It was Oct. 23, 2005, the last morning of Iowa's early muzzleloader season, when Michael Owens finally got the chance at a big buck he had been hoping for. After a slow morning hunt, he decided to walk a bottom that he had always wanted to hunt but never had because the area was always flooded. Due to the constant water, many of the trees were dead, leaving few options to hang a stand. The bottom was fairly open and surrounded by beautiful hardwood timber. It didn't take long for Michael to find some thigh-size rubs and table-size scrapes, all of which convinced him that he should hunt the area that afternoon.
About 3:30 p.m., Michael hung a Lone Wolf stand in a small pine tree at one end of the bottom. The wind was perfect for that location. Michael had bumped a good buck walking in and he was a little nervous about his evening hunt. A little after 4 p.m., he glimpsed a big buck crossing the bottom at a fast pace some distance away. "I never even had time to raise my gun," Michael said. "But my anticipation was growing and I just had a feeling that this might be my day." It started raining and the wind picked up. As the sun was setting, Michael suddenly heard a deer grunt off to his left. He grabbed his muzzleloader and saw a dark rack cutting through the brush.
Michael grunted several times using his own grunt tube. After a few moments a small six-pointer appeared. Michael could still hear the bigger buck grunting off in the distance. Then Michael saw a doe standing about 40 yards away near a scrape. The doe was staring at the opposite ridge, and when Michael looked over, he could see why. A big-bodied buck was coming down the ridge! Michael immediately noticed that the buck's face was whiter than normal. "I then went into auto-pilot," Michael said. "When the deer stepped into an open lane about 75 yards away, I squeezed the trigger. Smoke filled my scope and I noticed the doe was still standing in the same spot. I went from serious to that shaky feeling you get when you know a good buck is down. I climbed down and walked over to the spot. I couldn't believe my eyes. I had just harvested the most beautiful piebald buck that I had ever seen. In fact, it was the only piebald I had ever seen! He grossed 157 inches and weighed 218 pounds. In order to give him the respect he deserves, I plan to have a full body mount done of him in a bedded position!"
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