If you follow big bucks, I'm sure you're aware of the reputation of Buffalo County, Wisconsin, for consistently producing large-antlered studs. That played a significant role in Wisconsin native Eugene Mancl's decision to enlist the help of Bluff Bucks Outfitters. With that outfitter's reputation for controlling top-end land and producing huge bucks, it seemed like a perfect fit for Eugene.

Crawling into his stand, Eugene tried to anticipate how the afternoon might unfold. His stand was just down from a ridge top. Thick brush surrounded the ridge top's finger of CRP that was dotted with several apple trees. Eugene hoped to intercept deer movement coming up from a bottom to feed on the candy crop.

An hour before dark, Eugene saw a giant buck walking the edge of the CRP field. As the brute approached, Eugene's heart rate kicked up several gears. Hitting the apple tree, the buck raked the licking branch over an impressive scrape, shaking the tree so hard that apples rained to the ground. Eugene drew his grunt tube to his lips and released several tending grunts.

Having gotten the big boy's attention, Eugene watched as the buck approached the edge of the CRP and peered through the tangle of vines, trying to locate the "buck" that he thought had dared to enter his territory. With the deer still a good 45 yards out, and with no chance of slipping an arrow through the tangle anyway, Eugene slipped a hand in his pocket and flipped his estrous can call.

"That really got his attention," Eugene related. "He came running straight for the tree, looking for a hot doe. At 12 yards, he hit my track. I had walked through a cow pasture on the way in and purposefully stepped in some cow pies. When he hit it, he froze and I shot him.

"I've shot a good share of bucks in my life, but this was the first one that had no idea he was hit. After the shot, I could see blood, but he was still grunting and snort-wheezing. At 27 yards, I put another arrow in him, but he was already dead from the first shot. He just didn't know it yet."

Realizing something was wrong from the second shot, the buck tore over the hilltop. After climbing down to get help, Eugene was rewarded with a very short track and a 188 5/8 gross/177 4/8 net Buffalo County non-typical.

MATURE BUCKS VS. YOUNGSTERS
It's been said many times before, but it's worth repeating: Mature bucks are a different breed of whitetail. Most prime-age mature bucks are driven by two primary purposes: survival and breeding as many does as possible. In this article, we'll focus on the drive to breed.

It makes sense that mature bucks understand the dynamics of courtship far better than their younger counterparts. After all, they've been through three or more rehearsals during the fall and they know their lines by heart. They are set for the curtain to rise on what truly is their main stage, and they are the stars in the play.

On the flip side, the youngsters are like kindergarteners doing their first Christmas pageant. The teachers have shown them what to do, but they rarely remember more than bits of their parts and are lucky to even remember when to get on stage. Sure, they're cute, but the end result rarely comes close to what the original performance was supposed to be like.

Because of this, one of the biggest mistakes I believe hunters make is to base certain conclusions on what the seasoned veterans are doing from young-buck observations. For instance, when some hunters see a couple of young bucks chasing a doe they immediately believe that things are starting to heat up. Unfortunately, these youngsters often are doing nothing more than chasing their tails around in circles. They simply don't know any better. Ironically, they've often stopped engaging in this activity by the time it really matters.

That's where Eugene Mancl's story comes into play. The date of Eugene's hunt was Oct. 12, almost a full month before Wisconsin's peak breeding phase began. Likewise, in last month's issue I wrote a story about Wisconsin's new state-record typical by bow, taken by Barry Rose. Barry's buck was shot on Oct. 21, still a good two weeks before peak breeding dates. (See page 68 of the August issue for Barry's story.)

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