that made him forget about hot coffee. Although he saw it for only a few seconds, he was pretty sure it made (his) grade.

He was also pretty sure it was going to emerge again from the brush, and probably much closer.

"When the buck suddenly materialized at about 75 yards, I took one glance at its head, thought Yup, shooter, and got back to the business of making the shot," Dennis told Jill Easton, who penned his story for Rack magazine. "I squeezed the trigger, the buck bolted, and I could see blood through my binoculars."

Still, retrieving the whitetail required several hours of searching and a coup de grace.

The 17-pointer came in second during that year's Wisconsin Deer Classic. The only one bigger had been hit by a vehicle.

The buck wasn't measured for the BTR until 2014, and its composite score is 216 2/8 inches, 43 4/8 of which are derived from the antlers' mass.

Copyright 2024 by Buckmasters, Ltd.

Copyright 2020 by Buckmasters, Ltd