By Ben Kozak

-- My father and I hunt a 105-acre property that my family owns in Shawano County, Wisc. On opening day of gun season, Nov. 17, I saw several small bucks, letting them pass along with a half-dozen does.

I was looking down a shooting lane, watching two does moving through the swamp. Suddenly they stopped and turned to look deeper in the swamp. A doe came running across the lane.

Thinking a buck would be right behind her, I grabbed my gun. Sure enough, a big deer followed her into the lane and stopped, his shoulder behind a tree. I waited for a clear shot, but one never came. The buck walked out of sight.

I decided to wait and see if the buck would circle. Twenty minutes later, the doe returned and stopped in the lane again. The buck reappeared moments later.

I pushed off the safety and squeezed the trigger when the doe was well ahead of the buck. He was down!

I didn’t know how big he truly was until I walked up to him. He has 12 points and an inside spread of 18 inches. The rack scored 170 2/8 inches (gross).

--Ben Kozak