Wherever big bucks roam, stories about outrageous whitetails with rocking chair racks often turn some of these animals into local legends. In 2007, rumors about a massive typical buck that carried a world-class set of antlers started circulating in Jefferson County, Iowa. After several sightings, local residents in and around the small farming community of Fairfield started referring to the deer as the "Lock Ridge Monster." Throughout the late summer and early fall of 2007, more than one local whitetail hunter dreamed about catching up with this ultra-wide megabuck during the upcoming '07 season.

The Magnificent Seven: While executing a series of deer drives on the afternoon of Dec. 17, 2008, these seven hunters worked together in an effort to outmaneuver a world-class buck that would come to be known as "Hattie's Buck." Standing, left to right: Dan Delaney, Zach Smith, John Peck and Roger "Pudge" McDowell. Kneeling, left to right: Floyd Peck, Hattie Peck and Vincent Jaeger (with son).

Whitetail hunting is a way of life in southeastern Iowa, and everyone who participates has his or her method to the madness. For John Peck, who farms a sizable chunk of land in Jefferson County, the Iowa shotgun season has long been a special time of year when friends and family get together and share some unforgettable days in the woods chasing gnarly whitetails.

SOME SERIOUS HUNTERS
"For us, it really is a much-anticipated family tradition," John said. "Our group is made up of close-knit family and friends, and we hunt hard to put venison in the freezer and maybe a good buck or two on the wall. Our family started hunting back in the mid-'70s, and we've taken dozens of good bucks over the years.

"In more recent years, we've made a real effort to shoot does and do our part for good management. We never kill a lot of bucks, and I always ask everyone to shoot only those bucks with racks that go past their ears. For instance, last year we shot a total of 49 does and five bucks. Of course, one of those five bucks was something pretty special!

"We sometimes hunt a little during the first shotgun season, but the second shotgun season is what we really concentrate most of our efforts on. We hunt every day of that nine-day season. We also hunt during doe season in January. The deer on my farm have plenty to eat. We always plant crops like beans, alfalfa and corn, and our deer get a lot of good protein. We have wonderful neighbors who let us hunt on their land, and in all we probably hunt around 3,000 acres."

A visit to John's "office" will confirm the fact that he's not exaggerating when he says that he and his group have taken dozens of good bucks over the years. John's office happens to be a large barn out behind his house, and the barn walls are filled with dozens of racks from bucks taken in bygone seasons. John can identify practically every rack and tell you the story behind it. Many of those racks are nice 10-pointers scoring in the mid-130s and higher. Once in a great while a bigger buck will be seen or talked about, and that was the case in 2007.

THE LOCK RIDGE MONSTER
"I've been using Moultrie trail cameras for the past few years, and in late July 2007 we started getting pictures of a huge buck in velvet with an extremely wide spread," John said. "We figured he was 4 1/2 years old at the time. On the very first picture I got of this buck, we noticed that about half the velvet on his left antler was black-looking, as if the antler had been injured. I saw the buck around the first of August and there was definitely something wrong with that antler.

"About that same time, my brother Floyd put out a camera in an area where he likes to hunt, and he got some more photos of the deer. The pictures showed that part of the left antler was missing. We showed some of the photos to a few of our neighbors, and they all looked at them and said, 'Oh, that's the Lock Ridge Monster!'"

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