A TRUE BADLANDS BAD BOY
Suddenly it began . . . the worst case of buck fever Jim had ever experienced in his 52 years. When he turned to survey the area, he discovered that the other deer had simply vanished and the woods were quiet. He later said, "It was so quiet, you could hear what the coyotes were thinking."

When he turned back toward the big non-typical, his heart sank. This buck, too, had vanished. What seemed like an eternity passed, but it was probably no more than 15 minutes. Then the Badlands bad boy suddenly appeared to Jim's right. The buck was standing at 15 yards at a sharp quartering-away angle. As Jim began to draw, he realized that he was shaking uncontrollably. He remembers talking to himself when he reached full draw and asking the Lord to help him with his shakes.

He later recalled that he calmed down almost instantly, and the bow felt like it was locked in a vise. Jim settled the pin just in front of the deer's left rear flank and squeezed the trigger of his release. The arrow was off to a perfect impact. It sailed through the liver, into the right lung, and buried in the right shoulder. The "buck of several lifetimes" was his!

With darkness closing fast and knowing he had made a mortal shot, Jim took up the trail immediately. As he followed the easy trail, he soon found his buck lying motionless near the backwaters of the Little Missouri River. Since the shot had missed the left lung, the deer had traveled about 350 yards before going down.

A BADLANDS SENSATION
Suddenly a strange, bittersweet feeling came over Jim. He felt greatly humbled at being blessed with such a magnificent animal. When Jerry arrived to pick up the elated hunter, Jim was just returning to his stand. Jerry knew he had been successful and asked him what he had shot. Jim told him he had killed a main-frame 5x5 with some stickers. With flashlights in hand, they followed Jim's tracks to the deer. When Jerry's light hit the antlers, he couldn't believe the sight that his eyes were feasting upon!

"Unbelievable!" he said. "Absolutely unbelievable!"

For the next few days, people came from all over Dunn and McKenzie counties to see this buck. Jerry's telephone rang continuously. It was a circus atmosphere. After the story was published in the Bismarck Tribune, Jerry received a call from another outfitter, Bill Jorgenson of Deep Creek Outfitters.

Bill's operation is several miles from Jerry's property. Bill informed Jerry that four of his hunters had been trying to kill Jim's buck for six weeks. On the evening of Dec. 2, 2006, just four days before Jim let his arrow fly, one of Bill's hunters became ill and left his stand at 3:50 p.m. A game camera had been mounted to the stand, and at 4:15 p.m. it took a picture of Jim's buck. Then it took a second picture at 7:30 a.m. the following morning!

Prior to the 2006 season, the current North Dakota state record non-typical by bow had been taken by William Cruff in Barnes County in 1961. It scored 188 1/8 P&Y. Jim's incredible 34-point buck from Dunn County scored a whopping 216 1/8, almost 20 points higher!

POSTSCRIPT
During late summer in 2006, Jerry's brother had found a shed from a large non-typical about a quarter-mile from where Jim's buck was later taken. That shed had been the only indication that a huge non-typical buck lived in the area.

What about Frank? Well, he spent three full days waiting in his stand for that monster 8x8 mule deer to come back. The buck didn't cooperate, however, so on the last day of the hunt Frank's patience was rewarded with a good shot on a very nice 4x4 mulie. Three bowhunters and three deer, with one being a Badlands bad boy that will always be the buck of several lifetimes for Jim Castro Jr.!

(Editor's Note: For information about hunting with Jerry Defoe and North Dakota Adventures, call 701-842-3415 or email gadefoe@ruggedwest.com.)

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